Guess What? If Someone Accidentally Gives You Money in Your Account, It’s Still NOT Your Money.

Oops, a memory - graffiti
Have you ever had “money accidentally deposited into my account?” Did you think you received “free” money, knowing it was someone else’s mistake? Raise your hand. (Higher – I can’t see them! Haha…). Okay, now how many of you went ahead and SPENT this money thinking you were being sneaky and could get away with it? Anybody? Anybody? Would you tell me even if you did? ;)

Is Money Accidentally Deposited Into My Account Mine?

Either way, the only money in your account that is truly YOURS is whatever YOU’VE put into it or earned. If someone else, or another company, accidentally xfered money in for whatever reason – it is legally NOT yours. I don’t know how much trouble (legally) you could get into, esp if you play the “I didn’t know” card, but either way I could tell you it would be a pretty stupid risk to take. Eventually, 99% of the times at least, it always comes back and they figure out whatever mistake it was they made. And when they go to pull back all that money, you better hope it’s still in there!!

What Should I Do When Money is Accidentally Deposited Into My Account?

The best way to avoid it all is to CALL YOUR BANK right away and get them working on it so it doesn’t turn into a mess down the road. You always hear stories about how people got all this free money and went out and blew it on cars or houses or whatever, and then 6 months or a year later they’re all of a sudden in a pile of debt. As if they thought no one would notice $300 grand missing somewhere?! It’s not even worth *thinking* about spending the money – however small or large it is. Money that is NOT yours cannot magically become yours no matter how you spin it, so don’t even take the risk.

The reason I bring this all up is cuz the Mrs. just saw a sexy new $1,500 credit hit her account randomly and had no idea what it was for. So she dug a little deeper (wasting a good hour, while in the middle of studying for some huge exams coming up) and realized her University had thought she had overpaid her health insurance, and was thus crediting back her “2nd payment.” She quickly told them that it was a mistake, and that she had only paid it ONCE, and 40 mins later it was all cleared up and finally resolved. At which they thanked her profusely as it saved them a few weeks, if not months, of headache trying to track their mistake when the numbers wouldn’t have balanced.

Be Proactive

I mention all the time it took her to figure it out and bring it to their attention because even though it’s the *right* thing to do, it can still be annoying as hell ;) Especially when you’re in the middle of something so important. But when it all comes down to it, it’s much better to be proactive about it and get it straightened out SOONER than later so it doesn’t turn into something bigger than it ever needed to be. Eventually everyone finds out when they’ve misplaced money, so you might as well just bring it to their attention and be done with it. That money was never yours to begin with, and will never turn into yours unless something crazy happens and you’re that .001% odds that get away with it. But could you even be comfortable with that, anyways?

Actually, that’s a great question for y’all: How many of you would be fine w/ receiving money knowing it shouldn’t be yours? Maybe you feel like “money accidentally deposited into my account is mine.” And how many of you would return it before even being asked? I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on it. Especially if this has happened to any of you recently! I promise not to judge, okay? :)

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204 Comments

  1. Lauryn Doll October 13, 2011 at 6:09 AM

    I wouldn’t be okay with it, but I did get a double payment once. The same payment was issued in a check and in a gift card. I didn’t know who sent the check but it was legit and in my name, so I cashed it and waited. Then later I got a gift card from what seemed another company. Maybe 2 weeks later I got an email saying not to cash the check… and I was like… uhm…. too late? I know they might take the money back but … yeah.

    Reply
  2. Indian Thoughts October 13, 2011 at 6:42 AM

    Well, this happened recently. Somebody E-transferred Rs 290000 in my account which is close to $6041. I immediately called my bank and told then this money doesn’t belong to me as I am not expecting any such payment from anywhere. Money got refunded back in 2 days.

    Reply
  3. Matt October 13, 2011 at 7:37 AM

    I have 3 examples: 1. I was at the drive through at the bank and the teller made my deposit and the guy’s in the other lane into my account, i notified them it was corrected immediately. 2. The bank of the previous owner of my house deposited money into my escrow account, I questioned it and it was corrected in about 3 months…..

    Now the good one. #3. My parents bank mistakenly put $2.2 million dollars into their checking account! They deposited money that was supposed to go into a business account for the company my dad works for into his personal account…and it took them 3-4 days before it was corrected. My mom kept the ATM receipt from the day she found it. lol

    Reply
    1. Anointed May 12, 2013 at 7:45 PM

      Please listen to my story and reply back asap-I was chatting with this person on line.
      I talked to him a few times on the phone.He told me one of his friends wanted to wire
      transfer me $8000 to my bank account.I told him I had no bank account.He asked me to
      open one real soon.So after that -I made one small $25 deposit into that account.The next day I got my online started and 1 hour after I got that started and checked to see if
      the $25 had posted-There was $8025.00 there.He called me that afternoon and said not to touch one dime of that money until he tell me to.I felt like it was all a scam So I went and withdrew $200 to see if it was real and it was.Then he started telling me how much he wanted me to with draw and where to send it to.Does this sound like a Scam so Far ?

      Reply
      1. J. Money May 14, 2013 at 2:32 PM

        Yes, it 100% sounds like a scam! Be careful over there – don’t ever accept money from someone else on their behalf, ESPECIALLY if you don’t know them. Scary stuff :(

        Reply
        1. Cathy May 7, 2016 at 6:52 PM

          J-money my name is Kathy I was reading the thing about the lady chatting online and someone wanted her to open up the account I’m going through the same thing right now but one thing I never gave no one permission to put money in my account a guy in New York said he was a lawyer contacted me and said that he wanted to know if I was related to a client he had I told him I was not for sure but I will find out so when I got back to him he had already called her lawyer in London and gave him the information give me some information about me one thing one from another so he started sending me the documents for me to sign I thought this all was a joke cuz it happened April 1st so I played along with it gave them too much information about myself an account for the money can be transferred to my account when the case was over not knowing that the guy in London I gave out my information to a whole bunch of other people so I had to close out my account but the guy in London have been calling threatening me tonight he’s going to kill me for stealing money from him I keep telling him there was no money never put into my account because I had to close my account and the bank has contacted me had to call the police and make a report about the threats and stuff the police said it all was a scam but today I got a letter from my bank showing that $4,000 was transferred into my account don’t know what to do can you help me out

          Reply
          1. J. Money May 9, 2016 at 1:22 PM

            Ack! Sorry to hear! I’m honestly not the right person to talk to as I’m not familiar with how any of this goes, but I would escalate it as high as you can at both the bank level and the police level to see which can help you resolve it faster/better. Sounds like an absolutely nightmare and I do hope you get it solved soon!!

            Reply
      2. Courage January 29, 2014 at 7:48 PM

        Hello, Anointed, how did you handle this situation, I have a person who is doing the samething to me, they also chatted with me online?

        Reply
        1. bubloo July 9, 2015 at 1:05 AM

          Beware it could be a money transferred to a terrorist account and you would be in deep trouble….

          Reply
          1. J. Money July 9, 2015 at 3:39 PM

            That’s a good point actually. Never know who’s now looking for their owed money!

            Reply
      3. S brunza October 29, 2015 at 5:53 PM

        Sounds like the person is using you, and your newly opened account, to launder illegal money, made from drugs, illegal weapons etc etc.
        I would stop or ask for an explanation from this guy

        Reply
        1. Confused 2016 December 30, 2016 at 9:56 PM

          I lost my ATM card stupidly I had my number on the back only because I have a habit of using the wrong number with the wrong card person withdraw money out of my account put me in the negative I disputed it with the bank strange thing is they made two ATM deposits $1,350 my account my question is if that money was credited to my account then is it mine to use

          Reply
          1. J. Money January 1, 2017 at 3:54 PM

            Anytime you get money that is not yours, it is not yours :)

            Reply
            1. Laura July 22, 2017 at 11:56 PM

              Ok so I have a question. A company did some emergency services for us. What the time we didn’t have the money to take care of the problem so my mother in law helped out and said she would pay and we could pay her back. It cost about $3000. The company double charged my mother in law so we complained and they refunded her money to her bank account. About two weeks after we received a refund check in the mail. My husband called the company and How they wanted us to return the check because they gave us a double refund. Well they said that they gave the correct amount and have no mistakes showing in their system. I’m just confused now. Because we have the check from that company he was on the phone with them for two hours and they kept saying that it’s all fine on their system and just left it at that. they didn’t tell us what to do with the check. I told my husband to send it back. It’s just when we are trying to give them their money back and they are arguing it makes you almost want to be like you k ow what forget I even called.

              Reply
              1. J. Money July 24, 2017 at 10:18 AM

                I know, it’s always annoying and feels like a waste of time trying to fix other peoples problems :( But remember that it’s better to be THEIR problem than YOUR problem! I.e if you cash it in and they come back later! I’d just double check that your mother-in-law in fact got the money okay that first go around.

                Reply
      4. Pkben June 21, 2017 at 9:55 PM

        Yes that sure is a scam! You draw on the 8000.00 then he’ll cancel the 8000.00 deposit and any money you’ve sent or used will come out of your account.

        Just last week by courier I received a cheque drawn on a company in the same place as my father lives. Dad had been telling me he was gonna give us our inheritance as soon as he sold some farm equiptment. This cheque came from a Machinery Company so I assumed the cheque was my portion of my inheritance paid directly to me by the Company that bought Dad’s equiptment. I couldn’t stop thinking about this cheque! It cleared my banks 5 day hold and shows as available funds. However, I finally broke down yesterday morning and called the company the cheue came from. I explained to the Office Controller why I was calling. First off I asked if he issued a cheque to someone in another far away province? And he had not! Once I got his email acct I fowarded the picture I had taken of the cheque just in case. He was over joyed first because I reaffirmed there are still good people in the world doing what is right. I did not touch the 20.000.00 it is still in my acct. one day soon it will disappear and I’m sad but ok!!!

        Reply
  4. Andy October 13, 2011 at 8:22 AM

    What if Matt’s parents had that $2.2 million put into a savings account and it took a month to rectify, would you get to keep the interest that was made during that month?

    Reply
    1. Max August 18, 2015 at 11:30 PM

      The short answer is yes. My father was accidentelly goven 1.5 million by the bank before it was resolved by them three days later. He kept a cool $600 (and some change) because the intreat rate was 7% back then.

      Reply
  5. Angela October 13, 2011 at 9:04 AM

    If there’s no judging involved then I’ll tell my story. ;) About 10 years ago, my ex-husband, then my boyfriend back then had returned home with just one year of college left. He couldn’t obtain any more financing to continue the 4th year! So few months in dating, he checks his atm to make sure he has enough money to take me out on a date, he finds that SSA has deposited $3k as part of his SSI (due to a disability). He decides to call SSA to find out what the deal is. The agent rep clearly says the money is his. No worries. So S is excited and use it to pay off a debt.

    Fast forward two years or so after getting married, he receives a letter from SSA saying that he owes $3k due to a overpayment. We make calls, I don’t remember if we tried to appeal but honestly, we had NO records and I wish we did keep the call recorded. SSA apparently doesn’t maintain a good tracking system of when we call, what was discussed during the call and so forth so that agent years ago was talking out of her ass just to process a call. No record of WHO is the agent and so forth. We had nothing to back us up so… we lost our tax return the following year to pay back SSA and since we married, filing jointly, my portion was gone too.

    We aren’t the only one that happened to. So many other people who gets SSI or SSDI has had so many problems communicating with the SSA. When I finally got the opportunity to stop SSI due to a new job, I changed bank accounts right away. I closed the account the SSI was being deposited into so that I could force SSI to keep their money and I wouldn’t have to deal with ‘saving’ the money till they asked me to pay back. It worked very well.

