Would you take the money and run?

joglynne · 23-05-2009, 14:37

The recent story in the news about a couple who disappeared after a banking blunder deposited NZ$10m (£3.9m, US$6m) in their account started us all thinking last night.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asi...ic/8060681.stm

I know I wouldn't have done the same as this couple, seeing £3.9m appear on a bank statement would have got me on the phone to the bank immediately but would I do the same if a more modest sum appeared?

There were half a dozen of us discussing this last night and most said that, if a smaller amount was involved they would have been very tempted to sit back and see if the bank noticed it's error but when the definition of what constituted a smaller amount was discussed we all found that we had wildly differing views. One neighbour would have been happy to take no action if anything under £1000 appeared whilst I would have sleepless nights if I didn't report anything over £10.

What amount would you "adopt" as your own in the hopes of never having to pay it back? Would you spend, spend, spend? Would you take the money and run? Or would you just contact the bank about their error?

WHISTLED · 23-05-2009, 14:44

It doesnt say how much they actually took, and as you cant pop into a branch to withdraw £3.9m or anything like that I suspect it wasnt enought to live on for the rest fo their lives.

icestar2 · 23-05-2009, 14:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by WHISTLED

It doesnt say how much they actually took, and as you cant pop into a branch to withdraw £3.9m or anything like that I suspect it wasnt enought to live on for the rest fo their lives.

Maybe they transferred it into another account ?

BenMcr · 23-05-2009, 14:51

No I wouldn't

Yes it would be nice to have more cash, but having to always look over your shoulder for the police would be far too stressful

---------- Post added at 14:51 ---------- Previous post was at 14:50 ----------

Although one of the companies I worked for overpaid me by £1k one month and never asked for it back (even though I told them 4 times about it)

joglynne · 23-05-2009, 15:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by icestar2

Maybe they transferred it into another account ?

Well it looks like they may have tried that as ....

Quote:

Westpac Bank has recovered some of the money which had been inappropriately withdrawn.

...... and the couple may have thought that transferring the money to various other banks/accounts would have broken the £3.9m down into more unnoticeable amounts not realising their paper trail could be followed.

One of our friends had the bright idea of putting it into his esavings account in the hope of making some interest before he had to pay the original amount back. Even a week or so would give him a couple of free nights out.

**Stuart** · 23-05-2009, 15:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by icestar2

Maybe they transferred it into another account ?

I don't know the ins and outs of the banking system, but I understand that transferring that amount of money would set off all sorts of alarms within the banking system.

BenMcr · 23-05-2009, 15:25

You are normally limited to between 10,000 and 100,000 a day between your own accounts (depending how much of a 'premier' customer you are)

**Kymmy** · 23-05-2009, 15:31

The question boils down to "would you break the law or not" as it would be illegal to keep the money

**Maggy J** · 23-05-2009, 15:35

No I wouldn't..who wants to go on the run? You would end up spending most of the money running away.

joglynne · 23-05-2009, 15:41

But would any of you leave the money sat in your bank account getting interest until it was reclaimed?

**Maggy J** · 23-05-2009, 15:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by joglynne

But would any of you leave the money sat in your bank account getting interest until it was reclaimed?

Without telling the bank? No but I'd leave it until they sorted matters out.

budwieser · 23-05-2009, 15:46

I found £2000 in used notes in a car that came in for repair with us.
It had been stolen and involved in a police chase and ended up being crashed, the thieves didn`t realise that under the drivers floormat was an envelope with 2 grand in it.!

The owner used to deal cash in hand antiques and said he forgot it was there

, still, he gave me £100 for handing it back to him, i was sorely tempted to keep it though i must admit.

NoKnowledge · 23-05-2009, 16:31

The problem with this is people are forgetting this is an overdraft and not money just put in error. They applied for a overdraft which means the bank is lending and they were meant to be borrowing to be paid back at some point.

**Kymmy** · 23-05-2009, 16:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by joglynne

But would any of you leave the money sat in your bank account getting interest until it was reclaimed?

You'd find that once they realised the mistake it would be taken back as though the money never existed (i.e..no interest)

joglynne · 23-05-2009, 16:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kymmy

You'd find that once they realised the mistake it would be taken back as though the money never existed (i.e..no interest)

Now that's a shame.