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I would actually be surprised if the bank could not identify every single person who was given extra money. First of all, every single transaction is tied to a real bank account somewhere which contains all the information necessary to identify every single person who uses the machine. The bank also knows exactly how much money was put into the machine, how much was supposed to have been given out, and exactly when the money ran out. From there, it’s a simple matter to calculate which transaction was the first to receive extra money.

I suspect they’ll simply remove the extra cash from the accounts used when the machine doubled up, along with a letter sent out stating what’s being done. I wonder how many overdraft charges will result for those people who thought they could get away with theft?

‘Not too clever’ usually goes along with ‘not very honest’. Now how did they get the machine to spew out the extra cash?
Did they walk up and just say ‘Good afternoon, bank machine, nice day eh? Can you give me some money?’. Then the machine spit out the money, right?
Or did they put their bank cards in the machine? The card with their bloody name on it. Then they entered their pin no. just to be sure its the right person stealing the money.

I recently saw a test conducted here in the US where an armored car would make a turn near a person or couple with no one else in the area. A bag that one would expect to be full of cash would then fly out of the vehicle. The armored car would continue on its way giving the impression that the bag had accidentally fallen out.
Every one of the intended people saw the bag and rushed to pick it up. Given the circumstances, the bag obviously had lots of cash in it and it would have been so easy to simply walk away with it. Of the ten people ‘tested’ eight returned the bag asap without attempting to even open it. One old guy followed the truck on foot and gave it back then and there.
They didn’t mention the other 2 but I would have thought it would be the reverse; 2 honest people and 8 less than honest.
Refreshing!

Maybe folks with a socialist, ‘I deserve it because I’m a victim’ mentality feel that ‘the evil bank’ owes then the money so its ok?

I wonder if those er..people.. would feel any different if they recognized that they are not stealing from the bank, but rather from their neighbours instead. I’m not optimistic.

How is this separate from what we talked about in “Barren Wasteland”?

There has always been a willingness to pick up “found money”, but this behavior goes far beyond that.

The behavior also shows an ignorance of how the system works insofar as the bank knowing who got how much, as EWTHeckman pointed out.

‘Rat

Two other comments;

Do they clean the sidewalks in that town?

How rude! Do teller machine users usually pile up right behind the person conducting a transaction? You could get killed in NY doing that.

Perhaps I shouldn’t comment though, my first time in the UK, I wandered out at Heathrow to get a taxi and wondered why all these silly people were waiting on line to hail a cab. I then learned what a queue is.

I would actually be surprised if the bank could not identify every single person who was given extra money. First of all, every single transaction is tied to a real bank account somewhere which contains all the information necessary to identify every single person who uses the machine. The bank also knows exactly how much money was put into the machine, how much was supposed to have been given out, and exactly when the money ran out. From there, it’s a simple matter to calculate which transaction was the first to receive extra money.

Yes, and just in case anyone tries to claim “it wasn’t me”, most ATMs in the US will also photograph the person conducting each transaction.  Don’t know how it works in the UK but I presume it’s similar (and for the same reason.)

Really, how dumb do you have to be to think you’ll get away with this?

I’m afraid I’m one of those people.
I was behind a young couple in the ATM line. When they walked away from the machine I stepped up and saw that they had left their card and the screen was asking if I wanted another transaction. I punched in “yes” and withdrew $200 from their account.
Suddenly my brain caught up with my impulse. I was chagrined and deeply embarrassed that my unthinking impulse was to steal from someone else. I walked the card and the cash over to the young couple sitting in their car, handed it to them and walked away before they could realize what I had done.
It came as a real shock to find how thin is my veneer of honor and ethics.

I hope the banks are able to track down every single one of these thieves,

Why would they not?  Every transaction is recorded, and the fact that erroneous sums were disbursed is no assurance that the disbursements were not accurately recorded, You ask for five quid, you get ten, ten gets debited, next please.
If it’s too good to be true it probably isn’t.
.

