Mistaken wire transfer/payment error

So, would you actually file a lawsuit against someone over $667?

silverfox91 said:I don't really get you guys. He didn't steal anything. It’s like if I messed up and typed in the wrong account number while paying my PG&E bill through online banking. At that point, whether he pays it back or not is just down to his own conscience. As for that footage of him picking his nose in the bank? That’s just a video of a guy picking his nose or taking money someone handed him—it isn't proof of theft. A teller at my local Chase branch told me once: it's entirely up to your own good will if you return it or not. What would the bank even sue him for? Because he showed up at the branch on a specific day at a specific time and withdrew $333 that was sitting right there in his account? Please. You didn't force anyone to process a deposit instead of a withdrawal. Period. Take the cash and run. $667 is a lot of money, especially for someone struggling to cover utility bills or car registration or whatever.

First off, you can't just type in anyone's account number through your online portal unless it's your own or one you've been specifically authorized to pay for. That's not how it works.

So, if you accidentally sent money to your neighbor instead of the utility company... would you be demanding your cash back then?

Why on earth would the bank sue him?

For heaven's sake, try reading with some actual comprehension here... the bank isn't going to sue him because the employee is expected to cover any shortages out of their own damn pocket. If anyone's filing a lawsuit, it’ll be the employee against the bank.

And what exactly would be the grounds for a lawsuit here? Maybe the guy just gave that employee a ride from New York to Miami and they settled the payment via direct deposit? Or maybe he was just paying back an old loan? It's all speculation.

Banks are essentially their own little ecosystem—a world unto themselves.
Anyone who’s actually agile—and by that, I mean someone who can look themselves in the mirror in the morning
— could easily make a side hustle out of working a teller window. When you have direct access to cash
and everyone else's checking accounts, there's plenty of opportunity to pad your own pockets.
But let me tell you, it isn't exactly fun if you insist on playing fair and an error pops up. Dealing with a shortage
is a nightmare because every single transaction gets audited all the way until 11 PM—it's enough to fry your nerves.
Personally? I’d return the money.
If the person who started this thread doesn't feel the same way, my advice would be to switch banks immediately,
because they aren't going to stay under the radar for long.

Look, I’m no lawyer, but if you look at the American Civil Code—specifically the sections regarding unjust enrichment—it should pretty much cover your situation (which is exactly where Vojky disappears when things get real 😉).

Section 1111.

General Rule

(1) If any part of one person's property is transferred to another through any means without being based on a valid legal contract, court order, government authority, or specific law, the recipient is obligated to return it. If returning the actual property isn't possible, they have to compensate for its value.

(2) "Transfer of property" also includes gaining a benefit through a specific action.

(3) The obligation to return property or compensate for its value also applies if something was received based on a premise that failed to materialize or was later invalidated.

Section 1112.

When recovery cannot be demanded

(1) Anyone who makes a payment knowing they aren't actually obligated to pay loses the right to demand it back—unless they specifically reserved the right to reclaim it, paid just to avoid legal coercion, or if the debt repayment was contingent upon certain conditions being met.

(2) However, if the debt was unconditional, you can't demand a refund just because you decided to pay it off before the due date.

Here is a link, which includes some case law excerpts at the end.

Kimberly Nguyen said:First off, you can't just type in anyone's account number through your online portal unless it's your own or one you've been specifically authorized to pay for. That's not how it works.

So, if you accidentally sent money to your neighbor instead of the utility company... would you be demanding your cash back then?

Why on earth would the bank sue him?

For heaven's sake, try reading with some actual comprehension here... the bank isn't going to sue him because the employee is expected to cover any shortages out of their own damn pocket. If anyone's filing a lawsuit, it’ll be the employee against the bank.

I could technically demand money from whoever owns checking account number xx xxx xxx. But there's a catch. No one at the bank is going to tell me who actually owns that account. So, good luck with that. That's why I double-check the numbers three times before hitting send, even if I'm just paying $33.

Sue the employee for what? For being incompetent? For making a mistake? Because it was raining outside or his wife was giving him a hard time at home? He didn't threaten anyone; someone just deposited money into his account. Personally, I'd view that as winning the lottery.

Paul Jackson61 said:And what exactly would be the grounds for a lawsuit here? Maybe the guy just gave that employee a ride from New York to Miami and they settled the payment via direct deposit? Or maybe he was just paying back an old loan? It's all speculation.

If that were the case, the payment wouldn't be processed as an official business transaction, but rather as a private transfer from an individual using their own name.

