Wish this woman had asked about this in the Prof forums...

[northernladuk]

I'd have thought so, but the bank won't reveal who it is so the "victim" can't report the crime to the police.

But I'd have thought the bank could have taken back the money anyway - i.e. by giving the perp a £26K overdraft, even if they had no realistic possibility of ever getting the money back.

I would expect it is against some human rights law to put someone in to debt like that. Really stupid situation that they can't take action on the person taking the money though.

[The Spartan]

Especially when you knowingly are taking and spending money that isn't yours

[darmstadt]

Its not that nice, something that has always worried me, but:

Mrs Donaldson did not realise that the cash wasn't reaching her and her husband's Nationwide account - the couple only receive online statements, Mrs Donaldson would only check the balance if she went to a cash machine and her husband sorted out all the bills.

What, did they only go to the cash machine once in all that period? Did her husband not see the discrepancy when paying the bills?

We have been reluctant to tell anyone we know about the error, so have dwelled heavily on it ourselves.

So to keep it quiet they went and blabbed to the Mail!

[Zippy]

I agree that there must be more to this. You'd have to be jaw-droppingly thick not to notice that the money was missing. And I can sort of see why the bank won't do anything about it (if it was the bank's money they'd be all over the perp like a cheap suit though). On the off chance it is true perhaps HMRC could be persuaded to take an interest, it being unearned income?

[VectraMan]

On the off chance it is true perhaps HMRC could be persuaded to take an interest, it being unearned income?

And for that matter, if this woman has paid tax on her income and never received it, is she entitled to a refund?

[psychocandy]

Hmm. How do you miss £1000 a month for 2 years? Seems well weird... Especially as they're saying they're not flush.

But banks are tossers. If it'd been just one payment I guess bank would have chased it?

Bit off of the other person to keep the money as well though.