Georgia teen goes on spending spree with Bank's money


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A banking error created a fat bank account for a Hull teenager, whom Madison County sheriff?s deputies said went on a spending spree and pocketed $20,000 in cash.

The error occurred March 7, when a Madison County man went into First Citizens Bank on U.S. Highway 29, Hull, and made a $31,000 deposit, but because there are several people by the same name with accounts at the bank, the teller put the money into the wrong account, according to the sheriff?s report.

On March 17, the victim called the bank about the money missing from his account. Tellers looked into the matter and discovered th, deputies said. However, by that time, the 18-year-old Hull man who wrongly received the money had withdrawn $20,000 cash and spent $5,000 using his ATM card, deputies said.

The suspect came back into the Hull branch on March 18 wanting to withdraw more money, but a teller informed him of the mistake and asked him to return the money, deputies said. The teen then insisted the money was from an inheritance.

A deputy went to the teen?s house, where the teen again said he thought the money came from his grandmother?s estate.

The deputy told the teen the bank wants the money back as soon as possible, so the teen told the officer he would go to the bank and try to settle the matter without going to jail, according to the report.

However, the teen never showed back at the bank and banking officials told investigators last week that if the suspect didn?t return the money, they would prosecute.

No charges have been filed yet, Investigator Doug Martin said Tuesday.

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To be honest the teller needs to be fired.  I don't care how many people you have with the same name at that bank, they don't all have the same account number.  He/she should have verified the account number they were putting the money into, especially with such a large deposit.

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Really how do go about depositing money into an account without an account number in this day and age.  If the teller was looking up this person and a whole slew of accounts came back with the same name you ask for the account number.

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This just happened to me -- teller was depositing my money, by name.

 

I am going to insist filling out my own deposit slip in the future.

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All united states banks are insured for this kind of screw up, in the end both parties will get their money back, and the kid's parents will most likely get sued.

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So dont US depositors use bank account numbers then?

Yes and I really don't understand how this happens.

My bank requests the acct # upfront and then verifies the name after they type the # in. Seems to me either the teller didn't follow procedure or the bank has crap prodecure.

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The money was most likely insured by the FDIC, so I'm sure the bank made it right with the man. Still, though, the teen should have called the bank rather than going on a shopping spree, and should have made every effort he could to return it. Wrong is wrong, so I hope they throw the book at 'em.

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How can the money be deposited in the wrong account? Don?t US banks require their customers to insert their bank card and PIN number? That?s what my bank does. Then again it?s a Canadian bank.

 

Every time I go the USA, and now this story, I?m reminded that they are still rather a bit behind compared to many other Western countries, e.g. USA still don?t have PIN numbers on their credit cards, and use the magnetic band. I suppose that mistakes like this had happened before, and will happen again.

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How can the money be deposited in the wrong account? Don?t US banks require their customers to insert their bank card and PIN number? That?s what my bank does. Then again it?s a Canadian bank.

 

We do use account numbers; this mistake was because of a stupid bank teller who obviously needs to find a new line of work.

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We do use account numbers; this mistake was because of a stupid bank teller who obviously needs to find a new line of work.

 

How does it actually work? You do have to produce your bank card and PIN before anything gets done, or just say ?I want to deposit/withdraw money? to the teller?

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How does it actually work? You do have to produce your bank card and PIN before anything gets done, or just say ?I want to deposit/withdraw money? to the teller?

 

When a person makes a deposit they (or a bank teller) will fill out a deposit slip which includes their account number.

 

DepositSlip.gif

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When a person makes a deposit they will fill out a deposit slip which includes their name and their account number.

 

DepositSlip.gif

 

 

Oh I see. Canadian banks stopped using this method for years now.

 

When you go in a bank here, you get to the counter, insert your bank card with the electronic chip in the machine (before the chip, the teller would swipe the card to read the magnetic band), and type in your PIN. There is no way that money can be deposited in the wrong account using this way.

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When a person makes a deposit they (or a bank teller) will fill out a deposit slip which includes their account number.

 

DepositSlip.gif

 

wow 1990 called and wants his deposit slip back.

 

God last time i saw this i was still a virgin ...

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Yeah you can just use your card also or make an electronic deposit. Check books and deposit slips are a bit antiquated but a lot of people still use them.

 

I don?t see why, though. This is so prone to errors, and less secure. You won?t even find any of those slips here anymore. It?s your card or nothing.

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I don?t see why, though. This is so prone to errors, and less secure. You won?t even find any of those slips here anymore. It?s your card or nothing.

 

People resist change, same reason so many are still clinging to Windows XP. Even when using a deposit slip though they put it into the computer and are supposed to go by your account number. In this case the teller apparently just looked at his name instead of the account number, very incompetent mistake.

 

You guys finally got rid of dollar bills too but people here throw a fit if you mention changing to dollar coins. I don't know why, they're just stuck in their ways.

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How can the money be deposited in the wrong account? Don?t US banks require their customers to insert their bank card and PIN number? That?s what my bank does. Then again it?s a Canadian bank.

 

Every time I go the USA, and now this story, I?m reminded that they are still rather a bit behind compared to many other Western countries, e.g. USA still don?t have PIN numbers on their credit cards, and use the magnetic band. I suppose that mistakes like this had happened before, and will happen again.

 

3 of my friends have had their debit cards cloned while on holiday in the USA. Not a single one has ever had it cloned in the UK. One person charged $200 to his account from McDonalds, I can't even comprehend how much McDonalds $200 would even buy, I struggle to finish ?10 worth.

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Stupid teller and stupid managers for not watching their employees.  I worked for a credit union for 9yrs.  They double check the tellers work at the end of the day and make sure eveything is correct and balanced out at the end of the night before anyone can leave.  And they always ask you for your name, account number, and your most recent transaction with them.

 

Proably an isolated incident but someone needs to review company policy and guidelines.

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3 of my friends have had their debit cards cloned while on holiday in the USA. Not a single one has ever had it cloned in the UK. One person charged $200 to his account from McDonalds, I can't even comprehend how much McDonalds $200 would even buy, I struggle to finish ?10 worth.

 

in all fairness the security in the US banking and ATM is weak comparing to the EU; i just don't understand how they don't increase the security so they can protect their costumers and loose less money.

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