“They Asked Me To Return The Money, But They Didn’t Have Any Grounds”: Woman Gets To Keep $50k A Bank Accidentally Wired Her (2024)

“They Asked Me To Return The Money, But They Didn’t Have Any Grounds”: Woman Gets To Keep $50k A Bank Accidentally Wired Her (1)

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The banking industry is heavily regulated because mistakes can be costly and can eliminate the public’s trust in these institutions. Nonetheless, mistakes do happen – like when one woman named Aprille Franks accidentally received $50,000 and got to keep it!

While mistakes like this are more frequent than they should be, many are soon resolved and the money is returned to its rightful owner. This woman, however, claims that she eventually gained a full legal right to keep the money! That’s some good advice to hold on to in case something like this ever happens to you. Read on to find out how.

What would you do if you were suddenly $50,000 richer and didn’t know why? Here’s what Aprille Frank did

Image credits: epicaprille
“$50,000 is the amount of money that a credit union that I used to be a part of accidentally wired me to my bank account when I was in my 20s. I can go ahead and skip to the good part, which is I didn’t go to jail and I didn’t do anything wrong. And I was able to keep the money, every penny. So, one day, I was in my bedroom, and I was going through the mail. I open the mail, and I was wiring money already, because I knew I was going to be living there. And so we were kind of using that account for things that we were going to be doing together once I moved from Alabama to St. Louis. And while I’m there, I’m sitting in my room and I open up this mail, and it was like ‘wire confirmation’. Back then, they weren’t sending emails. So it was like wire confirmation, for 49,700 dollars. I stood there and I was frozen.”

After discovering the deposit, her mind started racing and she imagined some bad scenarios

Image credits: cottonbro studio (not the actual photo)

“I was like, oh my god, somebody is trying to set me up. I started running through my mind, like everyone who it could possibly be that sent me this money. And I was like, I had a friend that really was gambling at that time. I was like, did she drop…did she send this money to me? I was also working at this apartment complex as a manager. And the manager was kind of shady. So I’m like, is he trying to hide money and send it to me? I literally call them, I was just like, “Hey, how you doing? Did you send me any money to my bank account?” And they’re like, “No”. So then I immediately… okay, I called the credit union. And I was like, “Hey, I got a wire notification…” which means that the money had been sitting there. It’s been sitting there for at least a couple of days, at least two or three days. Things weren’t as sophisticated then as they are now. So I didn’t know until I got the letter. And I was like… now, at most, I might have had $1,500 of my own money in that bank account, okay. I didn’t have a lot of money at all at that time.”

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She did her due diligence, however, and eventually got to keep all $50,000!

Image credits: Marcus Aurelius (not the actual photo)

“And so I call them and they were like, “No, ma’am. It says… Is this your account number? Is this your name? Da-da-da-da-da.” And I was like… So the credit union wired the money to the other bank but it was a mistake. But they were insisting that there was no mistake. So I’m like, “I’m trying to tell y’all like…” I’m like, “Well, who sent it? Like, where did it come from?”. So then I went and I saw a lawyer. Because I was like, “What am I supposed to do with this money? What are my rights? What is the law?” And the lawyer told me exactly to do this. He said, “Report it again, document everything, don’t touch any of the money for 30 days.” And he told me to post it somewhere public. I don’t know if it was a newspaper or something to that effect. And he said, “If they don’t claim it, then it’s yours.” And that’s exactly what happened. The bank refused to admit that they made a mistake. ”

@epicaprille Replying to @FEMME NOIRE ♬ original sound – Aprille | Feminine Energy Tips

Here’s what she did with it. Would you have spent it differently?

“What I do with the $50,000 at the bank accidentally wired me into my bank account. Let’s talk about it. In short, I spent it but here’s what I bought: I bought a house. I bought a second house that we flipped. Me and the guy that I was dating at the time, I bought a car, and we lived on it, and I lived off that money. I mean, I was working full time, I was making like $31,000 a year. I was working at this place called Beyond Housing in St. Louis. And it took me about a year and a half to spend all the money and they did call for the money back. They did call after a while and they asked me to return the money, but they didn’t have any grounds”

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@epicaprille Replying to @Plant Base Rea ♬ original sound – Aprille | Feminine Energy Tips
@epicaprille Replying to @Plant Base Rea ♬ original sound – Aprille | Feminine Energy Tips

Commenters were understandably envious. I was, too!

