Mistaken wire transfer/payment error

But isn't it the Bank? 🍿

feraljackal2 said:A friend of mine ran into a mess with her bank—they botched a transfer, and apparently, because the IRS flagged it as income, she lost her child tax credit benefits. It sounds wild, but that’s what she’s telling me. Fast forward about three or four months, and the bank calls her out of the blue demanding she pay the money back. Here’s the deal: it was supposed to be a simple refund from an online vendor. She bought something, it didn't show up, so they agreed on a refund. But instead of one transaction, two identical payments hit her account from the same seller. When she called him, he was actually pretty honest—he told her he only sent the money once. It looks like he tried to run a credit card reversal that failed, so he just sent a direct wire instead. The bank missed the error, processed both as valid deposits, and now they're coming after her for it. They aren't asking the vendor for the extra funds—just her. She already paid them back, but now she’s wondering: what if she hadn't? Would the bank have just sued her or frozen her accounts? And honestly, since this was clearly a massive banking blunder, shouldn't they be apologizing and covering the costs she incurred—like those lost benefits?

But wait, how can you even be sure it was the Bank's mistake? I mean, just to be absolutely certain, it would have to be an internal transaction within their own system—you know, without some other Bank or credit card processor getting involved in the middle. If there's another player in the mix, then there are way more suspects for where things actually went sideways.

I have a quick question: A payment was made to an individual's account at Wells Fargo, but since the IBAN used was just the generic one for Wells Fargo, the funds were likely routed to the specific user based on the payment details. The amount was sent WITHOUT being WRITTEN in with a specific reference number, even though the recipient had requested it that way. Now that it turns out the recipient was actually a scammer, is there any way to request a refund? It seems like Wells Fargo simply forwarded the money to their account based solely on the "memo" field (name, surname, and address) rather than requiring a valid reference number...

Wells Fargo should have just reversed that payment!

()

I was waiting on a sixty-dollar transfer—girl sent me a photo of the receipt from the post office like a week ago already—but still nothing. Where's my money?

QUESTION FOR EVERYONE—URGENT ADVICE NEEDED

What’s the best way to handle this? A representative from Wells Fargo called me to say they accidentally deposited more money into my account than I actually had. Honestly—I have no idea what my exact balance was before this happened. If there was an overpayment, I’ll certainly return the funds, but I'm feeling pretty uneasy about the whole situation.

I know how this sounds—completely foolish. It’s that I wasn't exactly counting every cent, but—frankly—I didn't feel the need to.

I’m feeling quite embarrassed right now; it feels like I'm being framed as if I were "hiding" something, when in reality, I had no clue until they reached out.

Hmm, I don't know about that... The whole situation feels pretty shaky to me. If you hadn't made the transfer yourself—if you were claiming he just straight-up misread your instruction—then maybe I'd see where you're coming from. But as it stands? How is he supposed to prove he accidentally typed in 5,000 when you actually sent 500? He has no way of knowing the error didn't happen on your end instead.
On the flip side, your story isn't exactly airtight either. I mean, who honestly goes to the Bank to make a deposit without double-checking the amount they're handing over? It just doesn't add up.

Gary Reed9 said:Hmm, I don't know about that... The whole situation feels pretty shaky to me. If you hadn't made the transfer yourself—if you were claiming he just straight-up misread your instruction—then maybe I'd see where you're coming from. But as it stands? How is he supposed to prove he accidentally typed in 5,000 when you actually sent 500? He has no way of knowing the error didn't happen on your end instead.
On the flip side, your story isn't exactly airtight either. I mean, who honestly goes to the Bank to make a deposit without double-checking the amount they're handing over? It just doesn't add up.

Me 🤦 I think more was actually deposited—I'm totaling it up right now. It’s honestly not an issue on my end; I have no problem returning the money if that's what happened. The sum isn't huge, I don't know exactly how much, but I really don't feel comfortable keeping it.

It’s a total joke, honestly. If they screw up and credit your account with money that was never actually paid, you’re the one stuck having to pay it back—it’s just ridiculous. I mean, you’d hope at least the bank teller would give you a little grace or a "thanks anyway"... mistakes happen, after all. If they get rude about it, just swipe their pen 🤣

I really need some advice here!

