4 ms·

Good morning, you owe us $887,180 dollars and 48 cents

51 points by Prefect 17y ago

eru 17y ago
Please correct the title. (Or is `use' there on purpose?)
- catch23 17y ago
  it's probably 'us'
  - mahmud 17y ago
    or perhaps U.S.
    - RyanMcGreal 17y ago
      > or perhaps U.S. If that was the case, the owing would be the other way around and the amount would be orders of magnitude larger.
deleted 17y ago
[deleted]
axod 17y ago
Using 'special' numbers seems like a really bad idea. Wonder if someone did transfer $888,888.88 out, and then contacted fraud, could they convince them that it was an error and get the money refunded to their account, whilst keeping the money that was transferred? Probably a long shot, might make a fun movie script though :/
- boredguy8 17y ago
  No. Seriously, why do you think that would even be possible? All transfers have tracking information and source/destination information. Not only would your withdraw request be denied (insufficient funds), but also they would identify that it wasn't an internal transfer.
  - abstractbill 17y ago
    1) Open an account with, say, $1M as the opening balance. 2) Withdraw $888,888.88 3) Armed with a bank statement showing this transaction, and everything that's online about this magic number, threaten to go to the media with your story unless the bank "refunds" your missing money. The bank doesn't want to lose all its customers so it gives in, even though it knows you're ripping it off. Kevin Spacey plays the bad guy. Good enough (maybe, just) for a movie script at least. In reality I'm sure step 4 is "Go to prison".
    - anigbrowl 17y ago
      Why so complicated? Just buy a failing bank and ask the treasury to give you the money. Futz about for a year or two then complain that your hands were tied by regulators and you weren't able to make a profit. Resign in tears, collect a fat severance check, and go to work for the SEC.
- Prefect 17y ago
  I was kind of wondering about something similar, while not exactly that. What if someone does do a transaction (a legitimate one) for 888888.88, does it mess up the bank's handling or total for deposits because its being handled differently? What if that amount was fraudulently taken from a large balance account, would the bank notice or assume its part of a fraud investigation?
jrwoodruff 17y ago
Use credit unions for your everyday checking and savings. I got tired of being treated like a rounding error at my local corporate bank and opened a checking account with a credit union. Some benefits: - $1000 overdraft loan - No $30 charges for overdrawing $0.25 - Interest earning checking account - Automatic foreign ATM fee reimbursement up to $30/month - personal service - ability to vote out directors Not saying that an error like the one in this article won't happen at your credit union, but I doubt they would let you leave the building without resolving the issue. I can't say enough about what the credit union has done for my financial health.
- keltex 17y ago
  I concur with this one. And this isn't the worst of what these large banks do. How about where they have a computer program which re-orders transactions (out of their normal chronological order) in such as way as to maximize overdraft fees. For example, let's say that you have $100 in your account and pay transactions of $20, $50, and $110 (in that order) with your debit card. Instead of letting the first 2 go through and then hitting you with a $30 overdraft fee on the last one, or maybe even rejecting the charge, they instead put the $110 charge first. Charge you a $30 overdraft fee and then since your account is overdrawn, hit you with 2 more $30 fees for the $10 an $20 transactions. The backlash against this sort of behavior has made the banks back off, but do you really want to do business with an institution that treats the customer this way?
  - petewarden 17y ago
    I went through a somewhat similar nightmare with Citibank years ago, which prompted me to switch to a credit union. I've never regretted that decision, they've been great: - There's real, trained staff both at the branches and manning the phones. They have the authority and motivation to sort out problems for you. - I can use almost any other union's ATM with no fee, they're in a cooperative network, I don't even have to get a refund. - I know my deposits are funding straightforward loans, not financial shenanigans or empire building by bank CEOs.
  - anigbrowl 17y ago
jrockway 17y ago
Good morning, good luck collecting.

51 points by Prefect 17y ago

eru 17y ago

Please correct the title. (Or is `use' there on purpose?)

catch23 17y ago
it's probably 'us'
- mahmud 17y ago
  or perhaps U.S.
  - RyanMcGreal 17y ago
    > or perhaps U.S. If that was the case, the owing would be the other way around and the amount would be orders of magnitude larger.

deleted 17y ago

[deleted]

axod 17y ago

Using 'special' numbers seems like a really bad idea. Wonder if someone did transfer $888,888.88 out, and then contacted fraud, could they convince them that it was an error and get the money refunded to their account, whilst keeping the money that was transferred? Probably a long shot, might make a fun movie script though :/

boredguy8 17y ago
No. Seriously, why do you think that would even be possible? All transfers have tracking information and source/destination information. Not only would your withdraw request be denied (insufficient funds), but also they would identify that it wasn't an internal transfer.
- abstractbill 17y ago
  1) Open an account with, say, $1M as the opening balance. 2) Withdraw $888,888.88 3) Armed with a bank statement showing this transaction, and everything that's online about this magic number, threaten to go to the media with your story unless the bank "refunds" your missing money. The bank doesn't want to lose all its customers so it gives in, even though it knows you're ripping it off. Kevin Spacey plays the bad guy. Good enough (maybe, just) for a movie script at least. In reality I'm sure step 4 is "Go to prison".
  - anigbrowl 17y ago
    Why so complicated? Just buy a failing bank and ask the treasury to give you the money. Futz about for a year or two then complain that your hands were tied by regulators and you weren't able to make a profit. Resign in tears, collect a fat severance check, and go to work for the SEC.
Prefect 17y ago
I was kind of wondering about something similar, while not exactly that. What if someone does do a transaction (a legitimate one) for 888888.88, does it mess up the bank's handling or total for deposits because its being handled differently? What if that amount was fraudulently taken from a large balance account, would the bank notice or assume its part of a fraud investigation?

jrwoodruff 17y ago

Use credit unions for your everyday checking and savings. I got tired of being treated like a rounding error at my local corporate bank and opened a checking account with a credit union. Some benefits: - $1000 overdraft loan - No $30 charges for overdrawing $0.25 - Interest earning checking account - Automatic foreign ATM fee reimbursement up to $30/month - personal service - ability to vote out directors Not saying that an error like the one in this article won't happen at your credit union, but I doubt they would let you leave the building without resolving the issue. I can't say enough about what the credit union has done for my financial health.

keltex 17y ago
I concur with this one. And this isn't the worst of what these large banks do. How about where they have a computer program which re-orders transactions (out of their normal chronological order) in such as way as to maximize overdraft fees. For example, let's say that you have $100 in your account and pay transactions of $20, $50, and $110 (in that order) with your debit card. Instead of letting the first 2 go through and then hitting you with a $30 overdraft fee on the last one, or maybe even rejecting the charge, they instead put the $110 charge first. Charge you a $30 overdraft fee and then since your account is overdrawn, hit you with 2 more $30 fees for the $10 an $20 transactions. The backlash against this sort of behavior has made the banks back off, but do you really want to do business with an institution that treats the customer this way?
- petewarden 17y ago
  I went through a somewhat similar nightmare with Citibank years ago, which prompted me to switch to a credit union. I've never regretted that decision, they've been great: - There's real, trained staff both at the branches and manning the phones. They have the authority and motivation to sort out problems for you. - I can use almost any other union's ATM with no fee, they're in a cooperative network, I don't even have to get a refund. - I know my deposits are funding straightforward loans, not financial shenanigans or empire building by bank CEOs.
- anigbrowl 17y ago

jrockway 17y ago

Good morning, good luck collecting.