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
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.