Out of the blue, my brother found a totally unexpected $42,400 deposit to his bank account. Then a day later a $2.60 service charge for the transfer. He is alert for the possible fraud of the sort where someone calls or emails with a desperate request to send them cash or they’ll lose their job. No one like that has contacted him yet and I don’t think he’ll fall for it, even if the person is “from the bank”.
He also called the service department at the Giant Monster Mega Bank and shuffled among customer service to get a knowledgeable person. That guy said it could have been an account number typo from a sender at the sending bank. (Apparently they don’t need a name match also?)
The customer service person said the only solution was to show up in person at his bank branch with his ID and that person could then reverse the transfer / correct his account. One complication for him is that it’s 50 miles to the nearest branch since the GMMB just closed the branch office which had been close to his home. So it may be a month or 2 until he happens to travel to a branch for another reason. Anyway, if it’s not a scam, I’m pretty sure the sender will be able to claw back the transaction by then.
Update - it seems to be a legitimate typo from a real company. The sending company has apparently balanced their books and finally noticed the discrepancy. The GMMB is calling to ask him to come in to sign a release so they can return the money to the sender. But he still hasn’t had any reason to travel the 50 miles so he just told them he’d be out there as soon as he can but it might be another month. So he’s continuing to leave the money untouched. They comment that his account number is unusually low, and yes - he’s had the account for a very long time.
So it seems that wire transfers are matched by just an account number and the name isn’t checked at all. A simple typo sends the money to the wrong account.
I had a case a couple decads ago where a yearly stock dividend was sent to an old bank account I had closed. The bank reopened the account, accepted the transfer then charged me a couple of fees. I suggested to them they they stole my money and they could have not accepted money for a person who was no longer their customer.
It did help that (being near Atlanta Georgia) I mentioned that I would have to report them to the consumer advisor who did his show nearby on the radio… Clark Howard!
I would also think they they could just reverse the wire. They may have to handle it as an account withdrawal that he initiates in person, after which they will return the amount to the original sender. And they’ll have to figure out how to refund the wire fee, which was actually $15, not the $2.50 I first understood from him.
