What Would You Do if Extra Money Came into Bank Account

Overnight on my ANZ plus account, ~$400 extra came into my bank account with no transaction log.

Poll Options

  • 12
    Withdraw and spend
  • 13
    bikies
  • 42
    Keep it
  • 211
    Contact the bank

Comments

  • +28

    what would you do

    Me wondering what my life would be like with a savings account with more than $10 in it

    artists rendition

    • +3

      Get used to it honey, from now on we'll be spelling everything in letters!

  • +39

    throw it in my offset till the bank came calling and asking for it then hand it back

    if they never called me for it then id say nothing

  • +19

    Put it into saving/offset account till bank contacts you.

    The interest earned/saved is yours so that the more, the merrier, but do not spend it.

    • +1

      Was thinking of doing this, I've already contacted the bank though

      • and what happened?

        • +6

          anz plus messaging team arent available on weekends!

          • +6

            @Quarter Pounder: So you still have a chance to withdraw it and skip the country.

          • +1

            @Quarter Pounder: ANZ PLUS*

            • Is a plus unless it's the weekend, then it's a minus, sorry… lulz - ANZ management
      • Booo

      • +1

        why waste time on hold?
        they'll take it when they audit in a few mth.

    • This is what I would've done… or left it as is since my default account is an offset account.

  • +1

    If you have got to ask then……………………………

  • +8

    400 get you some quality hookers & coke
    or so my mate reckons….

    • +13

      Not sure about ‘quality’.

      • +6

        compared to no hookers & coke….thats 'quality'

      • +11

        Quality hookers or quality coke, but probably not both for $400.

  • +1

    Technically it's not yours. No money in the bank is. Not until you withdraw it. You contact the bank.
    Spending it is fraud/theft. People can and do get charged for it.

    • +3

      What if you pretend you didn't notice it and it just got all mixed in with your money?

      • -3

        'Yes Your Honour, I just thought if I pretended it was my money, no one would notice'

        Yep, can totally see it working… 🤣🤣

        Edit - and I believe the offence would be 'Theft by Finding'

        • +9

          Depending on your normal transactions and balance I think it could be quite easy and believable to miss a $400 transaction.

          • -2

            @Ugly: Sure. But this is $400 with no transaction with it. It's a magic transaction. Which means it's an error.

            'Well, Your Honour, I kinda thought that if it had no transaction details, it was like, you know, finders keepers and I could just spend it…'

            I really feel sorry for cops and Magistrates sometimes 😕

            • +4

              @Benoffie: Nobody will be talking to a judge over $400 mate.. Chill..
              $400 to the bank is like if you picked up a $2 coin that I dropped and ran away. I won't be running after you. At most, I will forcibly take it back if you didn't run.

              • -4

                @Ridiculous Panda: Well, lets say they dont. They will:

                Put you into debit
                Potentially charge you fees, charges and interest on that debit
                Possibly inpact your credit rating
                Potentially debank you for breach of service

                I just love the ethical reasoning people go through to justify what they know to be theft.

                This is why we get stupid follow up posts like:

                'My bank closed my account for no reason, what can I do?'

                What's the difference between this and an overpayment from work or Ceno? I mean, I just want to know who I can rip off and who I can't…

          • +4

            @Ugly: For a 15 year old who works for KFC and doesn't have much money, it is pretty noticeable.

          • @Ugly: Except for the hundreds of witnesses on ozbargain

      • Word of the week: Fungible.

  • +10

    I would quickly withdraw the cash and move immediately to Asia. I just need to decide which part. Apparently it's pretty big.

    • Holy shit, how did I miss that "Indians and Pakistanis are NOT Asian" thread? JCF.

  • +4

    Buy KFC stocks

    • +7
      • That's perfect! I been eyeing that page for a bargain for a while actually lol

      • +1

        Haha those are perfect for me, can wear them to work.

        • McDonalds?

        • Tax deduction due to company logo. Winning.

    • +3

      Shut up and take my money.

  • +2

    I'd take it to the Casino and put it all on Black.
    (Passenger 57).

  • Put in your high interest rate savings account until your bank contacts you.

  • +1

    Some former outvoted glasses wearing politician told me that a bank owed us money from a junk insurance policy we paid for but never existed. Worth pursuing?

  • +1

    Contact the bank

    I tried this once. Both mine and the sender's bank - neither were really that interested in talking about it and basically said if it's reversed it will be gone. Here we are 2 years later and it's still there.

    • i hope you spent it already

      • +1

        Invested it.

    • How much are we talking?

      • +2

        More than $4000

        • Nice!

  • buy a job

    • +1

      WFH job?

      • WFT job

  • +4

    Always bet on black
    .

    • my man

  • +2

    Someone deposited $600 into my account

    I contacted the bank and they said there’s nothing they can do. Said that someone from another bank could contact them to get the money back, and then they would contact me

    I’ve just left it there

  • Withdraw it and skip the country. I don't think I'd notice an extra $400 on my balance, so I wouldn't be notifying them.

