a friend of mine has a credit union bank account, on Monday someone
that she does not know, wired 18,500 into her account.  She does not
know this person or anything, but she hasn't heard from this person
saying that they accidentally put money into her account, what should
she do?  she wants to know the legal thing, what happens if she spends
some of that money, and how long does she legally have until that
money is hers?

sorry if it sounds confusing, she just wants to know if there is a
statute of limitations if that money is in the account for a certain
amount of days does it become hers or what?

Dear terrijn1011-ga;

Thank you for allowing me to answer your interesting question. Color
me suspicious but such is the nature of my profession outside of
Google Answers. Having been in professional law enforcement for many
years, and having seen this type of thing occur in various forms more
times than I can recall, my initial reaction is that this is yet
another variation of a very old con game called a ?pigeon drop? (in
recent years this has as become know as the ?419 scam? ? so named
after the ?no-so-enthusiastically-enforced? Section 419 of the
Nigerian penal code which addresses fraud schemes). Here?s how it
often works:

An anonymous party mysteriously causes a large sum of money to appear
in your account. Preying on the greed of the average person, the
anonymous party merely waits a few days and then contacts the ?pigeon?
(you) or the bank explaining the error and requests the funds be
returned (or may even return the money themselves - more on that in a
moment). Some victims (because they ?are? honest) will authorize this
return of electronic funds. Even though the funds are available (by
virtue of 1992 Federal Reserve Regulation CC), the check itself may
take about 2 weeks to clear. In that time the money is refunded and
bank will later learn that the check was counterfeit or that the funds
were insufficient to cover the amount of the instrument. Of course,
the deed is done and there?s no way to get the money back, and YOU, my
friend, have literally been taken to the bank for $ 18,500.

WELCOME TO THE BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU
http://www.thelocalbbb.com/alerts/alerts.html?newsid=639&newstype=1

These types of scammers study the banking system and they understand
it better than the average citizen. They know that banks make the
funds available in your bank account within 48 hours of the deposit,
days before the cashiers check clears- or bounces, and they know that
most people consider this mysterious ?gift? a windfall. My guess is
that either you or the bank will be contacted in the next few days
asking for a refund ? using ?real? money. Sometimes the sender
approaches the victim directly and baits the victim with an even more
attractive proposal to the effect of, ?Just send me a money order or
cashier?s check for $15,000 and keep the rest in exchange for your
honesty and for your trouble?. This is a powerful temptation that many
people are unable to resist so they run down to their bank, grab the
15 grand and mail it away. In short order they find that they?ve given
a con man that they?ve never met $3,500 and they are suddenly into
debt with the bank for $18,500.

It is imperative then that you notify your bank NOW and let them know
that, at the very least, you were not expecting this deposit and do
not know where it originated. They can freeze the deposit until the
check itself clears (which, unless it is truly a legitimate anonymous
gift, it probably won?t). If, on the other hand, you remain silent and
play along, you place yourself in very real jeopardy of being held
accountable to the banking institution for the amount of the deposit,
or for the amount of it you spend before the deposit bounces.

Just to be on the safe side, let the bank know that someone ?may? have
sent you a gift, but that you?d like to play it safe and have them
research the funds before you assume actual control of them. It is not
necessary for you to divulge your private affairs to the bank or
explain why you think you might be the recipient of such a gift ?
merely that you weren?t expecting it and would like to know where it
came from.

If the deposit is truly an error the money is not yours to keep ?
?finder?s keepers? is not a valid defense in most states (in fact,
many states actually have laws that specifically govern the ?theft of
lost or mislaid? property). If the money was placed in your account as
the result of an error and the true owner cannot be determined, most
states have a provision in the law that mandate that these funds be
turned over the unclaimed funds account, which is usually managed by
the State Treasurer?s Office. At any rate, the money will NOT
automatically ?become hers? legally unless (or until) it can be
determined that the money was specifically and intentionally paid to
her or gifted to her for whatever reason. Above all, NEVER EVER
withdraw any cash wired to your account until the deposit has been
approved by the banking institution.