    Nothing bad about SSI or SSDI – great opportunity for people with disabilities to maintain a living because it is so hard to find a job with accommodations or unable to work but it is SO difficult to work with SSA! So because of my ex husband’s experience and what I heard from my colleagues, I felt I had to close my bank account to protect myself. Typically they take MONTHS to process an ‘exit’ and apparently they have to ‘approve’ stopping SSI. My new job back then paid more than the allowed rate set by the gov’t so I knew for sure I wouldn’t be allowed to continue SSI but didn’t want to wait months before they made a decision and I end up owing so… bam! closed! Keep your money!

    So that’s an horror story for you to enjoy and I agree 100% – any surprise money, just investigate like crazy, keep documents, and just leave the money alone to earn interest. I just don’t trust ‘free’ money anymore unless someone dies and leaves me money!

    Reply
  6. jolie October 13, 2011 at 9:15 AM

    I experienced that with my VISA this summer. I logged on to check my balance and saw that a $340 payment was there twice. Now it wouldn’t be the first time I have done that so I went into my bank account and checked. Nope, I did not make two payments. So I called VISA and they assured me that 2 payments had indeed been made. They suggested I called my bank. I did. They assured me that only 1 payment had been made and had no reason why there’d be two.

    A month later with the credit still there, I called both again and had the same responses. Two weeks later the ‘credit’ mysteriously vanished from my Visa with nary a word from either agency on what happened.

    It was really really tempting to spend that money though :-)

    Reply
  7. LLF October 13, 2011 at 10:14 AM

    From the other perspective, I am sure everyone would want the person they accidentally gave money to return it. I was sending a large amount e-check to pay down a mortgage, I was so paranoid about getting the account numbers right. I wouldn’t want to pay off someone else’s mortgage by accident, since I am not crazy wealthy.

    Reply
  8. Brian October 13, 2011 at 10:16 AM

    I haven’t yet had an error “in my favor” yet, but I would report it. I’ve had a few errors that have made me look short on money and the credit union I use has been very quick in resolving the issue so I would be more than happy to return the favor. In fact I was the reason one of the ATMs at the local branch had to be fixed. Two times in a month it shorted me $10 on a withdrawal (gave me a $10 in a stack of $20s instead of all $20s).

    Reply
  9. Allison October 13, 2011 at 10:45 AM

    Does this happen a lot? I’ve never had this happen to me or heard of it happeneing to anyone I know. Either way, I’d report it. That money didn’t appear out of thin air. It belongs to someone else.

    Reply
  10. J. Money October 13, 2011 at 10:56 AM

    LLF Made a great point that this “accidental money” still belongs to SOMEONE. So not only is it the right thing to do in my opinion, but the person on the other end would be greatly appreciative too :) Or company, or whomever’s it was.

    @Lauryn Doll – At least you’re honest, thanks for sharing :) Let us know if they ever do, okay?
    @Indian Thoughts – Oh wow, that’s quite the chunk of change – geez! I bet whoever’s it was was happy!
    @Matt – You are a magnet for this stuff! Haha… that is AWESOME about your parents too! I’d totally keep the receipt and frame it! haha… I wonder if they got (and were able to keep) any interest on the few days? ;)
    @Andy – Hey you read my mind!! I bet they wouldn’t, but it’s VERY interesting to think about. That’s a lot of money!
    @Angela – Now THAT just plain sucks! Wow. Pretty jacked up of the agent too to give you the nod even like that! I don’t blame you guys at all, I would have used the money too if I thought it was mine? I don’t know anything at all about SSA, but it seems like it was money that could have been yours from the get go… no judging at all! :)
    @jolie – Haha, I bet! It is pretty crazy the amount of work you sometimes have to put in just to correct an error on someone else’s behalf. Glad you stuck with it though and waited it out. You might have had a different story to tell today if not ;)
    @LLF – GREAT point. That money belongs to someone!
    @Brian – Oh man, those ATMS are crazy sometimes. I used to work for a company that dealt w/ them and the horror stories that would come out were crazy. Esp from all the people who knew how to break into them and change the settings (so, pretty much the opposite of what happened to you — they’d go in and change the denominations so they’d get HUNDREDS, if not thousands, more cuz the computer didn’t know the difference, and then they’d switch it back up before they left so it was harder to track.)
    @slug | sunkcostsareirrelevant.com – Agreed, brotha!
    @Allison – I guess so! Surprised by all the stories so far – but it’s all rather fascinating to me :)

    Reply
  11. Kate October 13, 2011 at 11:07 AM

    Huh, I’ve always been on the other side of the equation where I make a payment, and it ends up in the wrong account. Glad I could make someone’s day with the extra money (if only temporarily) while I panic. Keeping receipts and good records has always saved me in these cases.

    Reply
  12. Nicole October 13, 2011 at 11:10 AM

    It’s called unlawful enrichment and it is illegal to keep it and/or not report it when an error like that happens. Working in a bank I see it somewhat often. It amazes me that people have no problem keeping money that is not theirs. It’s stealing. Errors happen, and to capitalize on it is wrong. Especially when the worker responsible for the error could lose their job if the funds are not recovered. I would not be able to live with that, knowing that someone got fired for a mistake that anyone could have made.
    We also had a customer who noticed mortgage papers were incorrect, showing a 0% interest rate. They didnt say anything, and then fought to have us honor that rate. We now have to have everyone sign a form that says if there is a typographical or clerical error on any mortgage documents, they would comply to re-sign any pertinent documents. It’s just pathetic to me that the guy tried to sincerely say he thought his rate was 0% (even though application papers said the correct rate, they were wrong on the note). I would never be able to lie like that.

    Reply
    1. MissK January 17, 2013 at 2:20 PM

      If you are a worker and you credit the wrong account you are to blame. I’m not saying that mistakes don’t happen! Hey we are only human, but don’t blame consumer for an employee error.You are getting paid to notice those things, and if you don’t and get fired its not the fault of the consumer. I do think that consumers that are actually aware that they have received money in error( everyone doesn’t check their account religiously every day, esp if they keep money in it,)should avoid spending it, because the bank could possibly notice at later time (true story) and do a reversal..request for their oversight. That just happened to me.Long story short..I deposited money .. ATM detected wrong amount, and bank issued me a credit for actual amount of deposited check. This was back in early December. Over a month later I deposit a check, and the bank takes me entire deposit claiming that they gave me a double credit by mistake a month ago, which I never notice.I always deposit money and keep money in account, and it was close to holidays so I likely was Christmas shopping! I had no idea what they were talking about until I logged on recently went back in the archives of my account transactions and saw that on same day early December there was a credit made twice fir same amount. Who would have known? Had they not taken my most recent deposit, and I had not called to find out why I would have been confused. Why did it take them over a month to figure out their mistake, and over a month to correct it.I have made numerous deposits between now and then , yet they just decided to take action?

      Reply
      1. bubloo July 9, 2015 at 1:33 AM

        You cannot be so insensitive to a person who inadvertently did it. No one really make a mistake. However amidst worries at home and work place one could make a mistake once and that should not end up in her starving.The responsibility is with the Banker too…..On either case it is better to return the illegitimate money to the source for better sleep…..

        Reply
    2. mrsriz June 12, 2013 at 10:46 PM

      You Know I work in healthcare and we do what is known as time out. During that time we check right patient, right procedure, right medication, right dose and so forth. It is up to us as care givers to make sure no mistakes are made. Do mistakes happen yes they do. However bank employees have more than just an account number they are looking at their screen should also have a name and if that name dioesn’t match whats on the id or deposit slip then a reg flag should arise. This is just a simple little check and if isn’t followed then yes the employee is subject to dismissal. They were the ones who were careless.

      Reply
      1. J. Money June 13, 2013 at 9:54 AM

        Either way, whoever gets this accidental money better not spend it! Regardless of whose fault it is… Which is more often than not the banker’s as you point out;)

        Reply
  13. Leah October 13, 2011 at 11:26 AM

    Actually, the reverse happened to me. The government owed me money, said they had deposited it, and after months of trying, were pretty much giving up and saying “it’s up to you now, good luck with that!” Yeah, I know. It turns out, my accountant had gotten mine and my husbands accounts mixed up: my bank account, his transit number. I’m with the Royal Bank of Canada, and I talked to a manager there, told her where the money had gone, and she got it back for me within 20 minutes. All 2,500$ of it. Loooove my bank, not so much the government lol.

    Reply
  14. Money Beagle October 13, 2011 at 11:29 AM

    I had a company that let me go from my job but they kept paying me. Every time a direct deposit occurred, I contacted the HR department and let them know and they promised me they’d look into it and correct it immediately. I think it took six weeks or three pay cycles. never touched the money as I knew eventually I would have to give it back. When they eventually sent me a letter with the amount that they wanted back, I actually negotiated with them to let me keep a portion of it since I had been up front about the mistake from the get-go and that it prolonged a difficult situation plus my time involved. They actually went for it.

    Reply
  15. Kevin @ Thousandaire.com October 13, 2011 at 11:43 AM

    This happened to me one time. I found an extra $500 or so in my account. I immediately let the bank know about the error. The guy who put the money in the bank had really poor handwriting and one of the numbers on his account was misinterpreted by the teller. I wanted that dude to get his money ASAP. He might have had a bill coming up and I didn’t want him to overdraw.

    Reply
  16. 20's Finances October 13, 2011 at 11:45 AM

    If someone transferred money into my account I would probably jump up and down until I came to my senses and called the bank. If someone failed to charge me and I don’t realize it until later (on a purchase at a store or something like that), well, that is a different story. :)

    Reply
  17. Stephanie October 13, 2011 at 11:51 AM

    When I first set up direct deposit at the library where I work, this happened to me! My job at the library is one of those side hustles we talk about so much here, I usually work 4-12 hours a week there. Turns out they mixed up my account with someone who works for the Town on a full-time basis. They (well, presumably the other employee, actually!) figured it out before I checked my balance, but I’d have certainly questioned a full-time-sized deposit from my part-time job!

    Reply
  18. Jason Peck October 13, 2011 at 12:22 PM

    This happened to me in December 2010. I saw that a $500 cash deposit had been made in my account and I was fairly certain it wasn’t me. At first the bank basically told me not to worry about it, “Are you sure this isn’t yours?” etc. I left and came back 30 seconds later because I just didn’t feel good about it. They were eventually able to trace it to a branch in another state, and I guess someone had just put the wrong account number (mine) on the deposit slip. The money was returned and I got a really nice letter from the bank thanking me for my honesty. It would have been nice to have that extra $500 but it just wouldn’t have been right.

    Reply
  19. Ashley @ Money Talks October 13, 2011 at 12:42 PM

    I’ve been on both sides of the equation. I had a teller put a $40 deposit in my account as $400. I just left the money in there and about a month later they took it back.

    Another time I made a $1,000 deposit and they put it in someone else’s account. I called when I figured out my deposit was missing and I had the receipt and everything, which showed the wrong account number and wrong name. two digits were transposed in the account number. At first they said they had to get the account holder’s permission to withdraw the money from their account! Um… no. I did get my money back that day.

    Reply
  20. Kathy October 13, 2011 at 12:59 PM

    I’d get excited for all of 5 seconds until my brain realized that it’s not mine & I have to give it back.

    Working for a large insurance company gives me some funny/sad/outrageous stories of people and what they try to attempt to do &/or say.

    The latest one happened last week; payments were credited to a policy in error 3 months in a row. The person KNOWS it’s not their money, & has a hissy fit that they have pay pay ALL this money at once because the insurance co has corrected the error (and correctly credited the ‘right’ account). Uh, yeah…hello?! You haven’t been making payments for three months and you’re complaining?