The transactions on that account are clear as day, and there’s security footage showing a cash withdrawal took place rather than a deposit, so I really don't see why there's any debate about whether the official is going to lose this case. It really just comes down to whether someone actually wants to spend the time and legal fees fighting over that specific amount. If it were me, I'd file suit for much less than this, especially if the person knows they messed up but refuses to make it right. And naturally, you'd be looking at interest on top of it all. 😁

Lisa Morales53 said:So, here’s the deal... I recently opened a checking account at a local Bank of America branch. A few days later, I had a freelance fee of $333 hit the account, so I headed straight over to the teller window the next day to withdraw it all in cash. They handed over the money, I signed some random slip or whatever, and everything seemed totally fine... 😲 Then, out of nowhere, I get a call from the bank that night. Apparently, the teller messed up big time—instead of just processing my withdrawal, she accidentally logged an extra $1,000 on top of what was already sitting in my balance. Now they want me to come back in and sign some correction paperwork to void the error. 🙄
So, I'm wondering, what actually happens if I just ghost them and don't show up to sign? Like, if I just head to an ATM and pull the cash out myself instead 😕... Some people are telling me it’s whatever, since it was clearly the bank's screw-up, but others are saying they'll report me to the cops, call it theft, or even sue me or something. Honestly, I've been out of work for quite a while now, and man, I could really use that extra cash right about now. 😉

Let me try to simplify this mess for you: the teller processed a deposit instead of a withdrawal, which means when she closes out her shift, she’s going to be short $667 and will have to cover it out of her own pocket if you don't show up. It's true that legally, they can't touch your account without your written consent to reverse the transaction, because banks aren't allowed to move money around without permission. So, if you're the kind of person who can pull $667 out of someone else's pocket and still sleep soundly at night, then sure, keep the money and just pray to God you don't get caught dealing with the fallout later. Good luck
.

Lisa Morales53 said:Yeah, I get it, I totally agree—if the tables were turned and they somehow overshot my balance into the negatives, I bet my life they’d just shrug and tell me there’s nothing they can do about it😂. But I guess what I'm wondering is from a legal standpoint, are they actually gonna come after me? Like, file police reports or sue me or whatever else...😕

First off, a standard checking account can't go negative like that, so they can't just force the transaction through. Second, tellers have to balance their drawers at the end of the day, and they'd see a massive surplus since she technically "deposited" $2,000 while only giving you $1,000. Third, just like a teller isn't allowed to have a shortage, they aren't allowed to have a surplus either; they have to stay until the discrepancy is resolved. If they can't find the client involved, the funds are moved to a specific internal bank account until the client comes forward to claim them.

Well, I don't know what you've decided to do, but from my experience, I once went after a bank a long time ago after they messed up. I even took them to court and... lost.
The court ruled that I didn't have to pay the interest—just the principal—so I knew deep down I was right. Honestly, if I had pushed harder, I probably would have won the whole thing. But man, the stress of fighting with a giant like JPMorgan Chase just wore me and my husband down. It felt like we were fighting a losing battle because how can you really win against a massive institution? So, I just called it quits...

Kimberly Nguyen said:First off, you can't just type in anyone's account number through your online portal unless it's your own or one you've been specifically authorized to pay for. That's not how it works.

So, if you accidentally sent money to your neighbor instead of the utility company... would you be demanding your cash back then?

Why on earth would the bank sue him?

For heaven's sake, try reading with some actual comprehension here... the bank isn't going to sue him because the employee is expected to cover any shortages out of their own damn pocket. If anyone's filing a lawsuit, it’ll be the employee against the bank.

Even in my case, it was clearly the teller's mistake, yet the bank still came after me... And get this—they actually admitted they knew the staffer messed up! They said he’d "be disciplined," but insisted I still had to pay back the funds they mistakenly released to me ($77).

