I SPENT SOMEONE ELSE’S MONEY

Hello, Mr Richard. Sometime last year, my bank sent P4 000 into my account without reason. I called them frequently asking them about the money but they told me it’s my money. I waited for 3 days without spending the money, waiting for them to talk to me again but they failed. I used the money on the fifth day. In May, I received a call from them telling me the money

wasn’t for me and I have to come to their office. They told me I must pay the money back. I told them that I don’t have money but they told me to pay via instalment.

I managed to pay P800, P350 and then P1 000 but it still reflects that I’m owing them P4 000 in my account. What can I do?

The first thing you should do is to ask the bank why they haven’t updated your account correctly to reflect the payments you’ve made towards the debt. That’s a simple thing for them to do and they’re negligent for not doing that already.

The second thing you can do is think carefully about how this situation happened. You know now, and you knew then, that the money that was paid into your account wasn’t yours. I know it wasn’t your fault and I know the bank told you it was yours, but you knew that wasn’t true when you spent it.

The best thing you can do is keep talking to the bank and repaying the money you took. They’ve already agreed to accept the money in instalments so it’s incredibly important that you keep to that agreement.

The lesson from this is never to spend money you know doesn’t belong to you. If money ever does appear in your account that you weren’t expecting, tell the bank immediately and do NOT spend it.