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Two months ago I received a money transfer of around 200 € into my account from a company called Custom House Financial UK, which turns out to be an affiliate of Western Union (ie. they do money transfers). I wasn't expecting this money, nor does anyone in the UK have my bank account info. There wasn't any further information about who could have sent it. I thought it was an accident but couldn't see a way to send it back. Then this month I got another one, this time for over 500 €. I guess this time its not an accident, or the person on the other end is really not paying attention..

Is there a way to track Custom House Financial (or western union) transfers? Could this be some kind of weird (and honestly really badly thought out) scam?? Any thoughts would be super helpful.

willow
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    This is likely an error not a scam. Custom House is a foreign exchange service and it is very likely the transfer originated in a foreign country and they got the account wrong. Given the check digits built in this is a little surprising. However the ethical (it’s not your money) and possible money-laundering aspects mean you should not spend the money, and notify your bank ASAP. – Ex Umbris May 30 '18 at 04:39
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    Could be a clerical error. I was client from a big, defunct by now bank in the early 90s, and almost all my friends and acquaintances complained about random, suspect and frequent movements on their accounts. Either they were fairly incompetent, or the bank was using our accounts for money laundering. – Rui F Ribeiro May 30 '18 at 07:28
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    Sometimes these things happen as scam, the sender requests you to refund it, when you do withdraws the payment. Not sure if your case is the same but don't go writing transfers back to the sender without checking anything. – Mathijs Segers May 30 '18 at 11:37
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    If it's a scam, then it will be something /like/ them transferring some stolen money to your account, then extorting you for the money in cash/BTC. The cash may or may not then be removed from your account when its origins are discovered and you're left out of pocket. – JeffUK May 30 '18 at 15:57
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    One very important thing: Don't trust calls from your bank by the phone number it claims to be from. It's really easy to spoof numbers. – Dessa Simpson May 30 '18 at 17:50
  • To see how this sort of thing can get out of hand, read https://oios.un.org/resources/reports/a55_353.htm – DJohnM May 31 '18 at 03:27
  • I wonder how this could be a scam, you basically got money from some company without signing anything. Worst case scenario is they force you pay it back, isn't it? You only lose what never have been yours. – Neinstein May 31 '18 at 06:58
  • @JimGarrison UK bank account numbers don't have check digits. Obviously an IBAN for a UK bank account does, but if the person sending the money was given a UK account number and converted it to an IBAN themselves, then it depends on them being given the right account number. – Martin Bonner supports Monica May 31 '18 at 12:18
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    Oops. Just read the question more carefully. The money is coming from the UK to Germany ... However, it turns out that German bank accounts numbers don't have check digits either: http://www.credit-card.be/BankAccount/ValidationRules.htm#DE_Validation – Martin Bonner supports Monica May 31 '18 at 12:21
  • Have you participated in any settlements lately? Is it possible a class action suit has been won and you were included in it? – Anoplexian May 31 '18 at 15:11
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    @Martin Bonner: That information is wrong. German Bank account numbers mostly had check-digits. In fact I personally implemented the about 150 different methods used by several banks. You can download the definition from the German Bundesbank – Daniel May 31 '18 at 15:33
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    @Daniel Danke! I can understand how a global website might give up at the prospect of working out which of 150 different algorithms to use. – Martin Bonner supports Monica May 31 '18 at 16:53
  • @MartinBonner Even if the account had a check digit, that reduces the chance of accidentally getting a valid number, but doesn't eliminate it. Given that most check digits are a single digit, there are only 10 possibilities, so the chance that a random number will pass is 10%. Okay, most errors involved getting one digit wrong or switching two digits, which check digits will usually catch, but if someone gets two digits wrong, we're back to 10%. – Jay May 31 '18 at 17:42
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    @Martin Bonner: Banks and payment providers usually do - its cheaper than to regualrly clean up a mess like OP is describing – Daniel May 31 '18 at 17:43
  • @jay Even in a simplistic check-digit system, changing 1 digit will 100% always fail a check digit test. ie: take the following 6 digit number: 100472. The 2 is a check digit indicating that the sum of the 'ones' position is '2'. Change any single digit, and the test will fail - to arrive at a position still ending in '2', you would need to add '10' in value. ie: 155472 or 104072 would both be valid tests. – Grade 'Eh' Bacon Jun 01 '18 at 19:07
  • @Grade'Eh'Bacon Yes, I said in my post that a 1 digit change, or transposes 2 digits, will fail most check digit routines. My point was that check digits do not guarantee that a number is correct, because if someone makes a mistake on more than one digit, they may pass the check digit by good luck (or bad luck, depending on how you see it). Take your simple sum of digits mod 10 rule. So 180481 passes. If someone misread, say, the first 1 for a 7, 780481 fails. Cool. But if the font made the 8's look a lot like 3's and someone misread both 8's as 3's, 130431 passes. – Jay Jun 01 '18 at 19:44
  • @Jay Agreed - sorry I think I misread the meat of your comment. – Grade 'Eh' Bacon Jun 01 '18 at 19:50