Lisa Morales53 said:But then why the hell did they call me in the first place and claim they needed my signature, saying I couldn't do anything without it😕? And I didn't even withdraw extra cash; I had a perfectly normal zero balance😳. Then, $1,000 was deposited into my account, which I then withdrew. So, I was basically just taking my own money. The thing is, the lady at Bank of America didn't list that $1,000 as a withdrawal. Instead, on top of that $1,000 (which I pulled out, but was still sitting in the system), she recorded the $1,000 as a DEPOSIT. So, I ended up walking away with $333 in cash, and right now there's still $2,000 sitting in my account🤣. If they wanted to just pull it back without telling me, fine, whatever—but the woman from the bank calls me and starts beating around the bush... like, "Oh, there was a little hiccup while you were here today... we really need your signature to get this sorted..." I told her straight up that everything was fine on my end and I was totally happy with the transaction🥳 before she finally spilled what was actually going on😲.
Given the way she was talking to me, I got the feeling that I definitely shouldn't have to hand over that signature🤷, but then again, she mentioned that the security camera caught me taking that $333, which felt like a low-key threat😠. So, part of me thinks that if it's even possible, I should just keep the money for myself and let someone else be more careful next time😁.

Look, this comes down to your own moral compass—if you even have one. I don't know what you do for a living or if you've ever messed up, but do people like you even make mistakes?

You might walk away with a quick $667 profit here, but life has a way of collecting its debts later on...

Reading between the lines of your post, you seem pretty bitter toward the bank (interest rates? fair enough!), life, and honestly, just a generally frustrated person... but in this specific case, it's a regular employee who messed up. She's just a person working for a paycheck, and her mistake has nothing to do with interest rates.

Seriously, what crime did the bank actually charge you with? Walking into a branch? Or is it a felony to withdraw your own money? Maybe they think conspiring with a teller to get some illicit gains from $77 is a crime now. I’d love to see that court ruling. Why didn't you send that to the New York Times? It’s like if I accidentally sent you cash and then tried to sue you just because I screwed up my own math.

Douglas Walker86 said:Look, this comes down to your own moral compass—if you even have one. I don't know what you do for a living or if you've ever messed up, but do people like you even make mistakes?

You might walk away with a quick $667 profit here, but life has a way of collecting its debts later on...

Reading between the lines of your post, you seem pretty bitter toward the bank (interest rates? fair enough!), life, and honestly, just a generally frustrated person... but in this specific case, it's a regular employee who messed up. She's just a person working for a paycheck, and her mistake has nothing to do with interest rates.

How exactly is life going to punish him? Is there some half-baked proof out there that God exists or that there's some cosmic entity punishing someone just because they hit the jackpot at a bank? If that were true, I don't know how any murderer manages to keep living. Life isn't punishing him; he just got $667 😉

Take the money, move to another bank, and screw them. I know a few people who used to work at JPMorgan Chase, and every single one of them closed all their accounts there.

I actually went into Wells Fargo to close my account because those vultures charge $5.00 a month just for maintenance fees. I closed it, only for them to send me a notice a month later claiming I owed them a few bucks. I lost my mind and wasted an entire day just proving to them that I had closed the account days before they were supposed to charge the next fee. Forget the small change—it was just about the fact that they tried so hard to make me look stupid. To top it off, I’d already tossed the closing paperwork, but I still managed to prove I was right. In the end, the woman told me they'd just take it out of the bank's reserves.

Paul Jackson61 said:I had a similar experience when a coworker had to pay back money they accidentally overpaid 🙄—I assume the bank has some internal way of covering those kinds of blunders 🤷 (maybe they don't), because I doubt it's their first time... and that teller (or whoever) refused to tell me the credit balance for someone I was co-signing for over the phone (which resulted in me getting warnings that I'd be on the hook) just because I didn't have "authorized access." She could have easily checked her screen and helped me out without making a scene, but she wouldn't. 😉 So, there's my take: I wouldn't give them the money back. Call me selfish, dishonest, or immoral if you want, but I can't stand their "business model." And clearly, that employee won't tell her manager that their communication with clients is terrible.☕
Oh, and regarding the ID and phone thing... I once turned in a wallet that had no cash, just documents, at a precinct in Chicago, and I almost got treated like a thief myself. 😲 I spent four hours acting like an idiot at the station trying to explain the situation, only to have them write down all my info. If I had found a wallet with cash and turned it in, and then the owner told me, "Keep the money," I'd look like a fool. No thanks. Next time I find a wallet, I'm just kicking it into a dumpster to avoid another "fun" afternoon with the police.

And because of that bolded part, she could get fired. Sure, she can see the balance, but she also has a specific login ID, and she isn't allowed to just poke around in someone else's account because every single access is logged. You want to take that risk? Risking that her boss finds out, or that someone blabs that she gave out private account info?

Kimberly Nguyen said:First off, you can't just type in anyone's account number through your online portal unless it's your own or one you've been specifically authorized to pay for. That's not how it works.

So, if you accidentally sent money to your neighbor instead of the utility company... would you be demanding your cash back then?