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“They Asked Me To Return The Money, But They Didn’t Have Any Grounds”: Woman Gets To Keep $50k A Bank Accidentally Wired Her (2024)

FAQs

Do you have to give back money that was accidentally put in your account? ›

You should report the error to your bank as soon as you notice it. That way, the mistake can be corrected as quickly as possible. If you notice a bank error in your favor, you should report it to your bank as soon as possible. You cannot keep money that was mistakenly deposited into your account; it must be returned.

What happens if someone accidentally wires you money? ›

Ask the sender to cancel the transaction immediately — in many cases, the sender can simply contact the app's customer support to cancel the transaction. If the sender refuses to do so, contact the app's customer support yourself, explain the situation, and ask them to reverse the transaction.

Can a bank refuse to give you your money? ›

Yes. Your bank may hold the funds according to its funds availability policy. Or it may have placed an exception hold on the deposit.

What happens when a bank makes a mistake? ›

Banks run regular audits of customer accounts. There is no doubt the bank will find the mistake and reverse the transaction. If the money has been spent, you can expect them to contact the police. Claiming that you didn't notice the error does not get you off the hook.

Is it illegal to keep money accidentally given to you? ›

Unfortunately, the money isn't yours unless you made the deposit or if someone else made the deposit on your behalf. The only time you can keep money that is deposited into your account is when the deposit was intended to be made into your account. So, if the deposit was a mistake, you can't keep the money.

Are you legally obligated to return money paid in error? ›

It's important to know what your obligations are when you pay another party because in some situations you may be out the money. While the general rule is that you can get back money mistakenly paid to someone, this rule does not apply if the overpayment falls under the “voluntary payment doctrine.”

How do I get my wired money back? ›

Generally, once a wire transfer has been sent, it cannot be reversed. The funds are considered to be the property of the recipient and the transfer is final.

Can wired money be traced? ›

Scammers know that once you wire money to them, there's usually no way to get your money back. Scammers can quickly pick up your money at any of the wire transfer company's locations throughout the world. And, it's nearly impossible to identify who picked up the money or track them down.

Can a wire transfer be lost? ›

Once initiated, the funds transfer is guaranteed. A transaction can only be stopped if the receiving bank gets a cancellation notice from the sending bank before instructions are processed to complete the transfer.

Does a bank have the right to ask you where you got your money from? ›

Will the bank ask where you got money? Why do bank tellers always ask where I got the cash I'm depositing? Yes they are required by law to ask. This is what in the industry is known as AML-KYC (anti-money laundering, know your customer).

Can you sue a bank for not returning your money? ›

Holding your money and not giving it back when you ask isn't exactly fair. In California, the Unfair Competition Law also lets you sue to stop unfair business practices. And in Texas, the Deceptive Trade Practices Act does the same. Most states have similar laws.

How long can a bank legally put a hold on your money? ›

A "reasonable" period of time can range from two business days to up to six business days. A hold can also be placed if a bank has reasonable cause to doubt the collectability of the check. The portion of a deposited check that exceeds $5,525 can be held for two to five business days.

Can I keep money received in error? ›

Legally, if you received money in error and you know that it is not yours, then you must pay it back.

Can I keep money paid in error? ›

Your bank will then try to return the money to the sender. You should not spend or withdraw the money transferred into your account by mistake because it is not legally yours and you have to pay it back.

Can you keep money wrongly paid into your bank account? ›

' but unfortunately, the answer is no. Legally, if a sum of money is accidentally paid into your bank or savings account and you know that it doesn't belong to you, you must pay it back.

Can I keep money paid into my account by mistake? ›

So the general rule is that you cannot keep money sent to you in error. However, there are two exceptions to this rule that can be used as a defence if you are taken to court for spending money sent to you in error. These are known as 'change of position' and 'good consideration'.

Do you have to give back money you accidentally send? ›

They can give it back only if they choose to. You made the error and you are responsible for having made the error so there is no obligation for the person receiving the money to give it back to you.

Can you keep an accidental refund? ›

The person has no right to the money. It belongs to the person or business that refunded it by mistake. If the person refuses to return the money, they commit the crime of theft.

Can I keep money someone accidentally sent me? ›

No. You will not. If money is credited into your account by someone else mistake then it's not your fault but soon they realize their mistake and trace back you for refund.

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