Money appeared in my bank account

[AlexaShutUp]

Just under £3k has mysteriously appeared in our joint bank account. Dh knows nothing about it. Neither do I.

I will talk to the bank on Monday, but in the meantime, I'm speculating. Could this be something dodgy or a genuine mistake?

It's an Internet transfer from a bank in Swansea.

@BluebellsGreenbells

You don’t have to give it back.

You are warned about large transactions being final.

Is this correct though?

I thought this too, as I remember a BBC morning programme some 6 or 7 years ago, where a woman had paid £2000 into what she thought was her son's landlady's bank account (6 months rent on his room in his uni house share.)

Turns out she put ONE digit wrong, and the £2000 went to someone else. She was with Barclays, and the landlady (and this other person) was with HSBC. If they had both been Barclays, Barclays could have got the money back immediately. But because it was a different bank, the person who got the £2000 was not obliged legally to give it back - and they didn't. They ignored all contact, and basically never gave the £2000 back.

The woman (the uni lad's mum) lost the lot, and could not afford to pay it out again. Fortunately, the landlady was very understanding, and let him stay for a month for free, and then reduced his rent from £330 a month to £200 for that 6 months, so he was able to pay it himself with a little part time job.

The other 4 people didn't mind either as they knew what had happened, and they all contributed a bit more towards food to help him out for that 6 months.

But I just asked google if you could keep the money in this situation, and everywhere I looked, I saw everyone saying 'NO. You cannot keep the money.' So I am confused.

Personally, I think keeping the money is a disgraceful thing to do, if you KNOW it's someone else's specifically, and you have been asked for it back.

My advice is do everything through your bank. Do not return any money directly if someone asks for it - this exposes you to someone attempting an opportunistic double-refund scam or to being the unwitting pawn in someone money laundering.

@ShrinkingViolet9

www.walesonline.co.uk/news/scammers-paid-1000-account-told-15853749

‘Scammers paid £1,000 into my account so I told my bank - but that’s just what they wanted me to do’

Thank you for posting that, it’s helpful to se3 an example of how disgustingly crafty these con artists are.

The transfer just goes off the IBAN and BIC/ Swift doesn't matter about the persons name.

@SkyBlueBlues I am really not sure on this but I know if the bank accidently transfers you money you have to give it back I knew I remembered something from New Zealand - www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-19364838

But as regards if I was to say send you money and put in a digit wrong, I don't know if the person who gets the money legally (obvs morally) has to give the money back. A bit like if you accidently posted €50 to your niece for her birthday at 184 Grafton Street, instead of 148 Grafton Street, would they have to give the money back?

I'm interested to hear what your bank says OP.

@SkyBlueBlues

Well in that case, one would have to get details of the person who had the money and take them to court to recover it. If they ignore the court cases, maybe judgememt will go in your favour, then you have to try and enforce.

But you'd need the person's details, not 100% if the bank have to give them without a court order.

So whilst mostly, yes, you should be able to recover, you may have to take legal action to do so which can be hard (and if they have spent it, and have no assets, its a waste of time pursuing)

(Seperatelly there may be some criminal case, but that won't return your money as such)

I though they changed the law on this recently, so the recipient has to give the money back? Specifically because of issues like @SkyBlueBlues described.

Very intriguing OP. Well done you for being honest though 🙂 hopefully it was just a genuine mistake by someone who will be grateful to have it back!

My friend used to work in a bank and ocne transferred 8000 into a WRONG account (put the last digit wrong) for a client who did the transfer at the desk. Poor guy and the client almost got a heart attack on the spot. Hope it;s a genuine mistake and not a scam!

I accidentally sent some money into the account of someone I’d bought stuff from on gumtree, as I stupidly didn’t delete their bank details from my account. I had meant to send it to my son. It was just under £100 enough to be annoying. I contacted the recipient and they didn’t get back to me. So I contracted my bank and eventually they got the money back for me. 🙂

This happened to me once, £2k.
It was a royalty payment mistake by my literary agency, which I hadn’t even noticed until they confessed and asked for it back.

@BluebellsGreenbells

You don’t have to give it back.

You are warned about large transactions being final.

You would give it back though wouldn't you? Or would you actually keep it?!

@EishetChayil

Keep it, withdraw all the money, then close the account.

A genuinely stupid suggestion.

