They aren'tWhy are costumers liable to bank mistakes? The one making the mistake was the bank in the first place.
Of the 120 k wasn't spent it would be corrected and they wouldn't be penalized
But they spent the money....
They aren'tWhy are costumers liable to bank mistakes? The one making the mistake was the bank in the first place.
Lol "finders keepers" isn't really a thing in adult life. If someone leaves their wallet at your house, you kinda still need to give it back if they ask about it.I definitely wouldn't spend the money but at the same time I don't think they should have to return it.
They spent money they knew was not theirs. To me it's like finding someone else's credit card. You know it's not yours, you know you shouldn't use it.but they are being charged for theft when the bank gave them the money in the first place, they did not take it
To me the difference is stealing an actual human's hard earned money versus using money that a bank can recoup at will. What they did is wrong, I just don't think they should have their life ruined over this.
but they are bring charged for theft when the bank gave them the money in the first place, they did not take it
returning the money is a different case, but the first part is not the definition of theft
Sure, that would be the smart thing to do. At the same time, I don't understand people comparing it to a lost credit card. I assume the money was just placed into their account. They didn't find someone else's bank details lying around and transfer the funds themselves.I'm genuinely nonplussed at people defending the absolutely, absurdly stupid decision to spend money that wasn't theirs. If I left my wallet at an Applebee's and some fuck took it and went on a shopping spree with my debit card, it would be fucking illegal and stupid. This is the same fucking thing. They got access to funds that they knew weren't theirs and their first instinct was to go buy a bunch of stupid shit with it rather than to call the bank or literally any authority whatsoever to determine if they should, you know, return the misplaced property.
It took three weeks for the bank, a branch of BB&T, to notice the error by which time about $13,000 was left. The bank told the couple they were responsible for the return of the money.
Tiffany Williams, 35, told bank officials "she would speak to her husband and attempt to construct a repayment agreement", state trooper Aaron Brown told the Montoursville Sun-Gazette.
In separate interviews with investigators in late July, both Robert Williams, 36, and his wife "admitted to knowing the mislaid money did not belong to them, but they spent it anyway".
The couple then stopped communicating further with the bank and were later arraigned on felony charges of theft and receiving stolen property.
"It'S aLL tHe BanK's FAulT"LOL no one forced them to buy a Chevy SUV, a camper, a car trailer, a race car and two four-wheelers all in the span of a couple months.
Why are they not comparable? Say someone leaves their car in your driveway with the keys in it. Is it yours now, "finder's keepers"? Does the world suddenly operate on 3rd grade rules now? In what way is there any expectation that a clerical/technological error should result in a windfall for the recipient of those funds, rather than the injured party reclaiming that lost property once the error has been recognized?Sure, that would be the smart thing to do. At the same time, I don't understand people comparing it to a lost credit card. I assume the money was just placed into their account. They didn't find someone else's bank details lying around and transfer the funds themselves.
If this ever happened to me, I would just put it in a high interest rate account, and try to drag my feet as much as possible in giving it back. Not spend it.
If this ever happened to me, I would just put it in a high interest rate account, and try to drag my feet as much as possible in giving it back. Not spend it.
This. Banks have done way worse than walk away with $120,000 because of someone else's mistake. Wells Fargo can create millions of fraudulent accounts and stay in business, but they'll gladly ruin your life for something like this.Keeping the money was wrong, but not that bad all things considered. Banks are predatory and also wouldn't feel compelled to give you your money back due to an error of yours if they could get away with it. A shopping spree would be stupid. I like the idea of paying off my debt with it though. That might also be stupid, but it has right amount of irony.
Not comparable either. A bank is literally in charge of handling and holding my funds. They're kind of like a position of authority here."It'S aLL tHe BanK's FAulT"
Why are they not comparable? Say someone leaves their car in your driveway with the keys in it. Is it yours now, "finder's keepers"? Does the world suddenly operate on 3rd grade rules now? In what way is there any expectation that a clerical/technological error should result in a windfall for the recipient of those funds, rather than the injured party reclaiming that lost property once the error has been recognized?
And people saying they'd put the money in a money market account wouldn't make much anyway....probably about $200.
The bank found the error after 3 weeks. Even at a generous 2.5% interest rate on 120k that would be $3k a year/12 at $250 a month...
Not worth the potential fallout.