    Reply
  21. Jenna, Adaptu Community Manager October 13, 2011 at 1:01 PM

    I think I’d be too paranoid about getting caught to enjoy it. I’d rather just be honest.

    Reply
  22. Kathy October 13, 2011 at 1:09 PM

    Another story happened years ago when my father deposited my paycheck into my checking account for me and the bank put it in my savings account instead. Well, 8 NSF checks & 3 months later, I finally got the bank to credit ALL the fees. It was a nightmare.

    And yet another story was when I was in my early 20’s & wrote a check for $40 to pay my Montgomery Ward credit card bill (before online banking). They cashed my check for $400 and caused 5 NSF fees (before I caught their error & stopped the rest of my checks from being NSF). It took several months and many, many phone calls to get this resolved. No apology or anything…suffice it to say, Monkey Wards was not a favorite of mine after that.

    Reply
  23. Bryan at Pinch that Penny! October 13, 2011 at 1:34 PM

    The only experience I have like this is one time a buddy was trying to pull $60 out of the ATM, and the ATM gave him $80 instead. He quickly checked his balance, and the bank had only taken $60 out of his account. It was 9 or 10 at night, and when he tried to call the bank, they didn’t have anybody on the telephone. I’ll admit, I advised him to just keep it (for some reason I was especially cranky at banks at that time, though I fully admit that the best, moral thing to have done would have been to advise him to go to the bank the next day and talk to a teller about it). I’m not sure if he ever called back the bank or not.

    Sorry, I guess that’s kind of a bad story.

    Reply
  24. Matt October 13, 2011 at 2:13 PM

    I thought of another one :)

    A co-worker of mine sold one of his vehicles for around $4000 and the buyer paid him in cash. He did not want to carry around that much money and went to one of his branch ATM’s because it was after hours and attempted to deposit it there. After about he put $2700 in the ATM completely powered down. I guess that’s a default when it’s full or something idk. Anyway it didn’t give him a receipt or anything and no money posted to his account. He went back and forth with the bank for about 2 weeks before he got his money back.

    Reply
  25. Cassie October 13, 2011 at 2:27 PM

    I was artificially up about $2000 a couple of days ago. I was transfering some money from my TFSA to my regular savings account. They put the money in my savings account, but the TFSA still showed the money as being in there as well. I’m going to give them a couple days before I check again, sometimes they’re just slow with that sort of thing.

    Reply
  26. J. Money October 13, 2011 at 3:39 PM

    @Kate – Agreed! A perfect reason to keep all receipts and paperwork, great reminder.
    @Nicole – Wowwwww I remember signing that form too actually! Haha… on our refinance this year – maybe it was because of the same person? :) “unlawful enrichment” – good to know, thanks for the inside scoop my friend!
    @Leah – Nice!!! I’m glad you got it back at least, that sounds annoying as hell ;)
    @Money Beagle – HAH! Really? That is awesome!! Like a “reward” of some sort, eh? Does’t hurt to ask I suppose. Nicely played :)
    @Kevin @ Thousandaire.com – Yeah for real, good lookin’ out!
    @20’s Finances – Haha… I’ll admit I’d have to think about that one for a while too ;) Esp. if it was a smaller charge. Big ones I’d have gone back asap. Or maybe at least the next time I happen to go in there get them to charge me for it. Though once I did that and I got double charged cuz the reason it never went through the first time was cuz of some delay on their end. It all worked out in the end though.
    @Stephanie – That would have been a super nice surprise! :)
    @Jason Peck – I hope they at least gave you an extra lollypop? ;) Nicely done though man, that’s awesome of you.
    @Ashley @ Money Talks – Oh wow, yeah – I’d imagine that if you had proof of it right there that they could do it much faster than just taking your word. I’m glad they got it fixed fast for you :)
    @Kathy – HAH! People are loony. It’s funny how they think they deserve a lot of stuff too for doing nothing at all except being at the right place at the right time. (Or as it turns out, bad place if they end up spending it all!). Sucky about your issues w/ all those NSF fees and everything too — just part of the beast, I suppose.
    @Jenna, Adaptu Community Manager – Yup! Not worth even a *hint* of jail time.
    @Bryan at Pinch that Penny! – Haha… it’s an HONEST story which is what I wanted to hear :) We all do stuff like that, no judging remember? After posting about this I remembered a time where I bought something for $40 and it never came, so they gave me a credit back to my account, only for the item to show up 2 months later. I was like “WTF?” I can’t remember if I called back or not (I vaguely remember them telling me they didn’t understand) but either way I ended up getting it for free. And I’m pretty sure I could have spoken up more. We live and we try and do better next time :)
    @Matt – OUCH! Now *that* sucks. Esp when you’re dealing with cash and no paper trail whatsoever… It’s a good thing they could go in and count the number/review the internal paperwork! (I know it’s possible cuz I’ve done it before – takes foreverrrrr).
    @Cassie – Woah! A real life example going on right now, I love it! :) Let us know what happens okay? I’m interested to see.

    Reply
  27. Sarah October 13, 2011 at 3:50 PM

    An automated check-out lane at the supermarket gave me three $20 bills in change instead of three $5 bills. I found a manager and alerted him to the problem. I did wonder how long that had been going on, though. Some people don’t check their change. And I’m sure some people who check their change would claim that they didn’t.

    My worst recent experience with that was at Target when the cashier only charged me for one box of garbage bags and not two. It was really messy for the cashier to fix. I started to walk out of the store and then realized that when the cashier fixed her mistake, she’d refunded money to a giftcard she had thrown in the trash. So then I had to ask her to fish out my giftcard out of the trash since it then had money on it.

    Reply
    1. Ryan Chesmore April 26, 2016 at 9:00 PM

      Big stores like that, and Wal-Mart have a refund policy that no receipt, then it’s to be put onto a gift card…Which if it’s the cashier’s fault, I’m unsure why they wouldn’t just give you cash…Employee mistakes are costly in businesses like that…I took hy-vee training a number of years back, and back then every dollar a merchant lost, or has stolen, they had to make up 100 more than the dollar in profits to make up for their loss…So $1 in loss was to be made up in $100 in profits, which I’m sure it’s much more than that now.

      Reply
  28. Bryan at Pinch that Penny! October 13, 2011 at 4:54 PM

    On the flip side, one of the roommates that I had when I was fresh out of college told a story where he claimed that he had deposited a check at the bank, but he had written down the wrong account number (so the money was deposited into somebody else’s account). When he realized his mistake, he talked with the bank, but the bank refused to refund him his money. Maybe it works both ways. :-)

    Reply
  29. Ron Stevens October 13, 2011 at 5:42 PM

    All i can do is laugh at this, it did happened to me one time but just one time as far as i could remember and yeah i play the i didn’t know game but it works for me for just that one time, so far i never new who put the money on my account, so it was best to keep my self silence. :) good luck guys.

    Reply
  30. BoeshaneHR October 13, 2011 at 7:49 PM

    Kismet on timing, yo. I looked at my pay and it appeared I was being over paid by $600+. Turns out part of that is due to going from lag to current pay, but they still have to research part of it. I was quick to tell them too, since I know what I should have been paid, and don’t want it with held from a future pay check – or them to question my ethics. :P

    Reply
  31. LB October 13, 2011 at 10:35 PM

    I was once refunded the same amount of money from a company and my credit card at the same time. I never said anything because of the big issues I had to go through to prove someone had charged my credit card twice. I just waited for someone to notice, but no one did, probably because customer service was so bad.

    Same sort of issue with poor customer service but I ended up with two of the same pairs of shoes after lots of problems. I didn’t feel the need to say anything again, because they had lost my first pair, lied about them being in stock then accidently sent the same pair twice. I figured it was compensation for all the hassle.

    Reply
  32. iwantmyhdbflat October 13, 2011 at 11:38 PM

    This is not quite in the same context, but two years ago, I read in the papers that a couple in Singapore thought that they have won a $1M sweepstakes from Reader’s Digest. Before “receiving” the money, they promptly spent $300K on buying antiques, fine-dining, travelling, carpets from Egypt etc. And they thought they were being prudent since $700K would still be theirs to keep in cash.

    A week later, they called Reader’s Digest to ask how they could collect their monies… *surprise surprise* they found out they didn’t win anything instead! It turns out that the letter they received was a gimmick – “YOU HAVE WON A MILLION DOLLARS*!!!! Fine print: This is a marketing message brought to you by RD. The contest is held worldwide blah blah blah…”

    Lesson to learn: Don’t be a f***ing greedy idiot, and always read the fine print! :D

    Reply
  33. Paula @ AffordAnything.org October 14, 2011 at 12:36 AM

    What? Is this a common thing? This has NEVER happened to me! I thought that only happened to people who wind up on the news!

    Reply
  34. Cassie October 14, 2011 at 1:53 AM

    Hey J$, I have an update for you. I checked back today and the money is gone out of the account. It’s too bad, I enjoyed having an artificially inflated net worth for a little while. It gave me a little psychological bump in how I feel about my (slowly improving) finances.

    Reply
  35. J. Money October 14, 2011 at 11:28 AM

    @Sarah – You know, that bill denomination mistake isn’t that rare – esp with hackers out there (I mentioned it a little bit in another comment above) but if someone gets access to change it in THEIR favor, like that, then it’s a big mess for sure. Glad you spoke up though!! Who knows how long it had been going for sure. Reminds me of those times Gas stations accidently charge people like 34 cents a gallon instead of $3.34 ;) It may be good for some people, but it always comes out of someone’s pockets.
    @Bryan at Pinch that Penny! – What?? Really?? Man that sucks… can’t imagine it not being fixable though if you fight it. Just goes to show to always double check things! :) I’m pretty anal about it – I literally triple check every single thing I deposit. It annoys me cuz it makes the process a lot longer, but the odds of big mistakes happening are a lot lower now.
    @Ron Stevens – It’ll be interesting to see if it ever comes out down the road ;) How long has it been now?
    @BoeshaneHR – Hah! Yup, for sure. Would be a sucky surprise to get pay witheld down the line you’re right. Crazy timing ;)
    @LB – Haha, as long as they never find out in the future you’re good ;) Thanks for being honest! I like hearing both sides of these things.
    @iwantmyhdbflat – Damn!! Yeah, no kidding. Just like w/ everything else, GET THE MONEY FIRST before you spend! Though tell that to the rest of the world spending money they don’t have on credit cards ;) We all do stupid $hit, just thankfully not THAT stupid, haha…
    @Paula @ AffordAnything.org – Haha, really??? Maybe you’re just smooth like that ;) I actually didn’t think so many people would be commenting w/ their stories though – pretty fun to read!
    @Cassie – Well that was fast! Thanks for the update :) And sharing your feelings w/ us — I’d have loved that too. Huge emotional boost! One day it’ll be for real tho ;) You know you can do it!

    Reply
  36. Elle@Odd Cents October 14, 2011 at 6:44 PM

    It would suck to be on either side of the fence. I would not like to see a fat $5,000 appear in my account only to find out that it was a *bank error*. Conversely, to see $5,000 missing, I would be beyond annoyed. We’re all human and people make mistakes, BUT one person’s mistakes could mess up someone’s life. I make it a point to check my bank accounts on a regular basis because you never know….

    Reply
  37. J. Money October 14, 2011 at 9:58 PM

    Exactly. It’s all even-stephen up in here ;) someone gains means someone loses! at least when it comes to errors… always gotta keep our eyes open.