I’ve also had a bank “ lose”:£5000 pounds of mine, money I was inheriting form my grandparents in France and transferring from my international account with the bank into my U.K. account. They bullshitted and gave me the runaround for months before finally admitting it , I got the money back and £200 compensation.

@MrsElijahMikaelson1

It’s a scam-someone dodgy did this to my MIL-taking out a loan and has accessed her contacts on her back list so had “put” the funds in her hairdressers account and then asked for them back…was a complete disaster and both her and her hairdressers accounts were frozen for a while whilst the bank sorted it out. Don’t touch it and don’t send it in to anyone else as you will be liable

How do you know it's a scam?

It might be but how can you possibly decide on the single fact that the op has money she doesn't recognise?

Mistakes are also available

A pp has suggested there are HMRC offices in Swansea. Tax rebate?

Check with your bank. It could be a scam; or it could be some less than competent high-up in the bank confusing your account with someone else's (sounds improbable but something very similar once happened to my mother). Either way, it needs to be sorted as soon as possible.

I’ll be interested to see the outcome, as if it’s a scam we all need to know about it.
Do you have Premium Bonds ? Or National Lottery ?

@ddl1

Check with your bank. It could be a scam; or it could be some less than competent high-up in the bank confusing your account with someone else's (sounds improbable but something very similar once happened to my mother). Either way, it needs to be sorted as soon as possible.

Please see OP's update: the bank has already been contacted.

@TeaStory @burnoutbabe @strawberrymilk7

Helpful posts. Thank you.

@AlexaShutUp As many posters have said, do go through the bank, and don't engage at ALL with people online.

My husband was a "semi professional" footballer before we met and after 3 years dating we moved in together and had our first child quite young at me 22 and him 24. Naturally over the years his football career sort of fizzled out and he packed it in.

We struggled for years to have our second child and were finally blessed in 2020 with our son. So we have a 10 year old and an almost 2 year old.

We both work full time and Contribute financially and time to the household, order and running of the house pretty much Evenly.

I would say it's a 60/40 split for house running though. He does chip in for sure but I do do the majority. Our salaries are similar and we both work very hard and often long hours.

Last august he got a message from an old team mate encouraging him to rejoin football - I was very very happy for him and encouraged him after pandemic and lockdown to get back to it to enjoy something for himself.

But now it's grating on me and I'm starting to get snappy with him and resent him.

He trains every Tuesday & Thursday evening and is gone every Saturday for the matches.

Since we both worth full time and older child's extra curricular takes up most week night evenings, the weekend is really our only time as a family together.

One of the weekend days (usually Sunday morning) is for sorting all of the washing and ironing and organising for the week ahead and a Sunday roast to end the week.

Saturday is our only actual time together - say to go swimming or to a museum or whatever as a family. And now we can't do anything as hes at football. We also only have one family car so it's not like I can take kids out myself and again starting to feel a little bit hemmed in.

I feel like I can't talk to him about it because I encouraged him and he does deserve "me time" but it's also taking the proverbial in my opinion that he has a whole Saturday carved out which then directly impacts the family.
His mum and dad and brothers also very happy he's back and go to watch him on Saturdays so feel like It's not my place to be the one to stop it.

What do you think? AIBU??? I know I probably am but aaaaarrrghhhhh

I'm soooo sorry I posted on your thread instead of my own!!! I'm
Useless at this stuff

HMRC uses the bank sort code 08 32 10 for receiving tax payments.

Sort code Account number Account name
08 32 10 12001039 HMRC Cumbernauld
08 32 10 12001020 HMRC Shipley

I've not been able to confirm which sort code HMRC uses for electronic transfer of tax rebates.

@Razzataz I'd just switch the weekend days around - Saturday for jobs and roast with him doing his share before/after football and Sunday family day with trips etc

How would it be scam?

@AuntyBumBum

Clearly not a scam! No scam artist is going to risk £30, never mind £3k. And if you return it without the worst case scenario is that the scam man has his money back, and your bank details. Which he already had in order to send you the money!

@ShrinkingViolet9
See:

www.walesonline.co.uk/news/scammers-paid-1000-account-told-15853749

"...I decided to check my online statement to see if there were any other purchases I should be worried about and I found that £1,000 had been deposited in my account by a pay day loan company.

"I started to panic, for a second I thought my partner may have taken it out as a loan and that maybe we were in serious financial trouble. This was fortunately not the case and he was just as clueless as I was as to where the money had come from."

I'm not convinced at all by this! How does the OP's "scammer" guarantee they will get their £30k back?