So, I headed down to Wells Fargo to fix a foreign currency transaction that was recorded incorrectly—$33 they pulled the funds from my account, but the bank only credited me with $100. Now they’re calling me to come in and sort this out. Is there any way I can just settle the difference directly from my checking account instead of having to go through all the formal paperwork?

Thanks!

ruggedseal17 said:I really need some advice here!

So, I headed down to Wells Fargo to fix a foreign currency transaction that was recorded incorrectly—$33 they pulled the funds from my account, but the bank only credited me with $100. Now they’re calling me to come in and sort this out. Is there any way I can just settle the difference directly from my checking account instead of having to go through all the formal paperwork?

Thanks!

What’s the actual issue here? Did the teller mess up? They handed you less cash than you were owed, and now they need you to come in and sign off to correct your balance. You can't do it without a signature. Well, technically you could, but it makes the whole process take forever.
The reality is, if someone messes up like this and you don't show up to sign the paperwork, the teller might have to cover the error out of their own paycheck. And usually, it’s the person least at fault, likely making the lowest wage.
Personally, I feel for people who make mistakes on the job. I get it. We all slip up sometimes. It's just how things go.

boldnomad45 said:What’s the actual issue here? Did the teller mess up? They handed you less cash than you were owed, and now they need you to come in and sign off to correct your balance. You can't do it without a signature. Well, technically you could, but it makes the whole process take forever.
The reality is, if someone messes up like this and you don't show up to sign the paperwork, the teller might have to cover the error out of their own paycheck. And usually, it’s the person least at fault, likely making the lowest wage.
Personally, I feel for people who make mistakes on the job. I get it. We all slip up sometimes. It's just how things go.

Exactly. The teller is the one who screwed up. My question is this: do they have the legal right to just pull that amount back out of my account without me signing anything?

Are you saying you just don't feel like dragging yourself down to the Wells Fargo branch—meaning can they just handle it themselves—or are you actually hoping to sit on a mistaken deposit and let them deal with the mess?
If it’s the first thing, get in touch with them immediately; you might be able to just authorize the fix through online banking or something similar.
If it’s the second thing, they’ll eventually track down their money, it’ll just take forever, and you’ll end up with a nasty little red flag on your record for causing trouble...

Gary Reed9 said:Are you saying you just don't feel like dragging yourself down to the Wells Fargo branch—meaning can they just handle it themselves—or are you actually hoping to sit on a mistaken deposit and let them deal with the mess?
If it’s the first thing, get in touch with them immediately; you might be able to just authorize the fix through online banking or something similar.
If it’s the second thing, they’ll eventually track down their money, it’ll just take forever, and you’ll end up with a nasty little red flag on your record for causing trouble...

How am I supposed to prove that I didn't take the money, and that it wasn't actually the person who issued it?

Got any camera footage?

Look, if you signed some official paperwork stating you received $100, then as far as the system is concerned, you got your hundred bucks.

ironcyclist58 said:Look, if you signed some official paperwork stating you received $100, then as far as the system is concerned, you got your hundred bucks.

The paperwork clearly states $33.

If you actually bother to look at the transaction history and how long things sit in pending status, it’s pretty straightforward... I mean, all transactions are out there in the open for anyone to see.

ruggedseal17 said:Exactly. The teller is the one who screwed up. My question is this: do they have the legal right to just pull that amount back out of my account without me signing anything?

No, they can't. But if you refuse, things escalate. I'm not sure if they take it through the courts or what, but they'll find a way to get the money. You won't be able to hold onto it.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S23 using Reddit

Hey everyone, I’m running into a bit of a headache here. A guy needed to wire me $50 so I could get some items shipped out to him via mail. We had a clear agreement: nothing moves until the funds actually hit my account. He claims he already sent the $50 and even sent over a screenshot from his online banking app to prove it. I checked the details, and the account number matches mine perfectly, but the money is still nowhere to be found. He initiated the transfer on Thursday evening through Chase, sending it to my account at Wells Fargo. I’ve attached the confirmation photo he sent me—does anyone know if there's an extra step where he needs to authorize the payment, or is this just a typical delay on the bank's end?

View on imgur

Frankly, I don't see any reason for him to play games; I was very explicit about not shipping anything until the balance shows up in my account. I even went out of my way to tell him repeatedly that I wouldn't budge until the funds cleared, specifically so he wouldn't think I was the one trying to pull a fast one.