    Reply
  38. Donna Freedman October 16, 2011 at 12:00 AM

    I’ve never gotten someone else’s money by mistake. If I did, of course I’d contact the bank. It’s. Not. Mine.

    Reply
  39. Stacey October 17, 2011 at 3:40 PM

    Just recently the bank recorded a $50,000 deposit in my account as a $5,000 deposit. It took them a day to correct the mistake, but due to a $40,000 check that was written immediately (and deposited immediately) after my deposit, I found myself in a HUGE hole the next day. They recognized the mistake and corrected it immediately, but my ODP had, of course, kicked in and went unnoticed for a few days. When I finally noticed the interest that was accruing on the ODP, I had to spend more time on the phone getting that taken care of (as if I should pay interest on the bank’s mistake!!) It was all corrected, but I never did get an apology for the headache – fitting for a financial institution :(

    Reply
  40. J. Money October 18, 2011 at 12:12 PM

    Ouch — boy, that is no fun at all, sorry to hear! And it took me FOREVER to figure out what you were saying w/ “ODP” haha… Overdraft Protection, yes?? Haha…. I’m pretty slow at times ;) I’m glad it’s all cleared up now though! What a mess… and I’m also curious how one gets their hands on $50,000 to deposit too ;) But I’m just gonna pretend you got it in a really boring way, haha… thanks for telling your story.

    Reply
  41. K.Itsok December 31, 2011 at 10:27 PM

    One time my credit union deposited $7,000 in my account, I went into the branch to notify them of this error. About a week went by before the removed the money from my account, they called me and said someone had accidentally put the wrong numbers in, thanked me for reporting it. Of course in the back of my mind I was thinking I hope I can keep it.

    Reply
  42. J. Money January 1, 2012 at 11:48 AM

    haha, of course :) we’d all like that! damn good thing you didn’t spend it though or you’d be in a world of hurt… happy new year, my new friend!

    Reply
  43. lsf February 29, 2012 at 7:00 AM

    I have been paid money into my account from a company that I don’t work for or have ever worked for , its from my the company my dad works for?, I’m struggling to think why they would have my bank details to .., I’m not sure what to do , seing all that money being payed in weekly is nice but I haven’t spent anything of it , what’s the best to do?

    Reply
  44. J. Money February 29, 2012 at 6:31 PM

    Wow, that’s totally weird. And/or super random if it has no correlation with your dad’s stuff! Have you asked him already? I’d do that first, and then call up the company right away and notify them. It def. doesn’t belong to you if you haven’t earned it, so good to get cleared up ASAP and off your plate. Pretty interesting though! :)

    Reply
  45. Karma March 1, 2012 at 9:36 PM

    I went to withdraw 700, guy hands me 900 and says have a good day. (account only had 700)

    I immediately spotted the error just as I was walking towards the exit. I went and told the guy he made a mistake and gave me 2 extra hundreds..and gave them back.

    I almost walked out, but it just felt wrong. Plus the bank would notice sooner or later and possibly call the police. No thanks!

    Reply
  46. J. Money March 2, 2012 at 12:25 PM

    Good job!! And that employee would have gotten into trouble too and possibly lost $200 out of his pay check :( So way to do good :)

    Reply
  47. B. Baker March 26, 2012 at 7:09 PM

    This just happened today. Went to a gas station this morning, swiped my debit card, the pump for some reason wouldn’t let me put 85 in my car, only premium. So I cancelled, and when to a different pump. When I checked my account this evening, the 15$ came out of my account, but it has credited my account 99$. It also says it’s not supposed to go into my account until this Thursday. A little confused. Will go into bank tomorrow to see what’s up. Wanted to see if this has happened to anyone before.

    Reply
    1. Makpask August 26, 2015 at 7:34 PM

      This happened me today. Did you ever figure out how to get it fixed?

      Reply
  48. mandy April 17, 2012 at 1:08 PM

    just reading comments above ,im in a situation at present my ex has paid 1,000 into my account by mistake im quite aware its not my money and i should give it back but he actually owes me 600 in maintance that he refused to pay and suddley i have my hands on his money !! so do i take out the 600 owed and return the rest..so tempting .. is this karma mmmm what to do i think il just keep it a bit longer.. and think abit more about this …

    Reply
  49. J. Money April 18, 2012 at 10:01 AM

    @B. Baker – Oh jeez, I hate when things like that happen cuz even though it’s not YOUR fault, and you’re trying to be good about it all, you still have to put in the time to get it all figured out :( I hope you did! If you’re still following this post, would love to hear what happened in the end :) For some reason I’m just now noticing this comment of yours – sorry about that.

    @mandy – Ooooooooh now THAT is indeed an interesting situation! My instinct says to email/call him and just say “Hey, I got your $1,000 in my account but you owe me $600 so how about I just xfer back $400 of it?” and see what he says, but if he says no and he wants all $1,000, I wouldn’t know what the heck to do, haha… we need a lawyer hre to help us out and see what would happen :) Maybe I’ll blog about it?? Might be interesting to see what others would do, eh?

    Reply
  50. KLady June 9, 2012 at 1:19 PM

    I’m actually in a situation right now where I mistakenly deposited my rent payment in someone elses account! The landlord just contacted me today to let me know to check with the bank because they haven’t received the payment in their account. I will be going straight to the bank first thing Monday morning to get the bank to correct it. So glad I have my deposit receipt because I don’t just have hundreds of dollars to throw away.Whoever got the money in their account, I hope they do the right thing and let the bank know. That’s just wrong to spend what’s not yours! Someone could get kicked outdoors while you’re out happily spending money that you know isn’t yours. That’s not cool.

    Reply
  51. J. Money June 9, 2012 at 10:22 PM

    Oh no!!! Yes, please do go there first thing Monday morning, and maybe even call/email them ahead of time if you can leave a message of any sort? I have no doubt you’ll get it fixed though, in the end it usually DOES work out :) Just annoying going through the process – sorry to hear you have to!

    Reply
  52. Jr July 1, 2012 at 5:13 AM

    Somebody put over 2thousand in my account I don’t know what to do n I loss my card. I don’t want to say nothing to the bank yet. I think I’m just going to stay quiet n see what happened?

    Reply
  53. J. Money July 2, 2012 at 9:24 AM

    I’d tread softly with that – eventually they’ll find out and take it back so don’t spend it whatever you do!

    Reply
  54. john July 23, 2012 at 12:17 AM

    i deposited a 430 check from work on friday but while i was depositing it the power went out
    that money did deposit. but the next morning i checked my account and it showed 2 checks had been deposited
    what to do??

    Reply
  55. J. Money July 24, 2012 at 4:05 PM

    Woah! Freaky! If I were you I’d call the bank and let them know what happens – you don’t want to go and do something w/ that money only to have them pull it sometime in the future – they WILL find out! :)

    Reply
  56. Terri August 21, 2012 at 8:57 AM

    My husband went to the bank and saw that there were two checks $26000+ deposited into his checking account. He recently lost a great job working for the city for no good reason except he was on probation and became disabled for 20 days. They extended his probation and he was late once and lost the best job, best benifits. We had been trying to save for vacation. So when he picked me up he showed me the bank receipt and asked me “where did you want to go on vacation”? But I immediately told him that isn’t our money. He said I knew you would say that, and said your right. Long story short, he calls the bank within a day or two. The guy on the phone kept saying it is your money, duh, the checks are made out to a company, This is a personal account. The bank said they would investigate. They immediately took the money out. I tried contacting the company, who had hand written the deposit slip with the last digit looking like a 7, my husband’s is a 9. A few days later I told my husband to call the bank, make sure it was deposited to the right account. They told him they took care of it. Since the company was new, I couldn’t obtain a phone number. So I called a co in Miami who sent them $ 25k check and told them that their check was deposited to my husband’s account and I would like to make sure that their client received his money. The girl was a little snippy, asked for my first name and phone number in case she needed it, said she would check into it and hung up. She could have at least said thank you. My husband and I really wanted nothing to do with the money, but were hoping for at least a call from the company saying thanks. Guess that is asking too much.

    Reply
  57. J. Money August 21, 2012 at 9:42 AM

    Oh man, that’s a ton of money too! Good for you on trying to return it ASAP like that – you def. don’t want major problems down the road once everyone figured it out. I hope you get your thanks soon! You probably saved them a ton of time by speaking up :)

    Reply
  58. trice November 13, 2012 at 3:31 PM

    I just recieved a 2nd check in the same amount from an insurance company following a claim on my vehicle. i deposited the 1st check made in person by the adjuster. today i got a mailed check and i cashed it and want to keep the money, do you think they will notice the error? what should i do? i want to call and get verification that the check was ok to be cashed, so if in the future they have a problem and or realize the mistake, i will be able to tell them that i called and got the ok to cash it and didnt realize anything was wrong… i know this is probably wrong to want to keep the money, but my financial situation is horrible right now, and i want to see this as a surprise bday gift, lol…

    Reply
  59. J. Money November 14, 2012 at 12:12 PM

    Haha, well you can try all you want to keep it but I’m 99% sure they’ll find the error and when they do they’ll come looking for the money back ;) And believe me, they’ll win and get it. So it’s totally up to you if you want to risk it and see what happens, but it’s def. a long shot. Even if they don’t figure it out for months or years, I’m sure they will eventually and you don’t want to be put in even *worse* shape having to pay back the money you already spent.

    Reply
    1. manny October 23, 2013 at 4:50 PM

      Why you have to pay for someone else’s mistakes….

      Reply
      1. J. Money October 23, 2013 at 9:02 PM

        You don’t have to pay for anyone’s mistakes, only your OWN if you cash it knowing it’s not yours ;) You can just as easily rip it up and throw it in the trash, right? Would you want someone to spend your money if you accidentally gave it to them?

        Reply
  60. Elle January 1, 2013 at 10:59 AM

    This happened with my husband a few times – he and his father have the same first and last names (different middle names though). One time while he was still in college he had a few thousand dollars in his account. It would’ve been nice, but he knew it wasn’t his :)

    Reply
  61. J. Money January 2, 2013 at 10:44 AM

    HAH! I can totally see that happening then :) It’s kinda like how I get mail for MY dad too every now and then, only that’s all spam stuff, haha… And also weirder since my MIDDLE name is his first name, it’s not like our firsts are? Anyways though, good for your husband for always staying true :) Happy New Year, friend!

    Reply
  62. CallmeE January 6, 2013 at 4:25 PM

    @Mandy- re: the money your ex-hubby aka “deadbeat dad” deposited accidently to your account. I would have written him a notarized letter saying “Thank you so much for depositing $1000 to the account. I have applied $600 to your delinquent past due balance, and you now have $400 credit toward’s next month’s child support, meaning that only $200 is now due on Feb. 1st. The children and I are very grateful that you are stepping up to the plate to be the great dad I know you can be. Will send you an invite to Johnny’s b’day party. He will be happy to see you. Regards to your mother. Best, Mandy”. (I’m sure I’m way too late, but that’s what I would have done).

    Reply
  63. J. Money January 8, 2013 at 10:24 AM

    Haha… that would have proven interesting ;)

    Reply
  64. Sharon February 7, 2013 at 9:52 PM

    My 19 year old son went to check his account today and found out that the IRS had deposited 32,000 dollars into his account. He called his bank and they gave him the run around about the money . To make a long story short it took them 2 days to take the money back and we found out the IRS had deposited $ 32,000 in everybody’s account that morning that was owed a refund

    Reply
    1. J. Money February 8, 2013 at 8:03 PM

      Wowww that is crazy!!! What an insane mistake to make, jeez…

      Reply
  65. @pfinMario February 8, 2013 at 10:24 AM

    I would at least shift it to a higher interest account, but definitely keep it liquid

    Reply
    1. J. Money February 8, 2013 at 8:04 PM

      haha, that’s a good idea actually :) I wonder if they would still credit your account the interest? I mean, it would surely be prorated anyways cuz it would probably only stay there for a few days to a week, but if we’re talking large sums? Could be worth a few bucks.

