Mystery Cheque Received

Highlander250469

Hello all, first post and not sure if its in the right place, apologies if its not..

I have a bit of unusual one i think and looking for some advice/ideas/explanations..

I received a cheque in the post, the plain white envelope was addressed to me and posted to my home address from London (I live near Glasgow)

It contained a personal hand written HSBC cheque for £4000 from someone i've never heard of.

I immediately go into defensive/anti scam mode, thinking the worst...

I contacted HSBC who could only tell me the account and sort code etc was valid but could/would do no more for me (and quite rightly so) for security reasons.

I was advised that the only thing i could do was to cash the cheque and see what happened.

I paid the cheque into my account three weeks ago and it has now cleared and I have £4000 in my account that I dont know what to do with (thats not true, I have loads of things I could do with it)

Anyway, my bank arent interested, I cant contact the other person as HSBC think i'm some con man and arent really interested either.

The money is definitely not for me, I have no money due to me for anything, especially not that amount and the name is not one I have ever heard of.

My plan now is just to sit and wait and assume someone will notice a mistake has been made and ask for it back, any suggestions??

I understand its not the usual "money worry" you will come across but i'm finding it a bit uncomfortable

dacouch

Try googling the account number and / or sort code as it with big companies it often comes up on google

Highlander250469

Its a personal account, tried googling the name, account and sort code but nothing, HSBC did verify the account number and sort code were correct for the issuing branch but thats all i found out

Cooper11

Oh Sorry I sent that cheque to you ;-) - yeah please PM me your address and you can cash it back for me !!! Ha Ha - only joking no need to PM me !

You can find out the branch address for the account by entering the sort code into something like PostcodeAnywhere (they also validate bank details) - I presume you've kept the details. It may give you an idea as to who it is from. If you really want to find out, you could pop into that branch and ask them to pass a message on to the customer (they may oblige?)

Highlander250469

Cooper11 wrote: »

Oh Sorry I sent that cheque to you ;-) - yeah please PM me your address and you can cash it back for me !!! Ha Ha - only joking no need to PM me !

You can find out the branch address for the account by entering the sort code into something like PostcodeAnywhere (they also validate bank details) - I presume you've kept the details. It may give you an idea as to who it is from. If you really want to find out, you could pop into that branch and ask them to pass a message on to the customer (they may oblige?)

The branch address is on the cheque

And as i'm in Glasgow and the branch is in London I wont be popping in any time soon

sooz

Phone the branch, & ask if they will pass a message on to the account holder for you. Take the name of the person you spoke to, then write to the account holder, care of that person at the branch.

Highlander250469

cant find a branch phone number, all i get is a national helpline who dont want to know

Mikeyorks

Large companies who receive lots of cheques (HMRC in particular) often have the problem of receiving a cheque with limited ID. And particularly if it's a counter cheque.

The standard, if normal index based tracing fails, is to write to the Branch concerned. And enclose a sealed letter for them to pass on to their customer requesting they contact you with detail for the payment.

You may wish, or not, to do that? Personal cheque in plain white wrapper to private address and wholly incorrect ... is relatively unusual!

Highlander250469

Yep its the first one i've ever had like it!! still waiting on another one

I will write to them as you say and enclose a letter.

Thank you

hayley11

You know if somebody sent me a cheque for £4000 i'd like to think i'd be chuffed but I'd probably be just as worried as you!!

I would do as others have suggested, send a letter to the branch and ask them to pass it on to the person who sent the cheque.

Have you tried searching the persons name and the town the branch is in to see if a phone number comes up? Or a business or something?

Maybe a millioniare has picked your name at random and sent you a big fat cheque? You never know

Let us know what happens, i'm really intrigued!

retiredlady

Perhaps you did a good deed for someone once (perhaps without even knowing it) and they want to pay you back in the best way they can - in this instance with money!

I personally wouldn't try and track the person down, who ever it was obviously has your name and address and if they have made a mistake they will contact you. They may not want you to know who they are for their own reasons. I would leave it in the bank for say 2 months then spend it!