Would you inform your bank if your account had an additional $25,000?

Question

Would they find out anyways?

Answer 1

Yes I would inform them, and no I wouldn't spend it.

If you spend money in your account, when you know that it's not supposed to be there, you're not committing fraud.  Well not just fraud.  You could, depending on the state or city, be charged with larceny, money laundering, racketeering, theft, issuance of bad checks, and a whole host of other charges.

It's just not worth the trouble.

Answer 2

Yes, I would.  I would assume that it was someone else's money placed in my account by mistake.  That would be like stealing from that person if I didn't report it.

Answer 3

They may find out what have happened. If they do, they'll try to retrieve form your account. If it isn't there, you may be legally charged.

If you don't want to tell (I wouldn't), you don't have to. But don't spend it neither for a long time

Answer 4

They will eventually figure it out and remove it from  your account. If you've spent it, you will have to pay it back.

Answer 5

You mean an extra $25k showed up in your account that's not really yours?

Yes, you should tell them immediately.  This is not just an ethical question.  A bank has a virtually unlimited time to come back and correct a bank mistake.  If you spend that money and can't make good on it, you'll be in deep doo doo.

Answer 6

They will find out anyway.  I may not tell them.  But I wouldn't spend it, either.  This happened to a friend of mine, but for a much smaller amount of money.  They deducted it from his account about a month later.  Good thing he didn't spend it.  Whoever that money belongs to is going to contact the bank when they find it missing.  The bank will track where that money went, and they will take it back from you.

You won't go to jail for not telling them as long as you didn't spend it.  Plausible deniability.  You didn't know it was there.  You didn't put it there.  Nobody told you they put it there.

Answer 7

best to find out/error will be rectified

Answer 8

Yes, because a) it's not mine and b) they would find out and then I'd be in big trouble.

Answer 9

I'd contact them in a heartbeat.  The money would most certainly be missed by the person who owns it, and they'll be calling the bank as well.    If the error is a bank entry typo, it would be corrected once the hard document (check, cash, etc) cleared and the discrepancy was discovered.  

Answer 10

get lawyer

Answer 11

Yes they will find out, however if you were a dishonest person you could close the account and move the money to another bank. They will come after you for it, but you get to draw interest on it while you have it :)

Answer 12

i would call the bank asap

that money isnt mine and if i spent one cent of it then im a thief

that money isnt yours you have no right to it. anything you spend will be taken back from you

its stealing to spend what you know isnt yours

typos happen yes but you need to have integrity and do the right thing  and let the bank know as soon as you see the error

Answer 13

They will eventually find out through their audit process and you can be prosecuted if you spend it.

You have to make reasonable attempts to find the rightful owner of "found" money - since you know who the owner is, it would be considered theft.

Answer 14

They will find out.   I work for a software company that sells software that does what is called "compliance".   The banks run special software to find such descrepancies.  

In many recent cases, they have prosecuted people for spending the money.   so, if this happened to you, its not a 'honesty is the best policy issue',  its a 'keep me out of jail' issue.

Answer 15

Inform them especially if you did not put it in there yourself. Eventually they will find it but you do not want it showing in your account. It will be reported to the IRS and then that is another can of worms you don't want to have opened. Any single transaction that is over $9,999.00 is automatically reported to the IRS.

Edited to add:

It would be considered fraud/grand theft especially since you know it was not yours and if you actually went out and used the money. The money is not free, it is not a gift. they will take it back from you, sue you, put you in jail  min 5 years. it is not worth it

Arguing to a judge that it was the bank's mistake will never fly. the judge would tell you that you knew it was not your money but you took something knowing that it was not yours anyway which qualifies as theft.

You also won't be able to argue with the IRS about not knowing where the money came from when they come to ask questions as well.