What Would You Do If Your Bank Accidentally Deposited $86 Million Into Your Account?
Written by
Terence Loose
Edited by
Nicholas Morine
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Bank errors are not common, but they do happen. Usually, they are not in your favor — erroneous overdraft fees, direct deposit failures, etc. But what if the error was in your favor. Like, by a lot? What if you woke up one morning to find your account had an extra three, four, or — dare to dream — five zeros in it? Would you act the adult and call the bank to let them know, or channel your 16-year-old self and hightail it to the nearest sports car dealership?
Fortunately, there are examples of both scenarios to learn from.
A Real Life $86 Million Scenario
In late 2023, per The New York Post, Malaysian businesswoman Hafidzah Abdullah checked her Maybank account and discovered that she had a $86 million credit. She made a post about it on her LinkedIn page, but did not withdraw any money, visit the sports car dealership, or even go to a fancy lunch.
The bank’s response to their own error was, most would probably find, typically bank-like. They froze Abdullah’s accounts without any notice to her, as she reported in her post. In fact, to add insult to injury, Maybank insisted that Abdullah visit a nearby branch in person to correct their own error. As Abdullah wrote in her post, “They say money can’t buy happiness, but Maybank knows how to buy frustration.” It took another three days to correct the issues with her accounts.
Not All Cases Are the Same, However
But as frustrating and time-consuming as Abdullah’s experience was, she got off easy compared to another couple who had a similar error happen, but reacted very differently.
In May of 2019, according to PennLive, BB&T Bank mistakenly credited another customer’s $120,000 deposit to the joint account of Robert L. and Tiffany M. Williams. Upon learning of their unjustified windfall, the Pennsylvania couple proceeded to make a series of terrible decisions. They went on a $107,416 shopping spree. In addition to paying bills and gifting a friend $15,000, they bought a 2015 Chevrolet Traverse, two four-wheelers, a camper, and a race car motor.
Not satisfied that they had made their situation bad enough, the couple avoided the bank’s requests for the money back, or to negotiate a repayment plan. That prompted the bank to turn the matter over to the police. In the end, the couple was sentenced to repay the $107,416 and perform 100 hours of community service as part of a plea agreement.
So, the lesson seems clear. As outlined by SoFi Bank, if you discover a bank error in your favor, you should report it to the bank immediately. Withdrawing and spending the money could result in criminal charges.