I hope you find that my answer exceeds your expectations. If you have
any questions about my research please post a clarification request
prior to rating the answer. Otherwise I welcome your rating and your
final comments and I look forward to working with you again in the
near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.

Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga ? Google Answers Researcher



INFORMATION SOURCES

CRIMES OF PERSUASION
http://www.crimes-of-persuasion.com/Crimes/Business/bank_fraud.htm

NIGERIAN 419 SCAM
http://home.rica.net/alphae/419coal/

SECURE FLORIDA
http://www.secureflorida.org/index.php?src=gendocs&link=EmailScams
(similar variants of these scams are mentioned here ? some using email, some not)

UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE
http://www.secretservice.gov/alert419.shtml

SEARCH STRATEGY


SEARCH ENGINE USED:

Google ://www.google.com


SEARCH TERMS USED:

Deposit

Wire

Fraud

Bank

Scam

Pigeon drop

Con

Funds

---

Request for Answer Clarification by terrijn1011-ga on 21 Apr 2006 08:59 PDT

I understand what you are saying, but this was from a credit union and
the person who sent it also has an account at that same instatituion
and works for the same place at this person does but in a different
state.  The money is real due to the fact it was wired and it has
cleared the account.  But no word from this person saying it went to
the wrong account.  If she spent some of that money like a 1,000 or so
will she go to jail.

---

Request for Answer Clarification by terrijn1011-ga on 21 Apr 2006 09:24 PDT

I understand what you are saying, but this was from a credit union and
the person who sent it also has an account at that same instatituion
and works for the same place at this person does but in a different
state.  The money is real due to the fact it was wired and it has
cleared the account.  But no word from this person saying it went to
the wrong account.  If she spent some of that money like a 1,000 or so
will she go to jail.

---

Clarification of Answer by tutuzdad-ga on 21 Apr 2006 10:16 PDT

To establish that a crime has been committed, one must prove intent.
If your friend knows the money doesn't belong to them and that the
issue is a related to a banking error in her favor, and withdraws some
of the money, an enthusiastic district attorney could easily translate
this as "intent" and (in my opinion) present that as quite compelling
evidence to a jury.

Money isn't just dropped in this account or that one and forgotten
about. Deposits are controlled by various unique transaction and
identifcation numbers (more than one to provide more than one means of
tracing the transaction). There's little doubt that the person who
sent the money will eventually go looking for it, and when the alert
is sounded the error WILL be quickly discovered and easily traced to
your friend's account. If your friend insists on being silent, so be
it - but if she spends it she's going to have to pay for it later (and
depending on the prosecutor in your county, maybe in more ways that
one - with interest).

tutuzdad-ga

It sounds like there was an error on the account number or bank code.
The other person may not expect that the funds have already been transferred.
If your friend knows where the money came from and/or knows that the
transfer was intended for the other person's account, everything
Tutuzdad says about Lost or Mislaid property applies.

ditto

Look at it this way.  My spinster great aunt died and left me $18,500.
 Just in time, because I was going to build a new house next year, but
now that will give me enough for my down payment. I wire it to my
credit union acct after the funeral. My number is just 2 numbers
transposed from your friend.  I get my plans and lot and head off to
the builder 3 weeks later.  I give him a check from the CU acct.  A
week later he calls and says it bounced.  I call the CU, no funds
there.  It takes me 3 days to find the stupid recipt because I've
already started sorting and packing.  The CU starts tracing and a week
later figures out it was sent to the wrong account.  Now it's been
almost 6 weeks since it landed in your friends account.  Is it there
when they figure it out??

In continuation of the above:
Accounting-wise, the $18,500 never was on the wrong account; the
transaction would /will be reversed with "back-value"  - the date it
was originally credited.