Be Careful When Doing E Transfer of Funds!


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petetherock

Senior Member
Oct 9, 2006
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We buy lots of things here and in other local forums, so be careful and key in the a/c number correctly, or write a cheque!

http://www.asiaone.com/print/Business/News/My+Money/Story/A1Story20081214-107704.html
[size=10pt]ATM mistake costs him $750
He transfers money to wrong account number but bank can't return cash to him.
Ho Lian-Yi
Mon, Dec 15, 2008
The New Paper
HE inadvertently transferred $750 to the account of a stranger - and is upset that he can't get his money back.
His bank has been unable to contact the account-holder and has told him it can't just deduct the money from the 'wrong account'.
The bank security officer, who wanted to be known only as Gerald, 32, wanted to repay a debt to his friend via electronic transfer from his POSB savings account on 21Nov.
But he keyed in a 'totally wrong' account number at a POSB ATM in Ang Mo Kio.
He made the transfer at 5.33pm but realised his mistake only after 6pm, when most bank branches are closed.
So he took the MRT and rushed to The Centrepoint POSB branch, which he knew was still open. 'I have never run so fast in my life before,' he said.
He reported the wrong fund transfer at 7.05pm.
He thought that would settle it. But when he didn't get back his money after several days, he called POSB and was told it could not simply transfer the money back as the account-holder could not be contacted.
'I thought it was clear-cut,' he said. 'So does it mean that if the person refuses to return my money, it's gone?'
The bank told him it had sent a letter and also tried calling
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Not so clear-cut
While it is an offence to dishonestly retain money, such cases are not so clear-cut because the account-holder needs to know that the money does not belong to him.
Lawyer SSDhillon noted that the mere fact that the money was received by the account-holder would not make it an offence if he didn't know it was not meant to be for him.
But it could be an offence if the account-holder wilfully ignores a letter from the bank informing him of the error and proceeds to spend the money. He said a civil lawsuit would be the best course of action.
DBS and POSB banks see an average of six cases of money transfers to a wrong account every day, according to a 2006 report.
This was about one in every 5,000 transfers.
The banks did not give updated figures when asked.
 

I had that experience once.

I transferred a USD2500 to an account using the T/T service.
I was not able to get a single cent back... that really taught me a GOOD lesson.
 

I had that experience once.

I transferred a USD2500 to an account using the T/T service.
I was not able to get a single cent back... that really taught me a GOOD lesson.

USD2500...ouch...that's a painful lesson. :sweat:
 

It happened to me but can leh. Mine was DBS but small amount only.:bsmilie:
 

This is not the first time highlighted in the news. The bank needs to get the consent from the receiving party which was wrongly credited before they can debit his/her account and refund to the transferor.
 

nowadays when we deposit money into own account at the cashier, we need to show IC.
I presume this is to prevent any fraud/money laundry etc.

but online/atm transfer just rely on the account/ atm card. isn't this offering a different level of security?

some banks tried to prevent silly mistakes such as wrong a/c number by forcing account owner to go down to the branch to submit the paperwork before they enable the transfer setup with a new recipient account. Troublesome but better security.
 

I thought there is a check-sum digit at the end to reduce the probability to wrong account code? Like the alphabet in our NRIC or the car licence number??:think:

I do transfers pretty often...must be careful!
 

I had that experience once.

I transferred a USD2500 to an account using the T/T service.
I was not able to get a single cent back... that really taught me a GOOD lesson.

when I wire my money back, I always use the same form. I thought wiring has a lot of safe guards. U are required to fill in the name of the account holder too right? If the name does not match the account number, u should not be able to wire it right?

Once I have my funds deducted from my US account and not credited into my local account. They put a tracer on the money and they found it stuck in limbo because the IS guy keyed in a wrong number.
 

I know that for Maybank Malaysia ATMs, if one wishes to transfer money to another account via ATM, the account holder's name of the account number that was keyed in will be displayed. I think that this is a good '2nd layer' confirmation that I am transferring money to the correct account.

For example, let's say that one wishes to transfer money to Tan Ah Kow at account number 12345678. If that person accidentally made a mistake during the account number key-in process, say, to 12345677, then the account holder of 12345677 will be displayed, which is NOT Tan Ah Kow. This immediatelly will alert the person that he/she has keyed in the wrong account number.
 

whoa if malaysia can do it why singapore which claim superior IT system cannot?
 

I had that experience once.

