Would you return the money?

[GottaGetDownOnFriday]

Re: this news story about a cleaner who was accidentally refunded £90,000 instead of £9.
metro.co.uk/2020/09/02/cleaner-sent-90000-by-charity-in-error-let-temptation-get-the-better-off-her-13215404/

Would you have returned the money in her position?

YABU - I would have returned the money.

YANBU - I would have kept the money if I could.

I think I would return it, as it was from a charity so I would feel horribly guilty keeping it and I would worry about getting caught anyway, but I'd probably let it sit in my account for a day or two first whilst wrestling with my conscience.

I'm just curious to see what others would do. I have a lot of sympathy for this woman even though she was clearly in the wrong.

@lyralalala - I would say a criminal record for theft would be relevant to the role of a cleaner.

The charity made a foolish mistake. She didn’t set out to steal from them. The money appeared in her account and she acted without thinking by the sound of it.

Of course she set out to steal from them, I can understand the odd £50 appearing and not noticing but this figure could not be accidentally overlooked.
I think many of the condoning posts are influenced by certain social elements.

@mrsBtheparker yes but it is a different level of theft.

If she went in with a gun and demanded 90,000 pounds, she would have had an intention to steal from the start.

In this case, the charity made the error, snd then she stole the money. So it is theft, but a lower level of theft than other levels.

She did not get any jail time.

Personally I would probably give it back. I know that thinking about it now, I would want to. But who knows - if I got 90,000 into my account - whether I would go crazy or not

I had to give back money that got credited to my account when I was a student. I went in a few times. They didn’t believe me. It turned out a pay check had been paid in, sent to Redruth, then paid in again. First they said I was mad, then keep it, it’s yours, then “we’re reversing the transaction”. I was angry, not because I had to give it back, but because of the amount of “yes no yes no” I got. Out of goodwill I was “allowed to keep the 1-2p interest”

The money appeared in her account and she acted without thinking by the sound of it

Nobody transfers tens of thousands of pounds that they know is not theirs to other accounts without thinking.

[quote Sarahpaula]My point is why is it theft when a company pays some one a large sum in error, yet it is not theft if you, or I paid some one a large sum in error.

Here is a case where a man paid 193,000 to the wrong bank account. He did not grt the money back, the police did nothing, and the recipient was not charged with theft.

www.google.ie/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/money/2019/dec/07/i-lost-my-193000-inheritance-with-one-wrong-digit-on-my-sort-code[/quote]
On the basis of the facts available in that case, the recipient didn't commit theft. On his account, he legitimately thought the money came from his grandmother's estate. When he was told about the error, he tried to send the money back but the bank told him not to. If all that was true - and presumably the surrounding facts could be checked - he never had any dishonest intention at any time.

The cleaner, however,, clearly demonstrated dishonest intent and was rightly charged.

As much as a free 90 grand would be bloody amazing, it is theft and I couldn't live with myself. So I'd return it. Begrudgingly.

I'd transfer it to a high interest account (🤣) and return it when I was asked to.

I'd probably let it sit there for between two weeks and a month if possible.

My point is why is it theft when a company pays some one a large sum in error, yet it is not theft if you, or I paid some one a large sum in error.

It's theft because she knew she shouldn't have that money but rather than report it, she spent some of it and gave £31,000 to family that now cannot be retrieved.

[quote Sarahpaula]My point is why is it theft when a company pays some one a large sum in error, yet it is not theft if you, or I paid some one a large sum in error.

Here is a case where a man paid 193,000 to the wrong bank account. He did not grt the money back, the police did nothing, and the recipient was not charged with theft.

www.google.ie/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/money/2019/dec/07/i-lost-my-193000-inheritance-with-one-wrong-digit-on-my-sort-code[/quote]
www.theguardian.com/money/2019/dec/14/man-handed-193000-in-sort-code-error-says-he-tried-to-give-it-back
He was taking to court to pay it back. The reason he didn't pay it back originally was because of Barclays incompetence.
It was bad enough they had people with the sam account numbers to start with.

It's called 'theft by finding'.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-39130530

You can't keep what you know isn't yours and you've not taken reasonable steps to trace the owner.

Yes I think I’d return it because I’d feel sure I’d get caught!

@bruffin yeah they really need way more security checks on online banking for large amounts of money.

I had to send my solicitor a large - ish amount through online bank transfer. I triple checked the details my end. But it would be so easy to slip your finger and enter one number wrong. They should ask for more than a sort code and a bank account number, when transferring money.

There should be another way to identify some one's account. A finger print each end. Or something. Or a unique code that the person has to quote to receive the money on their end

I was recently given a hefty refund after switching energy providers, which was a pleasant surprise in itself.
Then the following week I received the refund again 😂
It hurt but I contacted them to let them know (half hoping they would cheerily tell me to keep it for my honesty) and they weren't quite sure what to do as it had never happened before apparently (unlikely). But I knew it was the right thing to do...it wasn't mine to keep and eventually someone would have been held accountable.

Well, I wouldn't spend it, that's theft. I know it would be spotted very quickly and asked for and of course I would expect to give it back.
However, I think I would just leave it in my account and wait for them to ask....I mean, it's not my fault it's there, they need to sort their own mistakes out, not expect me to point it out for them.....