Bank Transfer: Bank Sent Money to Wrong Account

xx_Law_Grad_xx

Hi,

I recently went into a local branch of my Natwest bank as I wished to make an international bank transfer. It was my first time doing a transfer so I provided them with the company invoice which had all the correct details of the recipient.

However, the person in the bank entered the account number completely wrong. I have been informed that the money has left my bank account and has gone to the incorrect account.

However, I signed a form stating that the details on the form are correct. I didnt realise it included the bank number I though it was only my personal details and amount of money to be transfered.

The account number isnt slightly wrong, it is completely wrong.

From what I have gathered if it has been sent to an account which does not exist the recipient bank can transfer it over to the correct account.

However, if it has been sent to a real account they will have to seek the persons permission to remove it.

But what if they refuse?

The bank seemed to say that I will get my money back regardless.

I am really annoyed and the thought of losing my money is playing on my mind.

If need be I will seek legal advice but worried that signing the form is going to prevent me doing so.

bengal-stripe

OG_Heat wrote: »

....I wished to make an international bank transfer.....so I provided them with the company invoice which had all the correct details of the recipient.

However, the person in the bank entered the account number completely wrong.

Are you sure the account number is wrong?

International transfers do not use the national sorting code and account number but the international ones: IBAN and BIC. They include the sorting code and account number, but also more details like country and name of the bank in a code of letters and digits.

If the invoice only had the national code, the correct international code will be different. Maybe it was all done correctly and the bank employee looked up the missing details to come up with the correct international code.

MY BIC for an Abbey account looks like this: ABBYGB2LXXX and the IBAN is: GB25ABBY0101 0168680680

My Sort code is 01 01 01 and my account number is 68680680.

Check if your details are formatted in a similar way.

xx_Law_Grad_xx

Thanks for the quick reply.

Yeah its definately wrong. The bank in Taiwan confirmed it has been sent to the wrong account along with Natwest.

I am going to receive a telephone call tomorrow from them to tell me about what is happening.

I am stressing as I needed the order to arrive quicky and it is going to take weeks most probably once this mess has been sorted out.

The last 5 digits of the account number are completely wrong. Noone knows where they came from.

Extant

bengal-stripe wrote: »

International transfers do not use the national sorting code and account number but the international ones: IBAN and BIC. They include the sorting code and account number, but also more details like country and name of the bank in a code of letters and digits.

Taiwan does not use IBAN - the majority of IBAN users are members of the EU, as that's where it was developed.

Extant

OG_Heat wrote: »

Thanks for the quick reply.

Yeah its definately wrong. The bank in Taiwan confirmed it has been sent to the wrong account along with Natwest.

I am going to receive a telephone call tomorrow from them to tell me about what is happening.

I am stressing as I needed the order to arrive quicky and it is going to take weeks most probably once this mess has been sorted out.

The last 5 digits of the account number are completely wrong. Noone knows where they came from.

The account number that was given may not be a correct account number - bank account numbers usually validate through a simple algorithm, in order to prevent mistakes like this resulting in the money going to the wrong person.

In my experience, such errors are easily corrected - Natwest just need to send a correcting notice to the Taiwanese bank.

Regarding the form - yes, you've signed it. I don't think you'd be believed telling Natwest that you thought the form was just your personal details - how else would they know where to send the money etc.? That said, they made an error, and I'd expect them to return any fee charged as a gesture of goodwill.

bengal-stripe

BarclaysManager wrote: »

Taiwan does not use IBAN........

Fair enough, but how was I to know?
The opening post simply talks about an 'international bank transfer'.

xx_Law_Grad_xx

BarclaysManager wrote: »

The account number that was given may not be a correct account number - bank account numbers usually validate through a simple algorithm, in order to prevent mistakes like this resulting in the money going to the wrong person.

In my experience, such errors are easily corrected - Natwest just need to send a correcting notice to the Taiwanese bank.

Regarding the form - yes, you've signed it. I don't think you'd be believed telling Natwest that you thought the form was just your personal details - how else would they know where to send the money etc.? That said, they made an error, and I'd expect them to return any fee charged as a gesture of goodwill.

Thanks for the help everyone.

I have learnt a valuable lesson. No matter how long something takes to check, make sure you check it. And not to rely on other people getting it right.

What came as a shock to me and really leads me to believe that the person who originally did the bank transfer is incompetent is that they stated the fees for transfering the money plus the fees for the company receiving the money would be £20. However, during my telephone conversation I was informed that they are infact £32.50.

Hopefully it will be resolved tomorrow.

soolin

Can I just ask the obvious here, have you had dealings with this company before and are you happy that they are completely legit and that you can handle the import costs etc of shipping from outside the EU?

It is a known scam for companies, often in the Far East to offer wholesale items which people then are persuaded to buy to resell at a profit usually on ebay. They know that once you make a transfer and it clears you can't get it back. There have even been instances where the company do a small trial order which goes really well to prove how legit they are, then take a big order and disappear.

It was just a thought and apologies if this is a regular thing that you do and I am worrying un necessarily.

xx_Law_Grad_xx

soolin wrote: »

Can I just ask the obvious here, have you had dealings with this company before and are you happy that they are completely legit and that you can handle the import costs etc of shipping from outside the EU?

It is a known scam for companies, often in the Far East to offer wholesale items which people then are persuaded to buy to resell at a profit usually on ebay. They know that once you make a transfer and it clears you can't get it back. There have even been instances where the company do a small trial order which goes really well to prove how legit they are, then take a big order and disappear.

It was just a thought and apologies if this is a regular thing that you do and I am worrying un necessarily.

Yeah, I am happy that they are legitimate.

They have a company website and a subsidiary of a bigger company. All email addresses are @companyname ones.

They accept paypal and have done a number of orders using it.

I have googled their paypal email address and it is linked to an ebay seller account.

Thanks, for the advice though. I know a few people who have lost thousands from such transactions.