Why on earth would the bank sue him?

For heaven's sake, try reading with some actual comprehension here... the bank isn't going to sue him because the employee is expected to cover any shortages out of their own damn pocket. If anyone's filing a lawsuit, it’ll be the employee against the bank.

silverfox91 said:Seriously, what crime did the bank actually charge you with? Walking into a branch? Or is it a felony to withdraw your own money? Maybe they think conspiring with a teller to get some illicit gains from $77 is a crime now. I’d love to see that court ruling. Why didn't you send that to the New York Times? It’s like if I accidentally sent you cash and then tried to sue you just because I screwed up my own math.

Hehehe... well, you have a point. I honestly wonder about that too...
But look, this was ages ago... way back in the 90s. I was pretty young and had no clue how things worked.
Back then at my bank, you had to have a teller write out a check if you wanted to withdraw cash. So, I had a check written, the teller gave me the money, but the check didn't clear immediately. At the same time, I was closing my account to move to another bank, and I even got paperwork from the bank confirming I didn't owe them anything (I needed it for work).
Then, many days later, that check finally processes, but there's no money left in the account, so they sue me for writing a bad check... even though the funds were definitely there on the day I withdrew the cash. Honestly, it was total nonsense.
I refused to pay, so they took me to court...
Over time—it took about 5 or 6 years to wind through the legal system—my debt ballooned to $323, but eventually, the judge ruled I only had to pay the principal. No interest required.

When I pointed out that I didn't issue a bad check—since it was written right there in their branch and not at some grocery store, and that it was clearly the teller's mistake and they should be the ones covering it—they basically admitted I was right. They said the employee would "be punished," but that I still had to pay regardless.

You can't just take what doesn't belong to you.

I honestly don't know if this is going to hit me... This is MY money we're talking about. The teller didn't actually process the check, but they handed me the cash anyway. Then, after I closed out my account—he finally went ahead and processed the check, but obviously, the funds weren't there anymore. Just a total blunder by the staff.

And it’s not like I even had a chance to dispute it.

Bottom line? If you take money that was handed to you by mistake, there is zero chance you're keeping it. They will chase you to God and back. 100%.

If you had that official paperwork showing the date and time, and the money was sitting right there in your account, they wouldn't have a leg to stand on. You didn't go around pointing a gun at anyone to get cash that wasn't yours; Peter handed you your own money. It’s not your job to track his bookkeeping. If the bank gave you a receipt saying you withdrew your funds and owe nothing, that’s the bottom line. What could they even sue you for? Did you just sit there and write your own "I don't owe anything" note? 😂

Apple

Yeah. You hit the nail on the head. They actually sued me for "writing bad checks," which was a total lie.
And I really should have hired a lawyer who could have absolutely wrecked them in court. But, being the naive person I was, I went to trial all by myself. I honestly thought they’d just see I was telling the truth... but man, was I wrong. What a mess.
If only I had known then what I know now...

I mean, looking back... if I had just appealed the verdict, I probably would've been cleared of paying anything at all. But I didn't even appeal. Such a rookie mistake!

And you want to hear the best part? A few years after the judgment, I get this letter from some law firm. They claim they looked at the bank records and saw I still owed money... blah, blah, blah... apparently that $900 debt had ballooned up to $0.63. I lost my mind! I called them right up and told them this was settled years ago and that I had the court papers right here. They go, "Oh, we don't have those, could you send them over to us?" Yeah, right... I told them no way, and they can go do the hard work of finding them themselves...

They haven't called back... at least not yet...

Melissa Miller30 said:Banks are essentially their own little ecosystem—a world unto themselves.
Anyone who’s actually agile—and by that, I mean someone who can look themselves in the mirror in the morning
— could easily make a side hustle out of working a teller window. When you have direct access to cash
and everyone else's checking accounts, there's plenty of opportunity to pad your own pockets.
But let me tell you, it isn't exactly fun if you insist on playing fair and an error pops up. Dealing with a shortage
is a nightmare because every single transaction gets audited all the way until 11 PM—it's enough to fry your nerves.
Personally? I’d return the money.
If the person who started this thread doesn't feel the same way, my advice would be to switch banks immediately,
because they aren't going to stay under the radar for long.

I don't know which specific institution we're talking about, but at one of the top six or seven major banks, it’s incredibly difficult. Sure, someone might pull it off once, but then you're facing consequences far greater than whatever petty cash you managed to skim...