Mystery $15,000 in Bank Account - Ownership?

[Gwenn]

Hello
My son went to his bank yesterday and discovered there was a deposit of $15,000 put into his bank account which he knows nothing about. After making enquiries at the bank he was told by a staff member that the money was legally his after 6 days. To me this sounds like wrong information by the bank. I told my son that he should ask the bank to look into it and find out where the money came from and not to touch it at this stage. My son is going back to the bank tomorrow to see if he can find out any more information about this money.

I believe in honesty being the best policy but know nothing about the law when it comes to something like this.

So I would appreciate any help anyone can give me on this subject.

Thank you.

 

[Tim W]

While I defer to my colleagues here who are experts in retail banking matters,
allow me to make the following comments:

After making enquiries at the bank he was told by a staff member that the money was legally his after 6 days.

I do not know of a scenario where this could happen.
To put it another way - "Not a chance."

To me this sounds like wrong information by the bank.

Agreed.

I told my son that he should ask the bank to look into it and find out where the money came from and not to touch it at this stage.

That's good advice.

My son is going back to the bank tomorrow to see if he can find out any more information about this money.

That's also a good move.

I believe in honesty being the best policy but know nothing about the law when it comes to something like this.

Two things:

• It's never "finders keepers", ever; and
• It's a better look if he actively goes to the bank and draws their attention to the mistake.

So I would appreciate any advice anyone can give me on this subject.

Your own advice to him so far looks pretty sound.
They can track where it came from with little trouble.
No, he won't get to keep it.
No, there will not be a reward, or a share, or anything like that.
Knowing banks, they will probably try and charge him a transaction fee for the reversal!

 

[DennisD]

Hi there

I second all of Tim W's comments.

The money may have landed in your son's account through a genuine mistake by some third party. Don't touch it! It's asking for trouble if he does

 

[Sophea]

I also agree with all of the above comments, this is not a windfall for your son. Its a mistake and it will be rectified by the bank eventually, and if your son as appropriated the funds it will be at his cost that he has to make it good and repay it. As Tim W said, its never finders keepers, especially in the banking arena.

 

[Gwenn]

thank you for your advice and help

 

[Chris764]

I had this experience with one of the big 4 banks I inadvertently put money into an incorrect bank account the person on the other end withdrew the money before I discovered the error we went through every available channel and could not recover the $500 the banks told us the onus is on us to ensure it is correctly deposited and that there was no way to recover the money! If there is a way to recover the money I would appreciate any help