Strange deposit. Keep it or leave it in account?

themadchef

So, my sister goes into the bank to get some cash out. On her way out she gets a print out of her account. To her surprise there has been a lodgement she doesnt recognise. It was a 4 figure sum.

So she took a day to think about it (as you would ) and today decided to ring the bank to see where it came from. The lady she spoke with in the bank said it was part cheque and part cash (the bulk of it being cash, and a very odd sum at that). The question she had for my sister was "who do you work for?" so my sister gives her the name of the company E.G "O dowds" and as it happens the lodgement was made by a Mr / Mrs o Dowd.

The money is still in the account burning a hole in it . She is not owed any money from work and rang the accounts dept just to make sure. They told her it certainly was not them.

So what now guys? What would your next step be if it was you?

themadchef

themadchef wrote: »

So, my sister goes into the bank to get some cash out. On her way out she gets a print out of her account. To her surprise there has been a lodgement she doesnt recognise. It was a 4 figure sum.

So she took a day to think about it (as you would ) and today decided to ring the bank to see where it came from. The lady she spoke with in the bank said it was part cheque and part cash (the bulk of it being cash, and a very odd sum at that). The question she had for my sister was "who do you work for?" so my sister gives her the name of the company E.G "O dowds" and as it happens the lodgement was made by a Mr / Mrs o Dowd.

The money is still in the account burning a hole in it . She is not owed any money from work and rang the accounts dept just to make sure. They told her it certainly was not them.

So what now guys? What would your next step be if it was you?

Sounds fairly dodgy, ask the a/cs dept to confirm they did or didn't pay it in and ask the bank for more details if possible ?

cbreeze

themadchef wrote: »

So, my sister goes into the bank to get some cash out. On her way out she gets a print out of her account. To her surprise there has been a lodgement she doesnt recognise. It was a 4 figure sum.

So she took a day to think about it (as you would ) and today decided to ring the bank to see where it came from. The lady she spoke with in the bank said it was part cheque and part cash (the bulk of it being cash, and a very odd sum at that). The question she had for my sister was "who do you work for?" so my sister gives her the name of the company E.G "O dowds" and as it happens the lodgement was made by a Mr / Mrs o Dowd.

The money is still in the account burning a hole in it . She is not owed any money from work and rang the accounts dept just to make sure. They told her it certainly was not them.

So what now guys? What would your next step be if it was you?

Heard of this happening before. If your sis touches the money she is liable to be charged with theft - this kind of thing has happened before and for much larger sums. There is likely a bank error. The money is meant for another account. As they say, if it is too good to be true, then it is! Take care.

cork1

id ring work ask for 2 weeks off and head for the bahamas

KTRIC

Leave it in the account, let the interest build up and if the bank made a mistake then they'll take it back, if not give it 6 or 12 months and then move it to another account.

Gordon

Get her to open up a high interest savings account and wait for a while, not quite a 6 month locked in account though, and as said - let it make some interest.

themadchef

bluewolf wrote: »

Sounds fairly dodgy, ask the a/cs dept to confirm they did or didn't pay it in and ask the bank for more details if possible ?

They said there was no way anyone from the accounts dept would manually lodge cash to her acc.

cbreeze wrote: »

Heard of this happening before. If your sis touches the money she is liable to be charged with theft - this kind of thing has happened before and for much larger sums. There is likely a bank error. The money is meant for another account. As they say, if it is too good to be true, then it is! Take care.

She rang the bank and asked them to chek it out for her as she didint know where the money came from. Big alarm bells for the bank

Once they heard the name of her employer matched the name on the lodgement they said "thats grand". She raised her concerns and they told her every thing was in order.

So, can the bank make 2 errors
A: lodging it to the wrong acc,
B: Telling you the deposit is fine, it's yours

and still expect you to pay it back? It's a wierd one.

Toots

cork1 wrote: »

id ring work ask for 2 weeks off and head for the bahamas

cork1, this is not helpful to the OP. Please post constructively or don't post at all.

Toots

KTRIC wrote: »

Leave it in the account, let the interest build up and if the bank made a mistake then they'll take it back, if not give it 6 or 12 months and then move it to another account.

Gordon wrote: »

Get her to open up a high interest savings account and wait for a while, not quite a 6 month locked in account though, and as said - let it make some interest.

I wouldn't recommend moving the money out of the account or spending it. The bank may be able to get a copy of the lodgement docket and send it to your sister, she could then have a look and see if the name on it means anything to her, and if she knows who it is. I'd be very wary of touching any mystery money that's in my account until I know damn sure it's for me.

themadchef wrote: »

They said there was no way anyone from the accounts dept would manually lodge cash to her acc.

So, can the bank make 2 errors
A: lodging it to the wrong acc,
B: Telling you the deposit is fine, it's yours

It may not have been the bank's error. It depends on whether it was a cashier or the customer themselves who filled in the docket. If the customer did it themselves, then the bank wouldn't have any idea that it wasn't for your sister until she herself (or whoever lodged the money) told them otherwise.

I've seen this mistake made a few times by customers (two digits of an account number inverted can make a huge difference ) and once by a cashier. In most cases, it's resolved without much hassle, most of the time the party who received the funds are aware it's not for them and have often been the ones who queried it. I am aware of one case where this happened and a customer did an online transfer to an incorrect account number and gave another customer money she didn't mean to. The customer who received the money refused to give it back, and the girl who transferred the money is now in the process of taking legal action against this guy to try and get her money back.

