Author Topic: Woke up today nearly 40K richer...  (Read 7670 times)

SweetTPi

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Woke up today nearly 40K richer...
« on: December 11, 2012, 06:48:27 PM »
... And tomorrow that money will be gone.

Got an alert from my bank about unusual activity in my checking account.  Turns out someone in the accounting department made a mistake, and instead of paying a contractor account, they paid it to mine!

Has this happened to anyone else?

FWIW, I immediately contacted HR to figure it out for me.  I wasn't going to try to play the wait-and-see game.

Neighbor Don

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Re: Woke up today nearly 40K richer...
« Reply #1 on: December 11, 2012, 06:55:16 PM »
I know someone who woke up about $800 richer. Instead of notifying the bank they let it ride. It took the bank several months to figure out the mistake and by that time the money was spent. Instead of the bank notifying the account holder they simply debited the money back, causing an overdraft on the account. I have a hard time believing the bank would never figure something like this out.

ruthiegirl

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Re: Woke up today nearly 40K richer...
« Reply #2 on: December 11, 2012, 07:15:39 PM »
Yes!

This happened to me years ago.  An enormous sum (over 100K) was put into my account instead of a business payroll account.

I notified the bank right away and I can still hear the woman on the phone, "DO NOT SPEND ANY OF IT!!!!!!"  I was a very poor student and the bank drilled it home that would be responsible for every dollar. 

The money was gone a few days later.  Ah well.  Easy come, easy go. 

sheepstache

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Re: Woke up today nearly 40K richer...
« Reply #3 on: December 11, 2012, 10:15:13 PM »
You know those sweepstakes checks they send that are like, You May Already Be A Winner!  I read a story about this kid who deposited one in his account and the bank didn't realize what had happened before he withdrew the money in a cashier's check.  I forget what happened.  I think he didn't spend it but held out for awhile just to prove a point because he considered the advertising exploitive and also didn't like the threatening way the sweepstakes company and bank treated him at first.

happy

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Re: Woke up today nearly 40K richer...
« Reply #4 on: December 12, 2012, 01:12:37 AM »
25 years ago I had over $7000 deposited in my account one day.  Turned out to be a former employer providing me "termination pay". It was incorrect of course. I'm not sure about the US, but here in Australia its illegal to keep money in these circumstances if its not rightfully yours.

SweetTPi

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Re: Woke up today nearly 40K richer...
« Reply #5 on: December 12, 2012, 06:42:56 AM »
As far as I know, it's illegal here in the US too.  In addition, this was my employer's money, and I'm still 10+ yrs from FI.  I'm not messing around with (A) my job, and (B) my freedom!

But what a shock to see that balance in my account, at least yesterday.

mindaugas

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Re: Woke up today nearly 40K richer...
« Reply #6 on: December 12, 2012, 07:27:39 AM »
I got a job offer from a company and tentatively accepted over the phone, never actually sent my offer letter back. A few days later I got another much better offer for a job closer to home, which I accepted. The first job had already added me to payroll and a month later I got a check for 36 hours I never worked there :P I called and emailed to let them know, and sent the check back.

ketchup

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Re: Woke up today nearly 40K richer...
« Reply #7 on: December 12, 2012, 07:37:17 AM »
I got a job offer from a company and tentatively accepted over the phone, never actually sent my offer letter back. A few days later I got another much better offer for a job closer to home, which I accepted. The first job had already added me to payroll and a month later I got a check for 36 hours I never worked there :P I called and emailed to let them know, and sent the check back.
Reminds me how my dad (an optometrist) once got a check from an insurance company for allegedly performing a root canal (the sort of check that is *much* larger than what he would get for an eye exam). Turned out there was a dentist nearby with the same name as him.  Figured it out, called him up, and he sent him the check.  It's amazing that these companies can be this unorganized.

Milkman666

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Re: Woke up today nearly 40K richer...
« Reply #8 on: December 12, 2012, 08:21:33 AM »
I was issued two paycheque on payday on two different occasions while working for a former employer. Each cheque had a unique serial number and everything.