4 Answers4

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This is either a scam, or a legitimate error by the sender [more likely a scam, just due to statistical likelihood, though details are unclear]. Either way, the money isn't yours, and eventually you will need to pay it back, when the problem is discovered.

Don't wait for someone to contact you. Lodge a formal notice with your bank (ie: in writing, with proof you have sent the letter to the bank on hand) that you are not familiar with / not expecting the incoming amounts. In the event this is part of a scam attempt, the senders are likely involved in money laundering, and you want evidence as soon as possible that you are not affiliated with them.

Your bank will advise you on what actions to take. Do not accept phone calls / emails pretending to be from your bank, you must initiate contact to be sure the scammers don't intercept and get you to do something illicit.

Grade 'Eh' Bacon
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    didn't think about a possible money laundering scheme, that could end up making OP look like a an accomplice and in turn put him/her in serious trouble if the money is not returned. good answer – RAZ_Muh_Taz May 29 '18 at 21:29
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    Always remember there's no such thing as free money. Especially from 'random' bank transfer. I've been on the receiving end of getting someone's mortgage loan (over $300,000 CAD) due to bank clerical error. If I spent any of it and didn't pay it back, I would've went to jail. – Nelson May 30 '18 at 00:54
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    @Nelson, ever play Monopoly as a kid? ;) – Wildcard May 31 '18 at 11:57
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    Disappointingly, @Nelson is correct; in the UK at least this falls under 'Retaining wrongful credit' under the Theft Act 1968 – RJFalconer May 31 '18 at 16:41
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    The important thing is to create a record on paper, as early as possible, that is in the hands of an uninvolved third party who can verify the date, saying you don't know what the money is and were not expecting it. When Scotland Yard comes a-knocking, and they don't believe your tale, give them an extra copy of the letter "and neutral party X can confirm it". Don't outright disavow the money, just make it easy for your bank to return it if asked. – Harper - Reinstate Monica May 31 '18 at 18:47
  • @Nelson supposing you didn't notice it, and never ran your account balance below the amount they deposited, could anybody really say you "spent" it? –  May 31 '18 at 21:52
  • @Michael The person expecting $300k would not take long to report that it did not show up in their account. – Eric May 31 '18 at 22:24
  • @Eric Oh right, I didn't mean to imply the case of receiving $300k and for whatever reason (such as not checking one's account) not noticing it, I meant more like the OPs question where they received a three figure sum and might not have noticed it for several months, all the while never going below four figures in their account. –  May 31 '18 at 22:27
  • Let's not pretend this is some Hollywood movie. It's a tiny amount of money, and there's no point spending a lot of effort nor will the police spend a massive effort on you. No need for paper trails or "neutral parties". Just send off an email to the bank; you'll likely get an (automated) response. Store that, and it's sufficient proof for 200 € – MSalters Jun 01 '18 at 07:03
  • @MSalters "No need for paper trails... Just send off an email to the bank"... but that is a paper trail. If your bank has an email inbox you can contact, then yes, this would also be an acceptable alternative to sending a letter. – Grade 'Eh' Bacon Jun 01 '18 at 12:36
  • @Michael That question doesn't make much sense, I'm afraid. When money comes into your bank account, it becomes just a number and loses all identity (if it ever had any) – like pouring a glass of water into a bucket full of water and then trying to get the "original" water back from the bucket. If you have $2000 in your bank account where $1000 came from salary and $1000 was a gift from a family member, and you withdraw $1000 from the account, are you withdrawing the salary or the gift money? – Moyli Jun 01 '18 at 15:41
  • @Michael Secondly, spending the money isn't a crime. You could spend all of it and not get into any trouble, as long as you have another $300k to pay back when the mistake is noticed and you're asked to do so. Not paying the money back is a crime (regardless of whether it's because you refuse to do so or because you don't have it anymore.) – Moyli Jun 01 '18 at 15:45
  • @Moyli Agreed, the term describing money being interchangeable in this way is that it is 'fungible'. The key being that if you may forget about having received money in your account, and you spend it, you may not be able to pay it back immediately. Because these questions are meant to stand searching from other parties with similar scenarios, I have answered more broadly in that way, and therefore the value itself in the question is less important than the general facts. – Grade 'Eh' Bacon Jun 01 '18 at 15:47
  • How does the letter show you're not involved? Wouldn't the police just assume you sent the letter just in case you got found out? – Andy Jun 04 '18 at 21:29
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    @Andy if you're involved in criminal activities, telling the police about it is not the first thing you do. Why don't getaway drivers tell the police they're there waiting for someone? – Nelson Jun 07 '18 at 02:37
  • @nelson the letter in the answer is to the bank though, not the police. – Andy Jun 07 '18 at 23:15
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Could this be some kind of weird (and honestly really badly thought out) scam