Sometimes customers fill in a phone number on their lodgement docket. I'd tell your sister to see if there's a phone number on the docket and ask them to ring the person who lodged it and check did they mean for it to go where it did.

GerardKeating

themadchef wrote: »

So, my sister goes into the bank to get some cash out. On her way out she gets a print out of her account. To her surprise there has been a lodgement she doesnt recognise. It was a 4 figure sum.

So she took a day to think about it (as you would ) and today decided to ring the bank to see where it came from. The lady she spoke with in the bank said it was part cheque and part cash (the bulk of it being cash, and a very odd sum at that). The question she had for my sister was "who do you work for?" so my sister gives her the name of the company E.G "O dowds" and as it happens the lodgement was made by a Mr / Mrs o Dowd.

The money is still in the account burning a hole in it . She is not owed any money from work and rang the accounts dept just to make sure. They told her it certainly was not them.

So what now guys? What would your next step be if it was you?

Assuming that it is a mistake, they eventually someone will contact her to "claim" it back.

Send the bank and work a registered letter quering the lodgement.

gnxx

Give it back.

Given the current jobs market, I would prefer to be known as the honest employee that came forward rather than the "dodgy" employee that kept quiet until asked.

The company will notice the mistake as soon as they get a bank statement.

Also remember that anything involving company cash going astray will cause a long term problem for references etc. In the future, if the employer is asked for a reference, they won't tell the full story, but enough to cause a problem.

On the other hand, if the money is returned before the company notices, you will classed as "the honest person".

GerardKeating

gnxx wrote: »

Give it back.

To whom, the OP asked the employer and they disowned it.

gnxx wrote: »

Given the current jobs market, I would prefer to be known as the honest employee that came forward rather than the "dodgy" employee that kept quiet until asked.

The company will notice the mistake as soon as they get a bank statement.

Also remember that anything involving company cash going astray will cause a long term problem for references etc. In the future, if the employer is asked for a reference, they won't tell the full story, but enough to cause a problem.

On the other hand, if the money is returned before the company notices, you will classed as "the honest person".

gnxx

Sorry, my reading was that the company or directors could have lodged into the wrong account.

My concern would be that the accounts department would look for payments made to the posters accounts, but wouldn't notice a payment gone to the wrong account until the bank reconcilation is made.

I would ask the accounts people to double check. It is a set of very strong coincidences; ie a payment to the OP's account from somebody with the same name as the company.

GerardKeating wrote: »

To whom, the OP asked the employer and they disowned it.

themadchef

The company have said they would never walk up to her branch and lodge cash. It seems to be a coincidence the name of the company matching the name of the person who made the lodgement.

As far as i know she's going to ring the bank once more today.

Thanks for your replies everyone

laughin'joe

themadchef wrote: »

So, my sister goes into the bank to get some cash out. On her way out she gets a print out of her account. To her surprise there has been a lodgement she doesnt recognise. It was a 4 figure sum.

So she took a day to think about it (as you would ) and today decided to ring the bank to see where it came from. The lady she spoke with in the bank said it was part cheque and part cash (the bulk of it being cash, and a very odd sum at that). The question she had for my sister was "who do you work for?" so my sister gives her the name of the company E.G "O dowds" and as it happens the lodgement was made by a Mr / Mrs o Dowd.

The money is still in the account burning a hole in it . She is not owed any money from work and rang the accounts dept just to make sure. They told her it certainly was not them.

So what now guys? What would your next step be if it was you?

take the money out and wait to be contacted if no one contacts you.....spend! spend! spend! my friend it's yours to keep or if you close the account down and ask for a cheque when doing so and it comes out in full just walk out of the bank and job done it's your to keep....do what the goverment and all the big robbers do...play dumb or in the case of the goverment they are dumb....

daithijjj

It happened a colleague of mine before who gets paid monthly. She never looks at statements and just spent it. There was an easy fix. She didnt get paid the following month. The money will have to be returned or she wont get paid at a later date. Its blatantly a human error and when the toothcomb comes out.....well, we all know whats going to happen.

PCPhoto

OP - she's doing the right thing - ask work ...ask the bank...someone made an error, she knows its not her money - ...... so at the moment I would say just wait.

if its possible maybe seperate the amount (from her own money) into another account so she doesnt spend it...and if no-one claims after 6months/12months.... its hers, but if they come forward at least the money is there for them. I'm sure someone will

ps. I charge 10% for my help :P

VB1962

Hi OP,

its very simple - its not her money - tell the Bank she doesn't recognise the deposit and it must be a mistake. No point in talking to everyone else in the loop - the Bank will be the fastest way to resolution.

They'll investigate it pronto, say thanks to her and forget all about it after apologising etc.

If she spends the money, they'll pursue her for it, remember it for a long time etc.

No time limits on claiming it either - it was never her money and never will be ....

Honesty is always the best policy.

JJ

The same thing happened to the wif although it was from some random person though it was for a four figure sum if I remember correctly. She had to do a fair bit of chasing up with the bank and had to deal with at least one snarky bank worker but eventually got it sorted out. It probably is tempting to take the money and run in these cases but these things could have a way of coming back and biting you on the bum later on.