I must confess, I didn't say a word. I made sure that I was prepared to repay the money for at least a year afterward.

sisca

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Re: Woke up today nearly 40K richer...
« Reply #9 on: December 12, 2012, 09:02:07 AM »
I had the opposite problem a few years back, when my employer started using a new computer system for paying out wages. Somehow they started to subtract overtime from your paycheck. When you notified them, they subtracted it again on next months pay. This actually lasted several months, and you got these silly situations where people had to turn down overtime because "honestly, I really cant afford it this month."

They eventually sorted it, and everybody got a fairly big paycheck with several months worth of overtime. This was sort of forced mustachianism for most, and they really did not like it. Most of my work buddies blew their extra large paychecks on crap in a matter of days....

Peter

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Re: Woke up today nearly 40K richer...
« Reply #10 on: December 17, 2012, 05:17:13 PM »
I had a $1000 vacation to mexico that I booked that hadn't been charged to my credit card. I foolishly called them up the day before the trip and asked about it. They said it was just a mistake and they forgot to run the card.

I would have got a free trip if I kept my mouth shut :(

sherr

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Re: Woke up today nearly 40K richer...
« Reply #11 on: December 18, 2012, 08:10:46 AM »
I once had $200,000 deposited into my account by mistake. They fixed that one real quick. I have no idea what the backstory of it was though.

plantingourpennies

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Re: Woke up today nearly 40K richer...
« Reply #12 on: December 18, 2012, 09:48:35 AM »
Mrs. Pop and I have been having a good run in the market recently, its an odd feeling to look at the balance sheet and think "well, I'm up 20k so far this month!"

Of course, it doesn't affect anything, and we could be back down the next month.

best,
Mr. Pop

SugarMountain

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Re: Woke up today nearly 40K richer...
« Reply #13 on: December 18, 2012, 01:24:49 PM »
You know those sweepstakes checks they send that are like, You May Already Be A Winner!  I read a story about this kid who deposited one in his account and the bank didn't realize what had happened before he withdrew the money in a cashier's check.  I forget what happened.  I think he didn't spend it but held out for awhile just to prove a point because he considered the advertising exploitive and also didn't like the threatening way the sweepstakes company and bank treated him at first.

I believe he got to keep the money.  The contest sponsor had created a fake check with a real routing # and account #, so it was a legal check. Here's the story: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/93a47a62-daf0-11e1-8074-00144feab49a.html#axzz2FR6wlJyM

sheepstache

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Re: Woke up today nearly 40K richer...
« Reply #14 on: January 05, 2013, 03:15:14 PM »
You know those sweepstakes checks they send that are like, You May Already Be A Winner!  I read a story about this kid who deposited one in his account and the bank didn't realize what had happened before he withdrew the money in a cashier's check.  I forget what happened.  I think he didn't spend it but held out for awhile just to prove a point because he considered the advertising exploitive and also didn't like the threatening way the sweepstakes company and bank treated him at first.

I believe he got to keep the money.  The contest sponsor had created a fake check with a real routing # and account #, so it was a legal check. Here's the story: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/93a47a62-daf0-11e1-8074-00144feab49a.html#axzz2FR6wlJyM

Yes, that is the one I was thinking of!  Thanks for the article, interesting to see follow-up of what he's been up to.

Wendyimhome

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Re: Woke up today nearly 40K richer...
« Reply #15 on: January 05, 2013, 04:20:20 PM »
I had a client that once made a payroll mistake and dumped over $70,000 into an employee's account instead of the intended $1700 or so.  As luck would have it, it was the employee's last paycheck.  She noticed it and blew through all of the money that weekend, paying off credit card debt, mortgage debt, etc.  I had to sue her over it.  The jury was not amused with her behavior.

SwordGuy

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Re: Woke up today nearly 40K richer...
« Reply #16 on: January 05, 2013, 04:38:01 PM »
An employer changed payroll systems and added a zero to my gross pay by mistake.   Getting a paycheck with a $25,000 gross pay on it for two week's work was pretty awesome! 

Of course, I knew it wasn't really mine to keep, so I got a corrected one issued to me.  (But I photocopied it first, because it's unlikely I'll ever see one like it again.)

lizzigee

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Re: Woke up today nearly 40K richer...
« Reply #17 on: January 10, 2013, 02:49:43 PM »
A business owner in NZ applied for a $100,000 overdraft in 2009. The bank gave him 10 million by mistake.  He is currently in jail after fleeing the country with as many of the millions as he could. Nice way to wreck your life.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!