I transferred a USD2500 to an account using the T/T service.
I was not able to get a single cent back... that really taught me a GOOD lesson.

mmmm then it is better to use online banking and do a transfer during a relax moment so we double check...Best Write a cheque to the friend's name and bank in the cheque...sure wont go wrong since cheque is in the person name and account no.

After a tiring day, we can sure see wrong number and key wrongly....oooopsss:bigeyes:
 

sometime it may not be you are keying in the wrong number.. it maybe the person whom give you the account number are wrong in the first place.

Yes I fully agree that local bank should have double checking on account number must match account name before they approve the TT application.
 

I thought there is a check-sum digit at the end to reduce the probability to wrong account code? Like the alphabet in our NRIC or the car licence number??:think:

I do transfers pretty often...must be careful!
The checksum digit is only good for outright invalid account numbers.

It does not work if the wrong digits leads to a VALID account number.
 

I know that for Maybank Malaysia ATMs, if one wishes to transfer money to another account via ATM, the account holder's name of the account number that was keyed in will be displayed. I think that this is a good '2nd layer' confirmation that I am transferring money to the correct account.

For example, let's say that one wishes to transfer money to Tan Ah Kow at account number 12345678. If that person accidentally made a mistake during the account number key-in process, say, to 12345677, then the account holder of 12345677 will be displayed, which is NOT Tan Ah Kow. This immediatelly will alert the person that he/she has keyed in the wrong account number.

I once used OCBC ATM to transfer funds to my brother and sis-in-law account. I could only see the account number, but no name nothing for me to verify. So I asked the staff there. I remember she told me that it was actually for privacy purpose. I think it is reasonable. Imagine, if anyone can just transferred a minimum sgd10 to an account, then find out the name of owner of that account number, not appropriate right?
 

I once used OCBC ATM to transfer funds to my brother and sis-in-law account. I could only see the account number, but no name nothing for me to verify. So I asked the staff there. I remember she told me that it was actually for privacy purpose. I think it is reasonable. Imagine, if anyone can just transferred a minimum sgd10 to an account, then find out the name of owner of that account number, not appropriate right?
Privacy I can accept but losing your money not acceptable.

Of course you should check before transferring/depositing the money but there is always a chance you make mistake by accident.

If you are a person who makes plenty of transfer everyday to different people, there is always that slimmest chance of making mistakes. Even bank staffs makes mistakes too.

The only fool proof method for now is to send a sms to the person I am depositing money to to reconfirm.

Fill up the account number and account type, enter the person's mobile number and key in the amount you want deposit. Once the transfer has been done, a sms will be sent to the party. Make the effort to call up the party that he/she has received the sms, especially if it's a big amount.

The chances of that person not using a mobile phone in Singapore very slim. If he/she does not have one.....which is weird, I will NOT do any internal transfer via iBanking but if they are desperate for money, please come pick it up personally from me.:bsmilie:

It's just like iBanking which Citibank, OCBC and UOB which has a double layer security. DBS uses the stupid key which is sometimes good and bad.
 

Don't do it.

If you key in wrong account number, the analogy is that you are standing on the street and handing $$$$$ to total strangers who take the money and walk away.

Of course you cannot expect money back.
 

I once used OCBC ATM to transfer funds to my brother and sis-in-law account. I could only see the account number, but no name nothing for me to verify. So I asked the staff there. I remember she told me that it was actually for privacy purpose. I think it is reasonable. Imagine, if anyone can just transferred a minimum sgd10 to an account, then find out the name of owner of that account number, not appropriate right?

Noted your point. But what can a person do with the information? (account number with name) The process is not that you can get your friend's account number. The process is the other way around, key in the account number and the account holder's name will appear. Most likely, you will not know that person... Unless, one is so lucky to 'tikam' an account number that belongs to your friend.

But even if that were to happen, what can we do with the information. Anyone can elaborate?
 

That's why I dont do E-Transfers at ATMs.
Prefer to do on internet at home, more time to verify correct account numbers, I even ask them to email their account numbers so that I have it in writing.
Then I usually transfer SGD10 first to test out, ask the other party to confirm receipt before transferring the balance.
Super kiasu?
 

Imagine... You buy something online, transfer money, and they send it out to you, then you suddenly say transfer wrong, and the bank returns your money.. How can?

I think POSB was right in this case not to return.. Although I sympathise with the poor fella.. I think it's just bad luck, not bank fault.
 

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