      (although when they go to pull it back and it’s not in its original place, you’ll then get a hefty fee too I’d imagine ;) So maybe they’d cancel each other out?)

      Reply
  66. cashmoney March 3, 2013 at 5:38 PM

    wat if u went to your account and been praying for money and u find your account 100,000 heavier.. withdrawl 20 thousand thn buy a car thn withdrawl 30 thousand give your mother some and invest the rest in renovation for home… would you get charged for a mishap or would it go to your credit…

    Reply
  67. J. Money March 4, 2013 at 8:18 PM

    You’d be in a LOT of trouble, that’s what :) Your credit would be the least of it as you’d need to come up with the $100,000 to pay back. I hope this didn’t really happen ;)

    Reply
  68. lexgunner March 14, 2013 at 3:14 PM

    Just saw this thread. A major US bank deposited over $43000, from a wire transfer coming to me, to someone else’s account. They still have it, I don’t, and the bank is doing nothing to fix its own mistake. FYI — wire transfers to and from US and foreign banks are a huge snafu. Make triply-sure that you have ALL the account numbers, routing numbers, etc correct, plus assume that everyone involved is a total idiot.

    Reply
  69. J. Money March 16, 2013 at 12:16 PM

    What?? That’s horrible! I never thought about international banking stuff, but jeez – that can’t be legal. Is it just a matter of time until you get it, or are you saying you’re *not* going to? That’s not a small chunk of money :(

    Reply
  70. ish March 27, 2013 at 9:59 PM

    I have two accidental tax refunds(state & fed) deposited in my acct. I ‘m actually going to be closing my credit union acct soon because it’s no longer convenient & I’ve had problems with them in the past,but they haven’t taken the money out of my acct yet . how long does it usually take for them to reverse this transaction. I really want to close this acct soon. if I closed this acct but don’t spend the money can I get in trouble. I would just bring it with me to my new bank and wait for them contact me.

    Reply
  71. J. Money March 29, 2013 at 8:04 PM

    Oh man, it can take a day or it can take weeks – sometimes even months depending on how much they care and pay attention. I’d imagine the latter happens far and few between though. I’d sit tight until it’s all done and taken care of and *then* switch. If you move it they may reverse it and then show a negative balance which could then re-open your account automatically and charge you fees up the wazoo. Even though it wasn’t your fault.

    Better to be safe than sorry :)

    Reply
  72. Dave June 25, 2013 at 2:21 PM

    Last month I checked on pay-day and noticed my paycheck was double deposited. I have 60% going to one bank, 40% to another. They both had double deposits. I got ahold of work, they said according to their records only the amount of one paycheck $ 2400.40 was deducted.
    The bank said only one paycheck was processed for same amount. Its been a month today and both extra payments are still in my bank(s). I told them about it. I guess they will figure it out eventually. But I keep having to remind myself…”Don’t spend that money”. If it goes for a year I am going to forget that reminder. lol

    Reply
    1. J. Money June 26, 2013 at 12:26 PM

      Haha…. well you’re a smart man! It’s annoying (and tempting) as hell I know, but keep on setting those reminders to yourself :)

      Reply
  73. Tyler June 26, 2013 at 12:46 AM

    the other day I deposited some checks through an atm and when I got home, I went online to check how much money I had. supposedly I deposited $5200.00 when the checks where worth around $400-500. As much as I would love to keep the money ( as I am 19 ) I know that when I deposit checks it tells me to accept if xxxx.00 was the right amount when depositing. and since I always just hit accept it is the machines and my fault. so I guess ill call the bank tomorrow :(

    Reply
    1. J. Money June 26, 2013 at 12:27 PM

      Ahhh, yeah. Maybe too many 0’s in there eh? That sucks, sorry to hear. But you’re def. making the right move! Good to get it all squared away now than have to deal with the mess later on. You’re a smart 19 y/o :)

      Reply
  74. Tracey August 12, 2013 at 9:14 AM

    I got a check from my 401k for almost $8000, deposited into my checking and everything is good. One week later I get another check from them, exact amount but a different check number. Of course it’s tempting to keep. What so you guys think?

    Reply
  75. J. Money August 12, 2013 at 1:17 PM

    NOTIFY YOUR BANK & 401k company right away!! Don’t even dare think they won’t find out cuz they will – believe me :) The real question here is why you’re pulling out $8k from your 401k and putting it into your checking?

    Reply
  76. Teresa August 12, 2013 at 1:29 PM

    Haha I knew the answer already just needed to hear another person confirm it! It’s so tempting though, after losing almost $4000 for taking it out. I needed the money to relocate from DE to Austin TX plain and simple.

    Reply
    1. J. Money August 12, 2013 at 1:52 PM

      Ahhh gotcha. Good luck with the move :)

      Reply
  77. Teresa August 12, 2013 at 1:55 PM

    Thanks. Been here 3 weeks and loving it!

    Reply
  78. Kod September 5, 2013 at 11:52 AM

    I was being paid 2 salarys as was know by 2 different names by employer, this went on for 9 months until employer contracted out their pay department to a 3rd party company, I was over paid nearly £29000 = 9 months wage by an oil company, I said I had no idea as was going through a divorce and property settlements etc, anyway cut long story short company was taken over and I left soon after, I have not heard a peep since, my credit is ok, so yes sod em was underpaid and over worked anyway. KEEP IT………..

    Reply
    1. J. Money September 5, 2013 at 4:05 PM

      Wow, that’s pretty crazy. Hopefully it doesn’t come back and bite you years later.

      Reply
  79. Teresa September 5, 2013 at 12:44 PM

    I still have the second check. I like to look at it from time to time! HAHA!

    Reply
  80. Chance Kamakana January 23, 2014 at 9:23 PM

    That just happened to me. My card was locked out because of identity theft I guess, when I called they gave me an address that was not mine as mine, so I canceled the card and they sent me a new one. My old card had about a $1100 dollar balance but the new one had a very small balance 20 bucks, a new available of $1100. I dont know what happened, if the clerk pressed a wrong key and read my balance as a credit and not a debit. But anyways, it is what it is. It took me so long to get things ironed out with my old card, so I’m not gonna say anything. I wont use the card though, in fact I’m going to pay off the last few bucks and just leave the card sit. Not having to pay a monthly bill on that one will help out some. I may contact the credit card company or I may just cancel the card if I am never contacted about the discrepency.

    Reply
    1. J. Money January 24, 2014 at 7:47 AM

      I always tell people to do whatever they think is right, but to be prepared in case the worst happens. For example, if 6 months goes by and they realize the error and are now asking for 6 mos worth of payments plus late fees/interest/etc, what would you do?

      Usually something can always be worked out, but if legally you owe what you owe, it’s not gonna be fun :(

      Reply
  81. J Evans April 16, 2014 at 11:36 AM

    This just happened to me on Saturday the 12, 2014, I went to the atm to pull out some cash yo pay my bills when I got the balance back it told me I had 22,520.29 in my checking account I never laugh so hard in my life cause I have never had more then 2000.00 in my account at a time. I went home right away and called my back to let them know the money that was in my account didnt belong to me, but of since it was Saturday they had left for the day, so this was going to have to wait until Monday to fix at this point I no longer used my checking account. First thing Monday I call the bank to tell them that money is not mine and I never put it in there. It is now Wednesday the 16th and they have yet to find were the money go’s to and I’am still not using the account, they say it show it go’s into my account and I tell them no it don’t belong in my account, somebody out there has to be missing 22,000 and will be coming to look for it soon i hope. I told the bank if it wasnt out of my checking today that I was going to come in and move it to the savings account so when the real owner of the money comes looking for it, it will be safe and sound ready for them to take.

    Reply
    1. J. Money April 16, 2014 at 9:13 PM

      Oh wow – that’s a long time gone by so far! But you know they’ll eventually figure it out, so you’re smart on not spending it or getting your hopes up :)

      Before you do the xfer, I’d make sure to ask them what happens if they go to reverse the transaction and your checking account goes negative. Cuz then you’ll get hit with fees which will probably knock out any pennies you make off the interest anyways. $20k in a savings account won’t earn you much these days – even if it was in there for months at a time :( So personally I wouldn’t even mess with it.

      Reply
  82. D April 25, 2014 at 11:52 PM

    Hello,

    I am a struggling single mom on welfare. I am a full time student at a Univeristy and boy do I have a tale for you. So here I was one sunny day stressing about the money I don’t have when all of a sudden over $10000 was in my account! I was confused and so happy and amazed! I have been beyond stressed with crazy life issues ontop of everything else and I just applied for a $10000 scholarship! I literally thought I won it or?…
    Maybe back child support? It was the same amount as well. Instead of inquiring because all I do is yell at people over the phone lately I decided to buy my school book a and things I needed for my house and my son and paid off bills and parking tickets.

    I saved about half just because I wasn’t sure where it came from get and of course instead of being blessed I once again was cursed.

    Turns out the money was my moms. Don’t know how I got it but she’s super mad at me and thinks I did this on purpose and that I’m an evil horrible person and pretty much disowned me. When she told me what happened I immediately apologized and told her how I thought I got the money and said I would pay her back immediately and sell what I could or do whatever and she still threatened to prosecute me. I’m pretty shocked and I feel it’s bull shit to do to people. I was NOT trying to take money that was not mine. I searched for ways of where it could have come from, but failed to research where in fact it came from. Now I have to pay back $7000.

    My stress level just went through the roof… FML.

    Reply
    1. J. Money April 26, 2014 at 1:10 PM

      Ouch! I wish I could side with you and say that it was all bad luck and you got screwed, but obviously from this post I wrote you know that’s not the case ;) A hard lesson to learn, but on the plus side now you know to stay far far away if it happens again, eh? Just sucks about the whole situation with your mom :( I’m really sorry to hear that. Money can do as march harm as it can good in this world, so I do pray you guys work it out and get back on good terms again.

      Good luck!

      Reply
  83. Patricia June 9, 2014 at 1:46 PM

    Last I discovered that my husband and I have $26,000 in our brokerage acct. Should be more like $600. We’ve never been broker in our lives than we are now and my husband lost his job for the 3rd time recently. His industry is suffering and he’s changing his profession now needless to say. In any case, I must admit it’s all I can do to call the bank!!! So far I’m just looking at it and living in ‘la la’ land. My parents raised me right so I know I won’t ‘try’ to keep it but it sure looks nice!!!! FML!!! I’ve never been in a more desperate position financially in my life and truth be told I’m wondering how much trouble I’d be in, as in, can someone go to jail for borrowing it and paying it back later. It’s awful I know. But don’t judge till uv walked in my shoes. I’ve just started day-trading (the RIGHT WAY, not the stupid ‘loose ur ass’ way) and it is so tempting to use it to invest, make a huge gain and then give it back. I win 70% of the time so the odds are in my favor. I cut losses quik so they are small. NOW WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF U WERE ME??????? It takes a LONG time to build from such a small acct. Gains on $26,000 would return large sums by far. No one gets hurt, right? Or no? What do YOU think???? Oh the dilemma!!!!

