Incorrect payment into my account

bellrooster

Hi folks


I had a letter through the post yesterday from a company called Parseq.


It was basically a recovery letter for incorrect bacs payment into my bank account due to a manual keying error. The letter asks that I repay all funds by the 3rd November (the payment was made on 28th October) and they gave me sort code and account number to pay the money into or gave me the alternative of sending a cheque.


Firstly alarm bells started ringing because I did not think your name and address details could be obtained by just your sort code and account number alone (and that should be all they have) so I am concerned how this company came to be in possession of mine!?


I immediately telephoned my bank and there was a deposit into my account on the date that the company suggested and for the same amount. I'm 100% sure the money isn't intended for me and I explained this to the bank and read the letter to them that I had been sent by parseq.


The lady at the bank said the account number and sort code that they are asking the money to be returned to does not match the one the money came from and the proper procedure in cases where money is sent to the wrong account is that the person who made the error should contact their bank who will get in touch with my bank and I will ask for consent to have the money returned (which I will give gladly!) She also advised that she has no idea how this company had my name and address details as due to date protection, my bank would never give out my details to a third party.


I understand mistakes happen, and the money needs to be returned to the originator but what I can't understand is this letter instead of the original sender of the funds just contacting their bank? I have sent them an e-mail asking them to contact their bank to get the payment returned, I've also said that as soon as the payment can be returned properly through the bank I will willingly give my consent for the money to be returned.


Has anyone else experienced this? a wrongful payment in your account and then a third party trying to reclaim the payment a couple of days later?

glentoran99

sounds like a scam to me

pascal22p

I would not send anything. It is too risky.
They need to go through their bank to get the fund reversed as you have been told.

I had the case a few years ago. My bank called me for my permission to return funds that I received by mistake.

d70cw6

sounds like a fraud of some sort - go with your bank's advise and then it'd be on their backs for any !!!!-ups.

Stuart107

Rather suspicious timing; the incoming payment on the 28th was only last Friday and they want the money returned - to an account your bank says is unrelated to the originating account - within 24hrs of you receiving the letter. It *may* be legitimate but it also is reeks of a 'redirection fraud' type scam where a transfer is made from a compromised account and then redirected through social engineering to a third party. I agree with the previous advice to get the transaction reversed rather than you forwarding the money to the "unrelated" account.

molerat

The way these scams often work is they hijack an account, pay money to you, ask for it back by other means and you comply, the fraud on the other account is discovered and the money is removed from your account leaving you out of pocket.

Wait for the banks to sort it out themselves - just don't spend it.

badger09

Agree with all previous comments. Sounds like a classic scam to me.

OP, you've done the right thing alerting your bank - just sit tight and let the banks sort it out.

Please update this thread with any developments.

badger09

parseq does appear to be a legitimate company, but of course, that doesn't mean the letter is from them.

My curiosity would prompt me to contact them. They might be interested to hear that their name is being used by scammers.


http://www.parseq.com/

bellrooster

Thank you for all your replies.


Yes, I googled Parseq and agree that they do look like they are a legitimate company.


I have e-mailed Parseq basically saying that on my banks advice I will not be sending any funds to them and that they should contact the bank who sent the funds to start the ball rolling.


I also asked how they got my name and address details as they certainly didn't come from my bank!


I sent the email yesterday with a read request and so for I've had 2 generic e-mails from 2 different people saying the e-mail has been read but nothing apart from that.


In the mean time the money will remain untouched in my bank!

Ben8282

What sort of amount of money are we talking about here?
On your statement how does this payment appear? Does it clearly show the payment as coming from this company?
It of of course a concern that if they have accidentally paid the money into an incorrect account how they could know your name and address
Assuming that you are not expecting a payment from these people suggest you write a letter to the company at their registered office with a copy to your bank, attaching a copy of the letter from Parseq in both cases. Inform Parseq that you will not be complying with their request and to take up the matter with their own bank. Do not sign the letter to Parseq with your normal signature.
Then wait and see what happens.

le_loup

No.
Let the banks sort it. Playing amateur detective is no a sensible suggestion.