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Bank Error Gives Woman $1.13 billion

Posted by samzenpus on from the shopping-spree dept.

Cornelia Johansson got a pleasant surprise when she went online to pay some bills. She found an extra $1.13 billion in her bank account. "The balance was more than 10 billion kronor. It said the amount had been deposited as a correction for a credit card purchase," Ms Johansson's boyfriend Daniel Hoeglund said. A press spokeswoman for the bank, explained the mystery money as "a technical mistake made by a company."

23 comments

  1. Well... by el3mentary · · Score: 1

    This explains why the economy is down the crapper...

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  2. Mistake by He+who+knows · · Score: 1

    Is it a mistake when they accidently give all those bankers a lot of money. no they call it a bonus.

    1. Re:Mistake by aliquis · · Score: 1

      She should had moved the money to switzerland or something such and left the country. Totally worth it for 10 billion SEK.

  3. Withdraw it all. by cstdenis · · Score: 1

    Quick. Withdraw it all before they notice.

    --
    1984 was not supposed to be an instruction manual.
    1. Re:Withdraw it all. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Even if you could withdraw all that at once, they'd still notice and you'd still go to jail if you refuse to give it back.

    2. Re:Withdraw it all. by pmarini · · Score: 1

      "oh, I thought it was a gift for being a loyal customer" would probably work these days when people is used to hear of billions thrown away by banks...
      in any case, a couple of days interest on that amount would still be ok with me, and they cannot deny that the money was on the account anyway... can they ?

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    3. Re:Withdraw it all. by pmarini · · Score: 1

      just to clarify, I was the one laughed at when I told my colleagues that I had withdrawn £40 during the lunch break but since the cash machine (ATM) had given me £50 instead, I went inside (the branch) and returned the extra 10...

      --
      Can I put a spell on those who can't spell?
      Your wheels are loose and they're losing their grip, good you're there.
    4. Re:Withdraw it all. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That'll get you on the Treasury department's watch list in record time...

      http://www.fincen.gov/

    5. Re:Withdraw it all. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      just to clarify, I was the one laughed at when I told my colleagues that I had withdrawn £40 during the lunch break but since the cash machine (ATM) had given me £50 instead, I went inside (the branch) and returned the extra 10...

      I am way more willing to accept that you're an idiot and didn't notice that £50 got withdrawn from your account instead of the £40 and just gave your bank a free £10 than I am willing to accept that the ATM made an error. Those things are audited to hell, they do not ever make mistakes, they have no bugs.

      Besides, even if there was a mistake on the part of the ATM, what the hell was the teller going to do? She can't deposit it back on your account, because it's not yours. She doesn't have a "unknown origin" or "miscellaneous" option on her computer. You just gave the money to the employee and they pocketed it.

    6. Re:Withdraw it all. by MLease · · Score: 1

      I am way more willing to accept that you're an idiot and didn't notice that £50 got withdrawn from your account instead of the £40 and just gave your bank a free £10 than I am willing to accept that the ATM made an error. Those things are audited to hell, they do not ever make mistakes, they have no bugs.

      Sorry, that's BS. I've personally experienced getting an extra $20 bill at an ATM. Twice. And I did double-check my printed receipt against the amount issued. As I recall, a couple of bills were stuck together (money isn't the cleanest stuff around...).

      The bank teller I returned the money to in each case was surprised.

      Besides, even if there was a mistake on the part of the ATM, what the hell was the teller going to do? She can't deposit it back on your account, because it's not yours. She doesn't have a "unknown origin" or "miscellaneous" option on her computer. You just gave the money to the employee and they pocketed it.

      Possibly. But there would have been a camera recording that happening; I doubt a bank teller would risk their job over £10 or $20. More likely, I suspect, it was reported to the manager, and the manager initiated an audit of the cash in the ATM, which would have turned up the discrepancy.

      -Mike

      --
      I'm sorry; I don't know what I was thinking!
    7. Re:Withdraw it all. by AuMatar · · Score: 1

      Have no bugs? Dude, half of them run windows. I've seen them bluescreened and I've seen them with explorer up. For that matter, even if they were perfect they have moving parts. Pieces of paper can stick together, rollers wear out, paper jams. It should be rare for someone to get overpaid, but it will happen a statistically significant fraction of the time.

      --
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    8. Re:Withdraw it all. by aliquis · · Score: 1

      Only if they catch you, and for 10 billion I'd say go for it :)

    9. Re:Withdraw it all. by narcberry · · Score: 1

      If they give it to you, even on accident, isn't it theft for them to take it back?

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    10. Re:Withdraw it all. by oldspewey · · Score: 1

      One word: Diebold

      --
      If libertarians are so opposed to effective government, why don't they all move to Somalia?
    11. Re:Withdraw it all. by oldspewey · · Score: 1

      They can watch me all they want while I live it up in grand style in some foreign country somewhere beyond their reach ...

      --
      If libertarians are so opposed to effective government, why don't they all move to Somalia?
  4. It *was* a reimbursement (lost in translation) by Lorens · · Score: 1

    It was a reimbursement coming from a company (a chain of stores) *that she had used her credit card with*. Only the company goofed :-) In Swedish (with her photo):

    http://www.gp.se/gp/jsp/Crosslink.jsp?d=857&a=478755&ref=puff

    http://www.gt.se/nyheter/1.1478858/cornelia-fick-10-miljarder-pa-kontot

    The bank says that she did not have to tell the bank about the error, but that (obviously) it would have been illegal for her to try to use it.

    The money was there for 24 hours, but the bank is not giving her the interest. They say the money was "fictional", a technical error. She will however be getting an official excuse from the bank... that *would* make some fun reading.

    1. Re:It *was* a reimbursement (lost in translation) by L4t3r4lu5 · · Score: 1

      Of course they won't give her the interest!

      Taking the average current account rate in the UK of 0.51% (11 Feb 2009, TheTelegraph)
      (1,130,000,000 * 0.51) / 365 = $1,578,904.11

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    2. Re:It *was* a reimbursement (lost in translation) by aliquis · · Score: 2, Informative

      To begin with 1 days interest of x % isn't x/365.

      But more importantly 0.51% isn't 0.51.

      Well done.

  5. They're really lucky, I guess by Dachannien · · Score: 1

    Every time I've had a bank error in my favor, I only collected $100.

  6. meh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'd have transferred money to various numbered accounts in the Caymans and disappeared as quickly as possible.

  7. This is just stimulus money by revjtanton · · Score: 2, Funny

    What this fails to mention is that this woman is single-handily responsible for the economic downturn and so the USA has given her a portion of the stimulus to help spark the global economy. Cornelia Johansson's credit card purchases amount to 83% of the Sweedish economy so to strengthen US-Sweedish relations President Obama included Johansson's refund as a part of the recent stimulus bill.

  8. $ != Kronor by pilkch · · Score: 1

    Oi!

  9. Help the guy with the gas bill by masmullin · · Score: 1

    This woman should help the guy with the huge gas bill.