    Reply
    1. J. Money June 9, 2014 at 9:14 PM

      I know it’s tempting, but I wouldn’t touch it for a host second if you’re asking me – the risks are too high. You’re set up to fail whether you make money off it or lose money cuz you’re playing with money that’s not yours! I don’t know the legalities of it all, but I’m pretty sure you don’t want to get stuck in the middle of it… Nor day trading for that matter, I’ve never met anyone who comes out ahead in the end :(

      Reply
  84. Melissa June 20, 2014 at 11:13 PM

    ok so it happened to me to the tune of $10,800. I was concerned that somebody had access to my account and went to the bank – 30 min away and two tolls and let them know. Do you think they could have reimbursed me for gas and tolls? Of course not. . Sooooo. This time around – yes it just happened to the tune of $25,000 this time- I will say nothing-the money will be there when they figure it out and maybe next time they will be more careful.

    Reply
    1. J. Money June 21, 2014 at 4:05 PM

      Man, someone over there sucks at their job!

      Reply
      1. Melissa June 22, 2014 at 4:50 PM

        Yes, I agree :)
        I am really curious to see just how long it takes them to figure it out.

        Reply
  85. Ani August 5, 2014 at 5:05 PM

    I deposited a check in the amount of $8700 in my checking account. I wanted to close that account so the bank opened me a new one and transferred my balance. The transfer balance was $8400. The old account and the new account both showed $8400 giving me a grand total of $16,800. I withdrew it ALL* But the following day I returned the $8400 my account showed that it was overdrawn that amount. I opted OUT of JAIL TIME. PLEASE if this has happened to you give yourself PEACE of mind and DON’T do as I did jet leave the money in the account the bank will correct its error. I’m having a blast with the $8400 that actually belongs to me:)

    Reply
    1. J. Money August 6, 2014 at 9:04 PM

      I’m glad there was a happy ending to that one! As you can tell there’s plenty of people reading this (and commenting) that they do want to risk it and get away with “free” money. But it always comes back to you in the end so better to be safe than sorry right out the gate.

      Reply
  86. j.sams August 6, 2014 at 10:45 AM

    Ok, I have a direct deposit card debit card separate from my banking institution. Whenever I goto my bank and have them pull money off of my debit card a couple of days later it appears back onto the card. If I spend this money my debit card goes into negative of the amount that was initially pulled of the card and when my work check gets deposited in my account instantly the negative balance is took. Am I wrong for spending this money or am I borrowing from myself.

    Reply
    1. J. Money August 6, 2014 at 9:07 PM

      I’m kinda confused about your situation, but I’d side with “yes” here and assume you’re just borrowing it from yourself the entire time. I’d just call them up though and simply ask – you’ll get your answer right away :) Also, you don’t want to be going into the negatives at all so if that becomes a problem for you I’d work on storing up a cushion in that account so that way nothing funky happens. As long as you’re able to resist temptation to spend it, of course.

      Reply
  87. PDW August 13, 2014 at 1:35 PM

    I just had $154, 278.33 hit my checking account last Friday afternoon. I checked my account again the following Monday hoping it would have been corrected, it wasn’t. Tuesday I emailed this National Bank through there website, Customer Service and explained this electronic transfer hit my account by mistake. Within ten minutes I had a response back and they said they show the deposit was received by a wire transfer from a title company in Michgan and there is nothing they could do about wire transfers?? WTH? Now what? I spoke with our companies attorney and showed him the banks response and he was dumbfounded. Now what do I do?

    Reply
    1. monotosh August 14, 2014 at 6:55 AM

      DO NOTHING…
      JUST THINK..THAT YOUR ACCOUNT
      CONTAINS WHAT IT CONTAINED BEFORE AND SPEND LIKEWISE

      Reply
      1. J. Money August 18, 2014 at 7:10 AM

        Agreed. Whatever you do just don’t spend the money! Not sure of the best way to clear it up, other than to notify the bank as you now have done, but they’ll figure it out at some point for sure.

        Reply
  88. L.A.P. September 29, 2014 at 2:26 PM

    my ex partner did not change her direct deposit after we broke up and 2 of her paychecks went into the bank account we once shared, do I legally have to give it back

    Reply
    1. J. Money September 30, 2014 at 1:34 PM

      My rule of thumb is this: If it doesn’t belong to you, give it back. Then you don’t have to worry about what’s legal or not :)

      Reply
  89. raspapio October 17, 2014 at 3:46 AM

    My account was wrongly credited 13 feb 2012. 14 feb 2012 ,I drew the attention of the bank. By 2 feb 2013 the error had not been corrected. I gave out a facility to someone and instructed that repayments are made into that account. After a month I went and withdrew from the account without checking whether the bank had corrected their error. Because my cheques went through too, did not checked whether the monies I was withdrawing were paid in by the borrower. It tend out that the borrower failed to pay on the date he promised and so was actually withdrawing the wrong credit. I noticed and refunded all. The bank is demanding interest at their rate from me but first reported the case to the police and was charged with stealing. What do you advise

    Reply
    1. J. Money October 18, 2014 at 1:52 PM

      Oh wow, sorry to hear – that sounds like a nightmare :( I can’t advise on anything I’m afraid as that’s outside my realm, but I’d do my best to have notes with everything that happened w/ all dates, people etc you dealt with back then. Anything that can help your case. I hope it all gets sorted out!

      Reply
  90. Ki mani December 8, 2014 at 10:57 PM

    Yoooo I had 0$ pm this card I bought from target and now it has loads of money and I’m like buying all this stuff lol don’t tell nobody. Shhhhhhhhhhh

    Reply
    1. J. Money February 14, 2015 at 4:26 PM

      hope you don’t have to repay anything later ;)

      Reply
  91. Mad mama February 13, 2015 at 9:52 PM

    Today I had $2500 deposited to my account. As much as I would love to spend it. I can’t I hope that this is cleared up soon. I have notified my bank.

    Reply
    1. J. Money February 14, 2015 at 4:27 PM

      Yes! Alert them and don’t spend! Not even worth the nightmare that could happen if you spend it, bleh..

      Reply
  92. A.I. February 15, 2015 at 7:41 AM

    We don’t have a bank in our community, but our local store offers some banking needs. I went to the store to write a cheque in the amount of $1700. My intent was to write a cheque to deposit into my account with RBC. I went over to the post office to mail it out, and went on with my day. That night I was going through my pocket and looked at the pay stub. I noticed there was an extra ‘0’ instead of a $1,700 cheque it was a $17,000 cheque. My first thought was ” I can pay off my credit”. Heck, I can even buy a snowmobile.

    A very quick minute of wishful thinking than I began to think of the negatives and what could come out of it. The following day, I called my branch and informed them and then made my way to the store to inform the manager.

    Reply
    1. J. Money February 15, 2015 at 2:19 PM

      Smart!! And fun that you did some wishful thinking first – no problem in that as long as it’s all just *thinking* :)

      Reply
  93. ramon February 18, 2015 at 3:23 PM

    I need a fast answer and possibly some help someone plz reply. I received a large settlement from an injury I had… I took my check for 76,000 and since I didn’t have a bank account I deposited it into my girlfriends account.. we got in a fight and now she refusing to give me my money is their anything I can do to get it back?

    Reply
    1. J. Money February 18, 2015 at 4:02 PM

      woww….

      I’d do whatever it takes to get back on good terms again! and consider seeking legal counsel if need be too – that’s way out of my expertise :( If/when you get it back I’d suggest opening up your own account so you don’t have to worry about it again.

      Reply
  94. T. Gray March 3, 2015 at 10:17 PM

    I’ve had this happen three times. Two of those times the amounts were around AUD$2000. All transactions had an ATO reference number (Australian Tax Office). After calling the bank and the ATO, neither party knows where the money has come from. The first two times the money has mysteriously left my account, but any record of the transaction was also wiped from my account. I became fed up with nobody speaking with me about it because it seems to be a regular occurrence. So today, when it happened again, I received AUD$14,653 into my account. I called the bank and ATO again, neither one knows anything.

    This time, to force someone to get in contact with me so I know who’s doing this I transferred the money to another account under my name, with the same bank though. The plan is to leave the money in there until someone comes knocking for it. I will then force them to fix the problem.

    Long story short – I’ve kept all phone records and emails. I’ve also sent messages and emails to myself and my wife detailing my plan so that it’s recorded and date stamped. This way no-one can accuse me of fraud.

    Reply
    1. J. Money March 4, 2015 at 11:55 AM

      Smart to track it all!!!

      I wonder what the hell can be happening? So weird??? (Unless it’s an inside job of someone being sneaky and smuggling money into the country?? or maybe I’m watching too many movies :))

      I would walk in and be adamant that you need to talk with a manager, and then depending on how it goes start looking for different banks if it kept up. After sharing on social media and trying to get their attention of course (It’s amazing how fast stuff gets done when you’re sharing it with the world). And if I were a senor level exec at that bank, I would DEFINITELY want to know why those transactions are disappearing even more than the incoming money. Something is not right!

      Reply
  95. Tammy Epps March 31, 2015 at 2:29 PM

    Once Regions accidentally transferred 86,000 plus in my account. I had to cuss them out to get their attention and make them believe it was not my money. A month later I was still cussing them to put the fifteen dollar transfer fee back in my account. I had to call them a thief. It was so bad. I could give back 86,000 that was not mine but they would not give me back the fifteen that was mine. Being honest is still the best policy!!

    Reply
  96. Tammy Epps March 31, 2015 at 2:32 PM

    Finally a week later I cornered Bank Manager in his office and demanded my fifteen dollar fee back. Goal was reached.

    Reply
    1. J. Money April 3, 2015 at 10:43 PM

      Oh wowww. Some banks just don’t get it (or, should I say MOST banks just don’t get it?).

      I don’t understand why companies these days don’t realize customer service is #1. Especially with all the social media and competition out there right now. I’d be horrified if stuff like this was going on in my bank!

      I’m glad you got a positive result in the end – even if you had to stay on them :)

      Reply
  97. discount jockey May 28, 2015 at 3:08 AM

    Ha they put 4 grand in my account today and I spent every last penny I needed it….sometimes life throws you lemons but when it throws you 4 grand you take that shit.

    Reply
    1. J. Money July 9, 2015 at 3:37 PM

      I have a feeling you’re gonna end up with a ton more lemons now, I’m afraid.

      Reply
  98. Justin July 10, 2015 at 8:40 AM

    I’m currently facing this same situation; however, I am with a credit union and not a bank. I got a call from the supervisor notifying me that someone had mistakenly deposited checks into my checking account back in 2013. It is not until now, two years later, that the credit union is fixing this. They had adjusted my accounts to return the money to its original account. The total deposit came out to be $4,225.30. The credit union also went into my savings to pull $592.38 to reach this total amount. The result of this left me with a $0 balance in my checking account and a very small amount in my savings. I asked the supervisor to mail a statement back in 2013 when this occurred. The supervisor had replied with “I can send you a receipt of the deposit.” Still shocked of being notified of my accounts I answered, “ok, thank you” and hanged up. I immediately went online to look at my accounts and the adjustment had clean me out. A receipt is not enough clarification for me until I see it in my statements, then I will believe that money is not mine. I don’t recalling seeing money appear in my account back in 2013 and if so someone mistakenly deposited money into my account I know that it is not mine to begin with and that money will be returned one way or another if used; however, in that two year period I believed that all money in my account was my own. I am now left with nothing a $0 balance in my account. I trusted my assets with this credit union, but now I’m put in this situation where I’m kinda thrown under the bus. Any thoughts or ideas please reply

    Reply
    1. J. Money July 10, 2015 at 9:09 AM

      Oh wow, I am so sorry to hear man – that is crazy! Two years is a LOOOOONG time to go back and fix something – I’m really surprised by that. Though of course if it really is someone else’s money, then I’d want it back too if I were that someone.

