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As a property manager, we deposit money into 60 property owners' bank accounts every month, where we walk into the bank with their name and account number and put money in their accounts. We go to 12 banks every month (incidentally, 11 of those 12 do NOT require ID from me to make the deposit).
Typically, there is no issue, but I have had the bank make a deposit into the wrong account once. I gave them the name and account number, and they put the money into the person's son's account (a completely different account # and name) by mistake. I had to go back in with my scan of the deposit slip and check (which we make on every deposit), and my receipt and make them fix it.
Also, sometimes the teller doesn't check the name, so if the account number had 2 transposed digits, and they didn't check it, that could have been what happened, too.
So mistakes happen, even when you have the account number and name.
The teller hand-wrote the name and account number on the deposit slip, so it seems unlikely to be a simple mistake, but I have no way of knowing the teller's mind. I would rather it just be a mistake, of course.
The way counter transactions go, I question if the name was "hacked." The account number is usually handed to the teller, the teller then might or might not mumble the name on the account as a confirmation, and the money is deposited. I would suspect a non-English speaker just got the account number wrong and was being agreeable to the teller.
It strikes me as odd that a bank would be so vague with several thousands dollars but I won't rule that out. The teller said the depositor gave her both the name and account number, so I'm going on her word.
Another major bank (Chase) started requiring authorized signatures for cash deposits in 2014, which seems like a no-brainer in these days of tightened security and cash being hard to trace. Apparently Chase is the first bank to do this! Don't all banks want a record-trail for their own purposes? I sure would if I was a bank manager.
I have no idea why this would happen. Maybe some kind of scam to get money out of the country? But it doesn't sound like a significant sum and I would think someone would contact you.
It may take weeks to find out. It's isolated in a separate account while they do an apparent low-priority investigation. Several thousand is significant to many people, but I suppose not to the banking world!
If any bank tellers or managers read this, please post possible scenarios you've seen. This bank is among the top five in America; name withheld for privacy.
My Bank of America account one time had a deposit for about $3500 in it at random. It was an account that sat dormant and then one day poof! I had money. Lol. The deposit had been scanned and I seen it was an actual paycheck. It was deposited in San Francisco, which is only 40 miles from me, so they didn't do anything. I called them up and was like "hey, this money you see here. Its not mine, Im sure someone right now probably needs this." It was gone in less than 1 hour.
The reason....the account was entered as a 9 instead of a 4.
It wouldn't surprise me at all. I worked at a small bank and I can remember a few accounts where a transposition of numbers was a real, different account. So the gentleman wrote 1286-7823-54, and it goes into your account, but he intended the money to go to 1268-7823-54.
It's even easier if someone is using a counter slip where they have to write the numbers down.
BUT -- I would also bet someone is looking for that money. It may take some time, but they will figure this out, so don't spend the money. If you can't stop yourself or you feel uncomfortable about this (and I can understand that, it's totally weird for money to just show up in your account), stick it in a CD at the same bank.
What happens when the bank finds the money and assesses a penalty for early withdrawal of the CD?
What happens when the bank finds the money and assesses a penalty for early withdrawal of the CD?
The "penalty" for withdrawing a CD early is only the interest, or part of the interest that the CD earned. With interest rates so low now, this would be negligible.
I had that happen too me with a small credit union.,,,many times over the 3 month period for the statement. Situation was solved when my aunt said that her credit union account did not have any of the deposits put in for the whole quarter and she had several withdrawals that were not hers.
Seems that a new teller did not know there were two accounts with similar names. Her first name has three letters that are different from mine. Last name it the same. The new teller put all deposits in my account and took out all withdrawals from her account.
It was nice while it lasted...but they fixed the problem and it never happened again.
If it was a stranger with my account number and name, I'd ask the bank to change my account number. I would worry that eventually whoever had my name and account number would hit it and withdraw the money through an on-line purchase or whatever one day. And yes, they would fix it, but until they did I would be out the use of the money.
Without giving too many specifics, has anyone ever had a complete stranger, who looked Middle Eastern or African, deposit several thousand dollars cash in your U.S. account? This was done in America, but the bank branch was 1,400 miles away from the account holder's home. The account holder (white) shared no history or ethnic ties with the depositor.
No ID was asked for by the teller; an odd loophole that many banks still allow. The depositor only needed to give the account number and holder's name, presumably hacked. They didn't even sign the deposit slip. The transaction showed up online as a "Counter Credit" - meaning they walked up to the teller's counter window to deposit cash. The depositor's identity was vaguely remembered by the teller but getting video footage required a court order. No obvious crime was committed and the cash was clean. A final outcome is pending, but banks mainly take notice when money goes missing so it's not a hot case.
I'm looking for direct experiences or educated guesses as to why someone would make such a deposit. Money laundering comes to mind but only makes sense if they thought they could take over the whole account later. Mistaken name identity (still shady) is another possibility. Another concept is random altruism, aka Pay it Forward by dice roll from a list of random account numbers, hacked or legit.
Thanks for any good theories.
1. Why would a court order video footage if no crime was committed? It's not a crime to deposit money into someone's account.
2. What does the person being Middle Eastern or African have anything to do with anything?
3. The tellers are not required to ask for ID if someone is making a cash deposit, regardless of the amount.
4. There is no requirement to sign a deposit slip. You simply put the account holder's name, account number and amount.
The teller hand-wrote the name and account number on the deposit slip, so it seems unlikely to be a simple mistake, but I have no way of knowing the teller's mind. I would rather it just be a mistake, of course.
Guy gave the teller the account number, she wrote it down. Either she or he transposed the account number. When the teller did the deposit, the account name showed up and she wrote the name down.
It was just a mistake. But you won't be able to keep the money, in that case -- they will figure it out.
just close your account and take all of your money out in cash...
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