A few years ago my wife and I bought movie tickets at one of those automated machines at a theater and didn’t realize that the people in front of us hadn’t closed their transaction before they left, so we got our tickets on their credit card.  It really was a mistake, I was standing there with my card in hand when it printed the tickets.  We contacted the credit card company, told them what happened, and asked them to put us in touch with the card-holder so we could send them a check for the amount of the ticket.  We could do this because we had the receipt with the account number on it.  Lots of people would’ve just laughed at getting a free movie, but lots of people have no conscience.

I think this is different from finding money on the street when you don’t know where it came from, there’s no way to return such found money (will the person who lost $100 please form a line to the left?).  If I find a wallet with ID it gets returned intact.

Mmm..

That happened to me once, someone who left their card in the teller machine.  My bad, I did check to see how much was in their account (over 50K!), but then I ejected the card and returned it to the bank.  My ex wife wasn’t pleased with me.  She wanted some of the money.

While in college, I left a card at an ATM and someone came along and withdrew $300 (maximum daily permitted).  I called my bank and they immediately made me whole on the loss (which, esp. as a college student with an average balance of $1000 was much appreciated) in return for signing over my interest in recovering the theft to the bank.  Turns out the guy who stole the money was also a student at this fairly well known university and the bank was able to ID him because he withdraw money from his account while at the same ATM!  He ended up striking a plea bargin to FELONY theft that resulted in some community service - but that pretty much quashed his chances of getting any sort of job with an investment bank, consulting company, etc.

In the case Kim referenced, I suspect the bank will just debit the accounts in the correct amount and wave any overbalance fees, since at least some people would have been using the ATM in the ordinary course of business and not trying to take advantage of the bank.

sig

Something like this happened to a -I think- US Bank in Portland, OR about 10 years ago (20’s in the 5’s bucket).  They knew each and every person who benefited from their short term loan, so I would guess this bank will also.

IIRC some actually got some legal trouble also since it was obvious they were taking advantage of the mess up.

“Our ancient culture was a forest that took a thousand years to grow and less than half a century to cut down....”

Really, your previous post answers all the questions about this one. Without a personal sense of honor, who are we? It is so important that all of us live by a code, and to do so, it must be handed down to us by people who also live by that code, and find that code more valuable than life itself. So we have words like these:

Semper Fidelis
Semper Paratus
Duty, Honor, Country
“On my honor, I will do my duty to God and my Country...”
“A Scout is Trustworthy, Loyal.....”
“I pledge allegiance...”
“...to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies...”
“We hold these truths to be self evident...”

I was handed these words and ideals by better men than me, and I have handed them on in turn. When this is lost, it won’t matter what else happens, the next dark age will begin.

Bank robbers have to be at the head of the line for Darwin Awards.
You’re gonna be in the movies for sure, how many cameras does a bank have???
What’s the risk/reward? You get a few grand, tops! You get many many many years and no parole, its a federal offense. Use a gun? Fuggedaboutit!
And you can get shot!
Hell, workin at Mickey Dees is a lot easier than walkin with yo butt against the wall for 25 years!

What’s the risk/reward? You get a few grand, tops! You get many many many years and no parole, its a federal offense. Use a gun? Fuggedaboutit!

Yes, but this is England where they’ll probably get a few months in prison, at the most.

they’ll probably get a few months in prison, at the most.
Staff Martin | 3/20/2008 05:26 PM EDT |

Sorry, forgot we were talkin about the UK. You get a few months for the bank heist, probably hanged for the gun!

Something similar happened at a gas station a few years back.  Someone accidentally swiped their student ID instead of their credit card while getting gas at the auto pay pump.  Funny thing is it worked and the computer acted as if a credit card had been processed.

Of course the first time was an accident, but the genius couldn’t keep his mouth shut OR only do it the once.  Something like 5 fill-ups and 80-100 “friends” doing the same thing later, the gas station caught on and took the recorded information left behind from the student ID’s to round up and prosecute all the thieves.

OOPS, those magnetic strips are there for a reason.

