Bank accidentilly deposits $120,000 couple spends the crap out of it

[CaptainCrunch]

https://calgaryherald.com/news/world...box=1568039235

magine waking up one day to find an extra $120,000 in your bank account. You did not make $120,000 or win $120,000, but there it is, $120,000, just sitting there. Cool!

What would you do with all that cash? Pay off the mountain of student loans you’d otherwise be stuck with till you die? Buy a house? Buy a car?


Maybe you should call the bank and find out what’s going on?
Yeah. Yeah, you definitely should call the bank.


Robert and Tiffany Williams of Montoursville, Pennsylvania, did not call the bank, police say.

When a non-hypothetical $120,000 intended for a business was accidentally transferred into their BB&T bank account because of a teller error, the couple splurged on a camper, a Chevy and a racecar, state trooper Aaron Brown told the Williamsport Sun-Gazette. Authorities say they also distributed $15,000 to friends who needed the money.


All told, they spent $100,000 in about 2 1/2 weeks, WNEP reported.

I don't think the ancient laws of finders keepers losers weepers is going to work in this case.


They've not only put themselves in legal trouble but their friends as well.


At least if you're going to spend it, buy airline tickets to a country with no extradition and spread some bribes around.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Yeah, no, that doesn't work. They're absolutely going to have to pay that money back or go to prison.

[GoinAllTheWay]

That was beyond dumb of them.

[btimbit]

I hate banks so much that I can't help but think they get what they deserve when this type of things happen. But yeah if that was me I'd definitely think twice about spending a bunch of money that I didn't earn. Idiots

[WhiteTiger]

How would your first inclination be to go "Oh, well, it's not supposed to be there, but it is. Mine now! Spending spree!"

I also like that they bought a "race car". That's not even anywhere close to my list of things to buy if $120,000 magically appeared (that I could keep)

[Finger Cookin]

But the Monopoly card clearly stated the bank error was in my favor.

[OMG!WTF!]

Pfft. I probably wouldn't even notice it.

[Shazam]

I've had around $11K deposited twice (years apart) into my old RBC account.

They were adamant the first time that I deposited the money. About two months later they took it out.

The second time, the person I spoke to on the phone sorta believed me. Transaction still took forever to get reversed. They sent me a $50 cheque for my trouble.

[bc-chris]

i had something similar happen to me a number of years ago.... but with a lot less money.
i had gone to the bank and used the atm to do a deposit and when i looked at my balance on the receipt there was $10,000 too much in my account.
i went and talked to a teller inquiring about my 'good fortune'. it turns out that it was a teller error as the $10,000 was a down payment from a lady for something that was put into my account by accident.
i did ask what would have happened if i would have spent the money and she said they would have found the error and of course i'd be on the hook for it since it wasn't mine in the first place (which makes complete sense to me!).

[Resolute 14]

Scotiabank made me worth about a million dollars once... for about 5 minutes. Only reason I even knew about it was because it was back when they had those account books you can print updates on at tellers/ATMs.

Incidentally, this story also highlights why so many lottery winners end up broke very fast. They "won" $120,000 and immediately blew it on frivolous crap.

[Weitz]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

Scotiabank made me worth about a million dollars once... for about 5 minutes. Only reason I even knew about it was because it was back when they had those account books you can print updates on at tellers/ATMs.

Incidentally, this story also highlights why so many lottery winners end up broke very fast. They "won" $120,000 and immediately blew it on frivolous crap.

I think if I won $120,000 it would be gone pretty fast. Its not enough money to really change your life.

Payoff all debts, maybe some on the mortgage, upgrades around the house that were planned a few years out. Vacation. Would go pretty quickly I think.

[gasman]

I've had the exact opposite thing happen to me @RBC .

I opened up e-savings accounts for my kids, so when ever they got birthday money or whaterver I would just deposit the money in that account and pocket the $20. This was when they were super small (<5)

So I have an account for my daughter with about $160, it is an e-savings account. and it has maybe a couple of transactions a year all deposits, all less than $100.

One day I log in an the balance of the account is -$9840, A cheque has been drawn on the account, and interest, and overdraft charges are accruing.

I called the bank immediately, and informed them of the error, turns out a teller at the bank issued some dude a teller cheque (the blank ones where you fill out your name and address in the top left) with my kids e-savings account number on it.

When I viewed the cheque image it had a different name in the top left (which re-enforced it was an error and not fraud) and obviously not my signature.

It took almost 6 months to clear up the various interest and overdraft charges that kept popping up which was a pain in the ass.

No one could answer how the cheque managed to clear.

1. Wrong Name in top left
2. Wrong Signature
3. Cheque cashed on a savings account
4. Uncharacteristic transaction (large sum withdrawl vs slow small deposits)
5. Overdraft by several orders of magnitude.

I mean every red flag possible and they couldn't figure this out.

Yet I go to Microsoft store and pick up a new laptop, and amex is calling me while I am at the store to figure out if the transaction is legit.

/end rant

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by Weitz

I think if I won $120,000 it would be gone pretty fast. Its not enough money to really change your life.

Payoff all debts, maybe some on the mortgage, upgrades around the house that were planned a few years out. Vacation. Would go pretty quickly I think.

It would be enough to accelerate retirement by a couple of years.

[Scroopy Noopers]

Originally Posted by Weitz

I think if I won $120,000 it would be gone pretty fast. Its not enough money to really change your life.

Payoff all debts, maybe some on the mortgage, upgrades around the house that were planned a few years out. Vacation. Would go pretty quickly I think.

Paying off all your debts and a couple years worth of mortgage is pretty damn life changing in my books.

[GGG]

I get the bank coming after people and them owing the money back but what law is broken by spending this money?

I don’t see theft as it’s in your account and I don’t see fraud as there is no deception.

What is the actual law being broken

[GGG]

Originally Posted by Scroopy Noopers

Paying off all your debts and a couple years worth of mortgage is pretty damn life changing in my books.

I would say it’s life easing rather than life altering. Your day to day lifestyle doesn’t change everything just gets a bit lower stress.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by Wormius

It would be enough to accelerate retirement by a couple of years.

But think how much faster you could accelerate if you bought a race car with it?!?!

[Wormius]

I don't know. If something enters, or is on, your property does that make it your property then? If that was the case, then you could be robbed everytime you went to somebody's house.

[OMG!WTF!]

I generally add a few zero's to every check I deposit. Hasn't worked yet but it doesn't cost you anything to try.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by Wormius

I don't know. If something enters, or is on, your property does that make it your property then? If that was the case, then you could be robbed everytime you went to somebody's house.

If someone enters my property and tells me the watch they are wearing is mine and then they give me their watch when I ask for it did I steal their watch?

Not that these examples make anything more clear