What would you do if your bank...

[Sehrysh]

Re: What would you do if your bank…

@mAd_ScIeNtIsT

A few weeks later the bank identified the error. When they contacted the person and found that the money had been spent, they had the person arrested for theft.

At the trial, the bank successfully argues that the person knew that they were not supposed to have had the money but took it anyway, and had them sent to jail for a few years.

This is true. Money erroneously deposited to your account which you know is not your own cannot be spent or withdrawn by you - it is considered to be theft.

However, let’s take the case of the New Zealand couple who received millions in a bank error and managed to withdraw a sizeable amount before the bank realized its error. The error was so large they had enough money that they could run away. Mind you, they’ll be on the run until caught, but with that much money they can buy new identities.

Error 404

The scenario is a moral dilemma - do you keep money that’s not your own, and what about the repercussions of such actions, does it even matter?