      Can you talk to a different supervisor there if the first one isn’t being helpful? I’d escalate it way up the ranks to Vice President and President of the credit union too – that info should be public knowledge online. I wouldn’t stop until you’ve got it 100% figured out. And hopefully it shows you didn’t get that $4,000 back in the day, or of course it needs to go back :( I wish you well regardless – not a fun position to be in.

      Reply
  99. Mary Keith July 22, 2015 at 1:19 AM

    I mistakenly send money to the account that was given to me by my son, after this money hit the account, the account owner called the bank and reported the case as fraud. The bank took out the money in her account and refuse to give to me. Please what can I do to receive back my 10,000usd. I have been to the bank the second day I make the payment and yet I can have my money back . I need an advice.

    Reply
    1. J. Money July 27, 2015 at 11:31 AM

      I don’t fully understand what has happened there, but I would be doing anything in my power to talk w/ the manager or higher ups to figure out how to resolve it! There’s gotta be some way to get it back if it’s truly yours.

      Reply
  100. jessie July 31, 2015 at 8:20 PM

    Hello guys,

    I am just receiving an email from a president of a bank, asking me to claim the money from a person who is already dead. He said that the dead person did not put nominee at the time he made the deposit, so he wants me to claim it instead. Please read a part of his email.

    ” This transaction is a risk free transaction and as the President/CEO of my
    bank, the final approval of your application will be done by me. Once
    I approve it, you will have the right to claim the money.

    We will share the money into two equal parts (50:50) for each of us
    when the claim is made. Everything will be done successfully and
    legally, have no fear about this. Right now, I have all the copies of
    documents relating to the deposit he made that you will file to back
    up this claim. All I require is your sincerity and honest cooperation
    to enable us make this claim successfully and we have to do this
    within shortest time possible because the money will be reverted to
    the Treasury Department’s account if not claimed now. If you are
    willing to do this with me, write back and I shall inform you on what
    next to do to make sure you receive the money. I am waiting for your
    consent in order to move to the next step towards getting the money.
    Thank you.”

    He said that this is possible because he will be the one to approved it because he is the president. He already send me all the requirements even the death certificate to make the claim possible. His explanation is that, if the money will not claim, the government will be the one to enjoy it which is he doesn’t like because they are corrupt.

    What should I do with this? I really don’t know but I already file a claim letter to the bank.

    Thank you.

    Reply
    1. J. Money July 31, 2015 at 9:16 PM

      No way – don’t do it. I guarantee it’s a scam as no president or CEO would ever do such a thing unless they were shady as hell. (and even if so – why would they choose you? who they don’t know at all? they wouldn’t – they’d choose someone they know and trust)

      I would delete the email – and all future ones – and don’t send in any info/$$/a thing. If the email is coming from a real bank, I’d report it to that bank so they can warn others not to fall for it.

      Please don’t try and go for this! 99.9% of the things that are too good to be true are.

      Reply
  101. sabrina August 18, 2015 at 12:05 AM

    I found $100 in my savings account today. I tried calling the bank but I did not have time to sit on hold as I was on lunch at work. All it says is “credit/deposit” I tried emailing and calling to ask where it came from but I could not get a straight answer. Sucky thing is im flat broke so its so tempting not to touch it. I honestly do not know where to go from here.
    I thought I had accidentally some how transferred money but yeah right. too good to be true

    Reply
    1. J. Money August 21, 2015 at 10:14 AM

      Isn’t that so annoying too? Having to waste time to fix someone *else’s* mistake? Hate it so much, but at the end of the day you have to do what’s best for YOU and sometimes that means dealing w/ this nonsense unfortunately.

      I’d walk in there the next time you’re able and not leave until they fix it – they can’t ignore you when you’re in their face :) (And of course, ask for a manager to make sure it gets corrected. You can try that on the phone too before going in if it’s easier)

      Reply
  102. Amey morajkar August 31, 2015 at 8:06 AM

    Hey hi..
    I got 13900rs. In my account 2 months back and i removed it and waited for some days and spend at of it. After 1month from the day i removed the money i got a call saying that the money was accidentally transferred in your account. And it was the money from my previous company which had got transferred. So i said i vl give it back but am not working now, so he told i will give you 1month time otherwise the company wil take action on you. But am not having any money collected till now. And i want to give his money but am stil not on any job because my exams are nearby. So i want to tell him it wil take some more time till my exams get over and aftr dat I apply for a job. So what should i do now should i tell the police because he is again and again calling me.. And sometime before when i had a talk with him i told i will not go anywhere without giving the money because he told you can’t hide anywhere but i didnt told him i am gonna hide because I didn’t wanted too. I want to give the company the money back but now am not on any job but as soon as i get the job or money from anywhere i will pay him but it will take sometime. So what should i do now ??

    Reply
    1. J. Money August 31, 2015 at 2:51 PM

      Sorry to hear :( Not sure what you could do but I’d def. let whoever’s involved know that you do intend to pay it back. Unfortunately whenever you spend money that’s not yours it becomes troublesome.

      Reply
  103. SJ September 2, 2015 at 9:00 AM

    HI,
    I found £1058 in my current account today and it seems from some educational university. I called my bank (HSBC) immediately and told them “I don’t recognize this transaction”. They called me back and said it is transfer from Natwest bank to HSBC so we cannot reverse it. Advised me to go Natwest bank with account statement and explained them. I am confused now, why should I go to bank? Haven’t I done my job by notifying same?

    Reply
    1. J. Money September 2, 2015 at 11:23 AM

      Sucks doesn’t it? It’s not our problem but IS our problem at the same time, always annoying… I’d probably wait for a week or so to see if it automatically reverts, and if not maybe just escalate it up to a manager there at your bank and see what can be done. All I know is that I’d def. not spend it as you can see what happens from others’ stories above! :(

      Reply
  104. melissa September 28, 2015 at 7:29 PM

    Recently looking for extra money I picked up a job as a temp but quickly realized I wasn’t fit for the job and left after 7 hours through this temp service they issue debit cards to get your pay check and seeing how I didn’t work that long I forgot all about the pay card when I finally realized and activated the card thinking that I only had the amount that I earned on the card I used it for a magazine subscription where you pay 39 dollars and get a year free well the magazine company charged me 72 dollars and when I went to check the amount on the card to try and figure out how much it was over drafted it said that my previous balance was 199.36 so now I spent their money calculated that I owe them 89 dollars I mean I know it was a mistake on both ends but I can’t get ahold of these people to find out how I pay the money back and the temp service isn’t answering my calls will I go to jail for 89 dollars I stopped the payment on the subscription to stop them from taking the remaining balance what do I do?

    Reply
  105. melissa September 28, 2015 at 7:38 PM

    Sn: when I asked the magazine company to refund my money they said they couldn’t because I had already started recieving magazines the temp service has not tried to contact me or email me what do I do take them cash to the temporary place ?

    Reply
    1. J. Money September 29, 2015 at 2:39 PM

      Well that’s weird! Can you literally walk into the temp place and ask in person? Would be hard to ignore you with that route :) Awesome of you to want to fix this btw and that you’re proactively trying. Most would run off with the money and not look back! I would do whatever it takes to get a hold of a manager there just to wrap it up once and for all. I don’t think you could go to jail for it (and it’s possible they see it as a hassle to deal with and thus not even replying to you) but regardless it’s good to try until you’ve exhausted the attempts. A manager should def. be able to address this regardless of what the outcome is.

      Reply
  106. lynn November 6, 2015 at 7:37 PM

    So if i deposited a paycheck at the atm and if it misread and gives me a HUGE amount, isn’t it the atm’s fault? Is there anyway to keep this money? It’s from a big company the the check was printed so I have no idea how it misread it. I plan on being quiet but not touching it. I just wanna make sure that I can’t get in trouble for something I didn’t do.

    Reply
    1. J. Money November 7, 2015 at 3:04 PM

      It’s pretty black and white – if you take money that isn’t yours, regardless of whose fault it is, it’s stealing. You can risk it all you want, but do know that you can get in trouble for it.

      Reply
  107. lebeau jones December 30, 2015 at 11:31 PM

    my question I had alittle money in my account I never went back into my account for about 4 to 5 days later and notice someone had deposit 2,400 in my account when I went to the atm on my lunch break I went and withdrew most of the 2200 a few months later I had 2 warrants for my arrest for bad checks that I didn’t write the I made arrangements with the bank to repay this money shouldn’t that money had been tracked to whomever that depsited the money into my account and whats the outcome of it all…share your results with me”’

    Reply
    1. J. Money December 31, 2015 at 9:34 AM

      I’m not familiar with the process of how it all works, but it’s another great example of why to never take out $$$ that’s not yours! I’m glad you’re working it out w/ the bank and avoiding jail time. Sounds like someone was trying to use your account for some shady purposes :(

      Reply
  108. Randy February 4, 2016 at 2:32 PM

    I’m living in the Philippines but have a United States checking account I happen to stop at a mall that is hours from my home we were just passing though. And I spent approximately 160 US dollars. My card was initially denied and a text was sent to my phone from my banks fraud protection asking me to verify the purchase which I did so they had me rescan my card and it was approved.that day I checked my account and the money was withdrawn now 2 days later I check my account again and the money is put back in and showing the transaction was denied. Now what there is no way to contact my bank by email and I’m not driving 8 hours to go back to the mall for $160 so what will happen?

    Reply
    1. J. Money February 8, 2016 at 3:39 PM

      Not sure :( There’s gotta be a way to contact your bank though and find out? I wouldn’t spend that $$ until you get your answer though. You don’t want to deal with another set of problems.

      Reply
  109. Angie South Africa May 16, 2016 at 1:41 PM

    Last week I transferred R194500 into Auto bavaria only to find out 6 days later it was made to the wrong account as I omitted a digit,I am now told the banking system generates zero when an account number is incomplete and they are not responsible for that I must open a case against the receiver who used my money…..I am lost for words to say the least….if anyone can advise me please

    Reply
    1. J. Money June 20, 2016 at 7:24 AM

      I’m so sorry to hear :( I hope it all works out for you in the end – even though I know it’s annoying to have to deal with!

      Reply
  110. sky June 15, 2016 at 9:54 AM

    that happened to me 5 years ago there was 250.00 put in my account I could not figure out how it got there !!!!!! well I called the bank it was from them they could not find where it came from I left it in there for 3 months then I called them again told them take this money out of my acct was told we can not take money out of your acct and just keep it that day I took my grand kids out to eat in mcdonalds and gave the church 150.00

    Reply
    1. J. Money June 20, 2016 at 7:26 AM

      Oh wow – that’s crazy they couldn’t tell where it came from? I’m not sure what I would do if it was months – or even years – and it was still there, though knowing me I’d probably still be too paranoid and leave it be just in case one day it gets corrected and doesn’t screw me over. Hopefully your good karma with donating a bulk of it helps that never to happen :)

      Reply
  111. kumar June 15, 2016 at 1:04 PM

    it happened to me.

    But my bank will not give me the information about the person who spent it already.

    Is there a law about spending accidental money in Canada ?

    is it illlegal

    Reply
    1. J. Money June 20, 2016 at 7:27 AM

      I would imagine that it is, but I’d continue researching it and find out. I’d also call up the branch manager if you haven’t done so already and see what they advise as well.

      Reply
  112. lufuno August 2, 2016 at 4:31 AM

    hey guys i need some advise, my friend received money from a company she worked for in 2014 and she thought it some of the benefits or some money they had to give her so she used it and the company then called to say that they made mistake and she have to pay it back and she have used it and she is now a student and not working and confused.