Several posts have covered all the points. When honor is lost, society crumbles. I’ve chased people down to give them things they’ve left behind, returned things to stores I’ve not been charged for when I found them in my grocery bags, and put ATM cards through the mailslot on the bank doors when I’ve found them left behind. I just feel better about myself knowing that’s what I do. I hope for the same with others, but sadly don’t really expect it anymore. And yes, the bank will have record of all the transactions, and will therefore be able to track these people who thought they “got one over”. Shame is that in todays society they probably won’t get more than a wrist slap.

It amazes me that how many would-be thieves (if given a chance) are walking among us.
Chet

cmblake6 - I’ve been the benefactor of people such as yourself.

Thank you!

Where I work, finding lost wallets, purses, watches, cell phones and credit cards is a nightly occurrence. I grab a co-worker to observe (2-man rule to Cover My Ass), make note of what’s inside, locate some contact info and lock it up for the night in the office. Just doesn’t occur to me to do anything else.
Some of us are just wired to try and do the right thing, even when no one is watching.

FxR

“When honor is lost, society crumbles.”

Quote of the day, right there.

The corollary, though, is that anyone who attempts to belittle or undermine the code of honor should be scolded, or worse.

I actually did run into a situation like this once.  I drove up to the drive-through ATM near my office, only to find that someone had left a big wad of cash sticking out of the thing (I don’t remember how much, but somewhere between $100 and $200).  The transaction receipt was also sticking out of the machine.  I removed the cash and the receipt and placed them on my car seat before completing my own transaction.

Oh, I was sorely tempted to keep that money...but what I did was: I headed over to the actual bank branch (a short distance away), walked in, and handed both the cash and the receipt to a customer service rep.  She said they’d credit the account that left that money there (since they could backtrack the withdrawal by the transaction number stamped on the receipt, presumably) and thanked me for my honesty.  I didn’t give my name or anything, just left.

I think this improved my reserves of Good Karma a bit...heaven knows I’ve needed some recently.

I know exactly what I would do - and have done - in this situation.

I’ve never had an ATM give me more money than I requested but a lady at a drive through ATM in front of me left her card with “would you like another transaction” showing when I pulled up.  That was a time when I really needed the money but just cancelled it and took the card out.

I’ve found wallets before and the like and returned them.

I’ve been the recipient of the same and have been grateful for it.

I’ve had ATM’s deduct my account without giving me cash before too.  The bank was always good to correct it.

I agree.  Taking the money is theft and it is not justified.

Call me a Luddite but I’ve never used an ATM and have no intention nor desire nor need to use one! My kids laugh at me. I have all the cash I need right in my front right pants pocket. Who’s gonna take it? Besides if I ain’t got the money, I don’t buy the item!!!

It’s funny how people react when they steal something from “the man”, “the govt”, “ the state” or any type of institution for that matter. I used to manage a bank when ATM’s were fairly new and this problem was more common than it is now.  I imagine what happend here is that the money was loaded wrong.  I.E. $20 bills in the $10 bill slots, or something like that.

What these “lucky” people may not realise is when they sign the agreement from the card issuer, they take full responsibility for use of the card, unless of course the card is stolen. They’re probably on video or surveilance camera too; caught in the act!

We had a similar instance involving 2 people back in the early 1990’s. One of our new employees loaded the $50 bills in the $10 slot. One customer ended with $2000, another with $1500. Needless to say when the police showed up at their door and threatened to haul them off they became “honest” once again.

I’d be very surprised if the bank didn’t have all their money back, with interest within 30 days. Banks are kind of funny that way.  Best wishes.

Something similar happened to me as well. I was just out of the army, out of work and having a sick wife to support when I found a deposit bag stuffed full of money and checks in the parking lot of a resteraunt.  There was no bank marking on the bag, so i opened it, found the deposit slip, and dropped it off at the bank being it was on the way to an interview. probably close to 10k in there not counting the checks.

Diddn’t get that job, but did get a better one a week later.