Your personal opinion on banks isn't really relevant to how fucking monumentally stupid it was for them to spend money that isn't theirs. I'm still curious how you think it's the bank that is ruining these idiots' lives and not the aforementioned idiots themselves, given that their first instinct was to spend the money like mad, almost like they knew they were in the wrong and wanted to spend it all before the bank realized they had misplaced the money.This. Banks have done way worse than walk away with $120,000 because of someone else's mistake. Wells Fargo can create millions of fraudulent accounts and stay in business, but they'll gladly ruin your life for something like this.
To me the difference is stealing an actual human's hard earned money versus using money that a bank can recoup at will. What they did is wrong, I just don't think they should have their life ruined over this.
Sure but then the people who got the money made a second mistake of using it instead of calling the bank to be like "what's this about". Their mistake is illegal, the banks is a simple error.Why are costumers liable to bank mistakes? The one making the mistake was the bank in the first place.
Sure, that would be the smart thing to do. At the same time, I don't understand people comparing it to a lost credit card. I assume the money was just placed into their account. They didn't find someone else's bank details lying around and transfer the funds themselves.
🤷♂️Didn't we already go over this? It was stupid to spend the money. A felony theft charge for it also sucks.Your personal opinion on banks isn't really relevant to how fucking monumentally stupid it was for them to spend money that isn't theirs. I'm still curious how you think it's the bank that is ruining these idiots' lives and not the aforementioned idiots themselves, given that their first instinct was to spend the money like mad, almost like they knew they were in the wrong and wanted to spend it all before the bank realized they had misplaced the money.
You are ultimately the final authority on the disposition of your own money. If you spend money that you know for a fact isn't yours, that is 100% on you. Imagine if the bank was actually "literally in charge of handling your funds," and they blocked you from purchasing goods or withdrawing money as they saw fit. The bank provides a service where they give your money a place to sit, accrue interest, and be employed through digital means across the world through debit transactions. They do not have any significant authority over where and when you spend your money, or the amount of money you can deposit or withdraw (beyond some limited accounts).Not comparable either. A bank is literally in charge of handling and holding my funds. They're kind of like a position of authority here.
It is also 100% the most legally accurate charge for someone that spends $120000 of your money and refuses to return it. The bank would not be bringing these charges if the couple had simply reported the error and returned the money to its rightful owner. What charge do you believe better suits their crime?🤷♂️Didn't we already go over this? It was stupid to spend the money. A felony theft charge for it also sucks.
You would have been audited to hell and backLast year, we received a statement from a charity we donated to showing we gave $150,000. You can knock 3 zeros off that as we weren't even close to donating that much, so I contacted the charity to let them know there was a mistake. They insisted it was correct and it took me 3 or 4 times to get them to send a corrected statement.
Could have cleaned up on my taxes.
Okay, like...how do grown adults not know you can't do that????
I think a fair comparison would be you paying someone to hold your wallet, and that person gives the money in your wallet to someone else. I wouldn't be pissed if the person then spent the money, I'd be pissed at the person who was in charge of holding my wallet.You are ultimately the final authority on the disposition of your own money. If you spend money that you know for a fact isn't yours, that is 100% on you. Imagine if the bank was actually "literally in charge of handling your funds," and they blocked you from purchasing goods or withdrawing money as they saw fit. The bank provides a service where they give your money a place to sit, accrue interest, and be employed through digital means across the world through debit transactions. They do not have any significant authority over where and when you spend your money, or the amount of money you can deposit or withdraw (beyond some limited accounts).
It is also 100% the most legally accurate charge for someone that spends $120000 of your money and refuses to return it. The bank would not be bringing these charges if the couple had simply reported the error and returned the money to its rightful owner. What charge do you believe better suits their crime?
I think a fair comparison would be you paying someone to hold your wallet, and that person gives the money in your wallet to someone else. I wouldn't be pissed if the person then spent the money, I'd be pissed at the person who was in charge of holding my wallet.
A better comparison would be you paying someone to hold your wallet, that person dropping the wallet out of their pocket, and someone else seeing the money drop from the pocket, picking it up and rather than telling the person or giving it back, spending the money. You should be pissed at both parties.I think a fair comparison would be you paying someone to hold your wallet, and that person gives the money in your wallet to someone else. I wouldn't be pissed if the person then spent the money, I'd be pissed at the person who was in charge of holding my wallet.