    Reply
    1. J. Money August 5, 2016 at 10:43 AM

      Oh wow – that sucks! Maybe she can work out a payment plan or something w/ the company? Or see if she can negotiate a lower amount since it’s been so long? I’d also have her look at the statute of limitations for this stuff. Not sure what the amount of time is where you can’t go back like that (probably more than a cple years) but she should check.

      And further proof again to be careful what you do with money that looks suspicious!

      Reply
  113. CAM August 19, 2016 at 1:45 PM

    Hello! I was sent two 80hr paychecks from my former employer in July. I left the job in January. They were not direct deposits but live checks that I cashed and they cleared. They sent a certified letter requesting repayment. Am I LEGALLY obligated to pay them back? I don’t want to hear about a moral decision because they wrongfully terminated me…

    Reply
    1. J. Money August 22, 2016 at 10:42 AM

      If you have money that doesn’t belong to you, then yeah – it’s going to be a problem. Even if it was someone else’s mistake :( Check w/ your bank or a lawyer though and see what you can work out. Maybe can do a payment plan or something?

      Reply
  114. Some banks don't help September 9, 2016 at 1:21 AM

    I know the money is not mine. There’s checks coming thru my account from someone else account from different states paid to the Oder to me. When I realize money in my account I call my bank to close my account immediately. The person in claims department told me he stopped the account upended me a new one so my direct deposits will go to new account and anything that goes thru the old account won’t go into your new acc. Well 2 weeks later the bank is still letting the checks go thru my old account and charging my new acc for insuffent fund because they’re still posted the checks with no funds and when I call the bank they tell me it’s a hard hold on all accounts. So the money I worked for is in the bank I can’t touch it and these checks coming from accounts with No funds and they’re sending it through. What really gives here. I really feel the banks and scammers are working together. And oh when I called my bank to let them know there’s a problem with my account, I was told my request went through after the request. So I’m on hold needing my money for food, gas, etc. who can you trust? Only yourself and be careful doing that

    Reply
    1. J. Money September 10, 2016 at 3:19 PM

      Ugh, that sounds horrible :( what about getting an account at a brand new bank for all future income of yours going forward? so at least you’ll be able to touch that? (since it’ll be completely separated from the other bank?)

      Have you escalated it up to management, and then to corporate management if that didn’t work? All of this stuff is annoying as hell, and sucks that you have to be the one to deal with it, but since it’s now affecting your money and livelihood you gotta keep fighting and doing the best you can.

      I hope it works out for you, and sooner than later :(

      Reply
  115. A.I November 9, 2016 at 9:03 AM

    Hello, all the above posted issues have been helpful, mine happened this way, actually am a Nigerian studying in the Philippines, After my examination, I wanted to go on a vacation. So I asked my friend to transfer me the sum of $60 which about a 3000 peso, on checking my balance I saw jst $20 which is 1000 peso so I called him and asked why jst that, since he agreed on sending $60, he told me he hasn’t send anything. That I should wait, so after a while I went to check, again I saw another $492 which abt 24000 peso all in one day. I called nd told he, he was even more surprised than I do, he told me he has been someone might have actually mistaken my account to be someone else’s account. He said actually he is also having problems sending me the money cause of network challenges, he said I should check back in an hr or two, of which I did and this time it got even worst, it was abt $533 and all this happening in space of Friday night against Saturday. The total some here is abt $1000 which is abt 50k pesos, I withdrew the money in advise of some few people I told, they said it might be a friend, and that I should keep it, jst in case anyone call to claim it, no body did, I try calling one or two persons also to knw if they did send money to my account they all said no, so finally I took the money to the bank on Thursday that same, told them this is what happened, I dnt knw how the money came abt, check where it’s coming from and return it back to the owner, the customer care lady thanks me, and said she will trace the money and send it back. So I redeposited the money in my account, ask her to make it in a way I won’t hav access to it, until she returns it back to the owner, two weeks later I went to the bank and ask if she has returned it, she said it might take up to a month, so when ever she return it she will call to tell me

    Reply
    1. J. Money November 9, 2016 at 10:45 AM

      Smart of you to report it!! And more importantly – not spend it!!! Always better to be safer in this area – good job :)

      Reply
  116. Sandy February 7, 2017 at 6:07 AM

    Hello. Recently I reviewed my bank account and balanced my checking to discover the account had $150 extra. I looked at my math and it was all right so then I reviewed my statement. Come to find out my husband accidentally deposited a money order (it was blank and he filled it in with our info) to our account that belonged to my work. He didn’t know and thought it was mine since I sell stuff on Craigslist and letgo. I don’t want the money and want to know my options. Is there a way to reverse the deposit and the money order? I am afraid to tell my work and fear it will cause problems. Thank you

    Reply
    1. J. Money February 9, 2017 at 11:05 AM

      I’m not sure how money orders work exactly, but I’d DEF call up the bank or walk in and ask a manager sooner than later. Worst case you just take out the money and walk it back into work explaining it all. I’m sure it’s not the first mistake ever done.

      The thing you DON’T want to happen though, is for your employer to find out *first* and then come to you. And odds are they’re going to see it even if it can be reversed or whatever as it’ll still hit their records. So please do move quickly! Good luck!

      Reply
  117. Linda February 10, 2017 at 5:09 PM

    To me it depends on the situation. If the “extra” money was from a person I would give it back. If from a large corporation especially certain ones and I could keep it, I would. A bank I used did give me an extra 1000 one time. I kept it for a month and then spent it. That money doesn’t even cover all the times they mistakenly over charged me. What about that? I have to spend hours with most companies just to get the erroneous $30 charge fixed. They don’t care. Why should I save them their precious time fixing their mistake? I would rather keep the money for a long while and if nobody asks for it then spend it. If I spend 10, 20, 5 one day and then 200 the next and it’s all pending, first always the large amount goes through and then all the smaller ones so they can charge 3 overdraft fees instead of one. I feel it’s ok to get a little extra back from companies that cheat and use every loophole to get an extra buck from regular folks. I wouldn’t keep an amount much larger than a 1000 though, too scary.

    Reply
    1. J. Money February 23, 2017 at 2:50 PM

      I don’t think it’s a matter of fixing anyone’s mistakes on *their* behalf, it’s about keeping yourself safe from possibly getting into trouble later. It’s definitely annoying for sure though.

      Reply
  118. Age March 11, 2017 at 11:26 PM

    About 8 years ago, for several months in a row I was getting someone’s child support checks deposited into my checking account. I told the bank about it everytime it happened. Each time it happened, I went to the banks manager and explained what happened. Also on each occasion I told the manager several times. Nothing was ever done. Finally I withdrew all the money and was able to track down the check writer and explained to him what happened and gave him all the money back. Which was thousands of dollars by the way.

    Reply
    1. J. Money March 12, 2017 at 4:47 PM

      Good for you – you’re an an angel! :)

      Reply
  119. Kathryn May 13, 2017 at 8:20 AM

    Funny you ask what I would do if I received $$ that wasn’t mine…I happened across your post while searching what to do if you are wired $$ that isn’t yours. I was searching this because I have received two wire transfers over the past week totally a little more than $600–the last of which I found this morning while checking my online account.

    What have I done–I actually called the bank prior to finding your post to notify them of the issue. I was told the bank has a special team that deals just with this type of thing. Unfortunately they are only open M-F so I’ll have to call back on Monday.

    At any rate, I’m doing the right thing and trying to figure out who the rightful owner is.

    Reply
    1. J. Money May 15, 2017 at 5:55 AM

      Yes – smart! Love to hear that.

      Reply
  120. Drew June 8, 2017 at 11:47 PM

    I just noticed that the rent check I gave to my landlord (written out for $1250) only resulted in $400 being withdrawn from my account. I’m guessing the bank will figure it out soon. If not, I’ll think about telling them. Or not.

    Reply
    1. J. Money June 11, 2017 at 2:27 PM

      That is weird? Maybe it was a separate unrelated transaction altogether, that just hit at the same time? I wouldn’t count on getting a free $850 like that.

      Reply
  121. Sean June 12, 2017 at 5:57 PM

    I just deposited a check for 773.24 through an ATM that actually scans the check rather than waiting for the user to enter the amount. The machine read the checque as 7,734.24 and as nice as it is to see my balance 7000.00 higher tan it should be, I called the bank right away. It’s not like they not going to miss it and not reporting it makes me look like I’m engaged in fraudulent activity.

    Still nice to have such a balance for the moment.

    Reply
  122. Catherine Coyle October 5, 2017 at 5:11 AM

    Okay, I recently was fired from Wal-Mart they transferred my pay check of 412 dollar to my card then on the day I should of been payed another 412 dollars was uploaded to my card it been there for 2 weeks now I have called and told Wal-Mart and everything and still nothing has happened. And it was upload to the Wal-Mart pay card that they give when you work for them. I don’t know what to do. Kinda like they are refusing to pay me my PTO for working the holidays. Any advice.

    Reply
    1. J. Money November 13, 2017 at 9:51 AM

      Sorry to hear :( I would just make sure you stay on top of Walmart until you get whatever it is you feel you’re deserved! You’re the only one who can fight for your money.

      Reply
  123. Chloe November 9, 2017 at 3:28 AM

    I think my bank account was involved in a scam. The owner of the money transferred $4100 to a person in a bank account. The person who got the money through her bank account tried to send to another person to get to the scammer through western union. The guy at western union advised the lady not to send through western union because he felt it was a scam and the scammer used my bank details to use my bank account to receive the money. Am thankful during the process of sending the money that something was wrong, and the money didn’t land in my bank account.

    Now I think the matter got reported to the police, now my question is will I be questioned about the money? Or how my bank account got involved?

    Reply
    1. J. Money November 13, 2017 at 9:50 AM

      Not sure I follow all the eway, but since you didn’t do anything wrong you shouldn’t have to worry about anything! I’d just make sure you’re in contact w/ your bank and they understand everything.

      Reply
  124. pat November 16, 2017 at 11:06 PM

    Man what a bunch of goodie two shoes on this page. If someone is dumb enough to write a check to you and you deposit it, it’s their loss. Play the “I didn’t know” card or “I was too busy to check” card until the cows come home. It’s going to be nearly impossible for them to prove that the money didn’t belong to you if you were given a legitimate check in your name. It all depends on how the money was received. Wired in by accident could be problematic or a wrongful amount made on a check but if you are truly naive about it, can’t be your fault.

    If your guilt is killing you then go ahead a be a broke dork. Give it back. Bunch of nerds I swear to God.

    Reply
    1. J. Money November 20, 2017 at 11:15 AM

      Hah! There could be worse things to be called…

      Reply
  125. Michael Grimes January 30, 2018 at 1:07 PM

    If Someone Wires Money Into Your Bank Account And You Wire It Somewhere Else Are You Responsible For It Or Can The Bank Trace Where It Was Wired From And Make That Person Pay It?

    Reply
    1. J. Money January 30, 2018 at 2:46 PM

      Everything is traceable – I would not risk it and find out :)

      Reply
  126. N. Money December 9, 2018 at 6:28 PM

    Hey. I’m in the trouble. Few months ago I applied for Child benefit and tax child credit to HM rev. I didn’t get a letter they didn’t called me but they sent me a money to my bank acc £2500. After 2 months from date I received the money I saw someone took some money from account I went to bank and they told me the money which I got it 2 months ago it wasn’t mine someone made mistake… no one let me know. I thought the money I received they are mine. What to do now? I have to sent the money back but I’m working part time and I have a kids;( probably if I don’t tell them they don’t sent me any letter.

    Reply

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