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Original poster

Money in account from unknown source!!

11 replies

readyfornum2 · 01/02/2008 12:54

This is on behalf of my Mum!
She has received a statement today for her ISA (she gets it every 3 months) and has had money debited on 3 occasions from an unknown source!
£497 £600.70 and £600 have been paid into the account over the last couple of months but she doesnt know who by!

Is she allowed to keep the money? What would happen if the bank realise their mistake?

Any advice welcome as she doesnt know what to do (but would be pleased if she could keep the money lol)

OP posts:
Lulumama · 01/02/2008 12:58

if she does not know where it came from, then it might be a mistake, and it might be someone elses? i think she speak to the bank.. better to give it back now, than spend it and have to find it again.....

you cannot keep the £1600 if you don;t think it is rightfully yours !

has she ever had credits made to the account before?

Original poster
readyfornum2 · 01/02/2008 13:07

the only other money to go into the account until now is the £100 she pays by dd every month.

I have said she should go to the bank but she wants to keep it! Obviously I cant make her do anything so am worried that she could get into trouble if she does spend it

OP posts:
Lulumama · 01/02/2008 13:08

she cannot keep it ! if the bank do find out they have made a mistake, they will want the money back.. not sure of the legalities, but morally, IMO, she cannot keep it

Lulumama · 01/02/2008 13:10

copied and pasted this from another website:

'Alan O'Sullivan, saving and banking expert at This is Money, replies: The short answer to this is, yes, you have to pay the money back.

Legally, if you received money in error and you know that it is not yours, then you must pay it back. If you receive money and you can put forward a credible argument as to why you should keep it ? that it is a reasonable return for services rendered ? that's a different situation.

In some circumstances, the customer might be able to claim that they have 'altered their position' on the strength of the item that has been credited; for example, if they were expecting a similar sum to the amount that was wrongly credited and they have spent the money believing it to be rightly theirs. This point was upheld in Lloyds bank vs Brooks (1950), according to the British Bankers Association.

It points out that a customer cannot knowingly take advantage of an error, which the case Rhind v Commercial Bank of Scotland (1860) highlights as illegal. '

ivykaty44 · 01/02/2008 13:15

What about the interest on the money? What if you leave the money in the account until the bank comes to you (which they will do eventually) and asks for it back.

Do you get the interest on the money in the account?

Original poster
readyfornum2 · 06/02/2008 15:41

Just thought I would give you an update
My mum went to the bank to tell them about the money and they wont believe it isnt hers! they said because it was paid in by bank transfer it cant be a mistake!

She is just going to leave it in the account because they wont take it back and she is scared that if she spends it they will want it back!

OP posts:
MoosMa · 06/02/2008 20:24

Surely if it was from a bank transfer then it's traceable and the bank should contact the person who paid it in?

janinlondon · 07/02/2008 13:08

If someone can show they've been putting money into an account, I would think they have a chance of being able to withdraw it too. I would be wary that this is step 1 in someone trying to attempt fraud.

ManxMum · 07/02/2008 13:30

Put the money into another account and then, when someone claims it back, you get to keep the interest.

ShinyHappyPeopleHoldingHands · 07/02/2008 13:37

Anyone can pay money IN to an account.. why they would want to is another matter but it CAN (and does) happen.

You don't need the account number. You can walk in, say "I want to pay some money into the account of Mr & Mrs Smith of this address..." and they'll let you! THEY (the bank) will look up the account number and not give it you as you don't need it. My mum did this to help us out once, when I didn't want to accept money from her (because she couldn't really afford it) and so wouldn't give her my account number.

It's more likely to be a mistake however. Someone is making payments into your mum's account, having transposed a figure at some stage (eg online bank transfer), their PC is remembering the (wrong) account number (via cookies) and they think the money is in their (eg savings) account and instead its in your mums.

janinlondon · 07/02/2008 16:53

I agree it is more likely to be a transposition error in the bank transfer, but I am sure I am not alone in recalling that one mumsnetter's substantial problems started with money being transferred into her account.

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