  • +5
    • Withdraw it
    • Go off grid
    • Make burner accounts and ask Ozbargain for advice
  • +4

    I had $10k turn up in my savings account once. I did nothing as I knew the bank would be in touch sooner or later. Took over two months but eventually the bank contacted me and told me they were going to reverse the transaction. No skin off my nose - I knew it wasn't my money and I'd got two months' interest on it.

    • At 1989 rates?

  • +1

    If you let the bank know you will have done the right thing, the $400 should be left in the account until the bank wants it back.

  • +1

    Contact the bank, make a note of the time of the call and who you spoke to. Live life as per normal.

  • +1

    This topic has been covered enough times before that it has been done to death.

    Perhaps the OP should do a search on whether what they want to raise has been done before.

    • -1

      Still better than news.com.au

  • +1

    30 plus years ago i had $6000 put into my account just about to go on holiday told the Commonwealth bank about it.

    They initially wanted to hold onto my passbook so i didnt spend it. I was a bit annoyed i did the right thing and brought it to their attention i left with my passbook and 2 days later the money was taken out by the bank but with no explanation.

    Now thinking about it should the bank actually ask for permission to take that money? (todays rules not the rules of 30 years ago)

    • +1

      Now thinking about it should the bank actually ask for permission to take that money?

      No. It should have been treated as if it were never there. Inform you that they will be removing it, sure, let you know it was an error, sure, appologise for the mistake, absolutely, but asking you permission to retrieve something that isn't yours and never was intended for you, lol, no.

    • Sounds like the staff at the bank embezzled the money.

  • ANZ has a weird habit of making transactions disappear and reappear sometimes. Just leave it be for a day and you should see it in your transaction history. If it has a RID number, it's a refund from ANZ for overcharging you fees or not paying enough interest etc (though $400 would be a lot) but also annoyingly you can't find out what it's for until they send you a hard copy in the mail (even if you get everything by email).

    • +2

      This turned out to be the case, it wasn't extra money, ANZ made a transaction disappear and reappear a day later

      • So the $400 transaction is now reversed ?

  • +1

    Please see my earlier thread on this where my son accidentally gave a wrong AC number to an employer. https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/814617

    The recipient of the money refused to give it back.

    Thank you for contacting the bank to say you have received monies that aren't your in your account. You have done the right thing and I for one appreciate it.

    (I've just posted an update on that thread to say we eventually got paid by the company my son works for and I am assuming they will absorb the loss)

    • Haven't read that thread, but sounds like another good reason for everyone to use PayID.

      Not the case here tho as you can see from the comment above.

  • When $400 disappears through a hack etc the bank will do little to help you.

  • I had $400 come into my overseas bank account. It was a refund from OnlyFans. i tred to contact the company several different way, but they wanted me to supply with them too much information. so i will keep it for several months to see if they get it withdrawn, and then i will give it away to charity.

    • +6

      I love the way Charity dances too.

  • Not deposited into my account but given to me by the bank.

    About 30 years ago I went into the Commonwealth Bank to close an account that I wasn't really using that had under $5 in it.
    It was an account I had for about 3 years only and never really had any money in it.
    The clerk said I just need to check the interest owed to the account before I can close it, she came back and said I will close it now, we owe you $120 in interest.

    I was expecting a few cents at most, she gave me the $125 odd in cash and I left

    • And you've been on the run ever since!

  • +1

    I had this occur $1,500, despite multiple emails\calls, the money remains in my account till this day.

    • +1

      Do you mean multiple emails/calls from yourself, or the bank?

      • Myself calling the bank, I was concerned it was someone young or in need made a mistake and needed the money back.
        That was 3 years ago now.

  • +2

    I'd keep it (offset account).

    A bonus if they never ask for/withdraw it back.

    I have so many transactions going in and out, it going to be impossible to prove that I knew that I should have known the money wasn't mine.

  • Only had this happen once, for a few thousand about 10 years ago. I just left it there in offset, eventually the bank works out their mistake and reverses it, took about 8 months for me.

  • Similar poll votes when I asked a similar question.

    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/817134

  • Most Ozbargainers wouldn’t notice such a tiny increase into their bank accounts

  • -2

    Bikies, gee that joke was old years ago. Well done.

  • Keep it. It's not my obligation to inform the bank (unless there's some hidden obscure fine print), not my obligation to remit it to where ever it came from.

    If the bank wants to take it they can. The bank performs a service in exchange for the money I keep in it.

  • I'd leave it where it is and contact the bank.

    If you move it into another account and they then take it back, it's possible your account could be overdrawn and if you miss that you would end up with overdraft charges.

    I'd also check the withdrawal limits of that account and reduce them to be safe until it's sorted out.

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