If 2 months have gone by and you haven't got a phone call / email; this looks less likely like a scam. Scammers don't wait for such a long time and put so much money with every chance to loose it.

It looks more like an error from Sender; i.e. incorrect account number quoted. The tag Germany and use of Money Transfer institution suggests this is cross border. There are very few cases of recurring institutional payments [pensions could be one, payment of dividends other, etc]. So the real beneficiary maybe writing letters to these institutions mentioning non-receipt and somewhere its got stuck in bureaucracy to rectify things

Is there a way to track Custom House Financial (or western union) transfers?

Please write to the Bank and they should be able to give relevant details of the originator of the payment. You can also try writing to Custom House with the details you have on the statement and see if they can help.

Dheer
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It sounds like an error.

  1. Most scammers ask for money, and need your details

  2. If it was a more elaborate scam, where is the followup/sting from the first payment?

But even assuming it's an error, you should know that in the UK (and I guess many other countries?) if you receive money by error but treat it as your own /spend it, it's counted as theft and people have been charged with criminal acts just for keeping money they got in error.

So it's important to tell your bank that you have received money that you don't think is yours, and at the least, get it clear in writing that it really is yours (if that is what they think), before you do anything else.

Draken
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Stilez
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As others have noted, likely possibilities are: 1. Somebody put an incorrect account number on a transfer, i.e. it's a mistake. 2. it's a scam.

Most likely scam I see here is, Someone contacts you, claiming to be from Western Union or the sender, and asks you to write them a check or initiate an electronic funds transfer to send them the money back. Then they cancel the original transaction, or more likely there was never any money there to begin with and it was all fraudulent, and they walk away with your money.

My advice would be: Contact the bank and ask them how to deal with it. If it's an honest mistake, let the bank work out how to reverse it. Don't create a separate transaction to return the money.

The fact that there are two separate transfers without anyone contacting you makes me think that it's less likely that it's a scam and more likely that it's a mistake. But then, any time I think, "The fact that they did X makes me think it probably isn't a scam", the next obvious thought is, "unless they consider that doing X will make it look like it's not a scam, and so they do X to confuse the victim".

Jay
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