Making a mistake in internet banking can happen to anyone. But Heidi Vos lost an amount worth 2,260 euros because she had deposited it in the wrong account. “The beneficiary honestly admitted that he had received the money, but when I asked him to return it, he refused.”
Who was that money for?
“For the tax authorities. I had just started as a self-employed person and then you suddenly have to pay a lot more tax because you do not have wage tax as a self-employed person.”
How exactly did you write about it?
“It happened in 1998, when internet banking was just emerging. It was the very first time I made a payment that way. And then suddenly such a large amount! I didn’t even practice with a smaller sum first. Don’t ask me what came over me because I have no idea. I usually consider myself to be a sane person, but then I wasn’t.”
Did you have so much confidence in this new way of doing banking?
“I was indeed convinced that it could not go wrong. Until it went wrong.”
What did you do wrong?
“I had entered the number of the tax authorities. I thought. But that number differed by one digit from someone’s personal bank account number.”
How did you find out that you had transferred the money to the wrong person?
“Not long after that I saw on my statement the name of a person I did not know, with the amount of 2,260 euros. And therefore not the name of the tax authorities.”
What did you do?
“Of course I am very shocked. I contacted the bank, and they tried to contact the gentleman who received the money. But he did not respond to their letters.”
And then?
“Then the bank asked me if I wanted to ask him to refund the amount. ‘Oh no’, I thought. But it was my mistake. So I called him.”
How did he react?
“He honestly admitted that he had received the money, but when I asked him to return it, he refused. In the end it was my own fault, so I get it. He thought: own fault, big bump. But that money was simply not intended as a generous gift.”
The bank advised me to come across as a little more menacing than I did on the phone. And it helped!
In the end everything worked out. How did you manage that?
“I contacted the bank again. Luckily they thought along. On their advice I sent a letter. In it I indicated that if he did not refund the amount before a certain date, I was forced to engage a bailiff and take further legal action against him. I also wrote that I would rather not do that, but that he left me no choice.”
Hard language!
“The bank advised me to come across as more threatening than I did on the phone. And it helped! He transferred it before the said date and I was able to pay my taxes.”
Did you still dare to use internet banking after this blunder?
“Not long after that, the online banking system was adjusted: as an extra check, you also had to add the correct name to the account number if you wanted to make a deposit.”
What did you learn from this blunder?
“I now triple check everything before I transfer money. It was not at all self-evident that I would get that sum of 2,260 euros back. Not even if I would take legal action, because it is and remains my fault. A mistake that fortunately ended well, but that I don’t want to make again.”
What are your rights if you deposit money into the wrong account number?
If you transfer money to the wrong recipient because the account number is out of date or because you made a typing error, you are dependent on the cooperation of the recipient. The bank cannot cancel the transaction. However, they are obliged to make efforts to help you get the amount back.
If you have entered an incorrect number, it is therefore always advisable to contact your bank. They will then contact the recipient, or can provide you with the contact details of the recipient (whether or not for a fee). If he or she does not refund the amount, you will have to take action yourself, for example by taking legal measures.
Everyone sometimes makes a mistake that has small or sometimes large financial consequences. In this series, people talk about their money blunder. Have you also committed a money blunder and do you want to protect others from this with your story? Send an email to [email protected].
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