Unwitting Money Mule

GeoffTF

Here is a salutary tale:

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/cardsloans/article-12589851/I-loaned-50-friend-six-months-later-convicted-money-laundering.html

The moral is if you receive any payment that you did not expect, or a payment that is bigger than you expected, contact your bank. Do not attempt to return the money yourself!

artyboy

On the face of that story, it sounds like a huge overreaction to a silly but innocent mistake. I could hazard a guess as to why PC Plod decided to go in heavy here over a few hundred quid but it might not be that 'PC'

friolento

A good example why people should be made to attend personal finance lessons at school.

The problem is that we might not have enough teachers with the relevant skills.

Section62

artyboy said:

On the face of that story, it sounds like a huge overreaction to a silly but innocent mistake. I could hazard a guess as to why PC Plod decided to go in heavy here over a few hundred quid but it might not be that 'PC'

But if there was no law, or no enforcement, then all teenagers could make the same "silly but innocent mistake" with impunity, with all of us paying for it through the banks refunding the victims of the criminals who prey on the vulnerable.

It was a harsh lesson no question, but at that age you're an adult with responsibilities.  Just as an 18 year old wouldn't be able to get behind the wheel of a car while drunk and cause an accident, and expect no consequences because it was a "silly but innocent mistake".

Behind the story in the OP there was a victim of a serious crime... spare a thought for them.

GeoffTF

Section62 said:

Behind the story in the OP there was a victim of a serious crime... spare a thought for them.

Somebody decided to buy drugs, I expect. That was foolish, but does it make them a victim?

Section62

GeoffTF said:

Section62 said:

Behind the story in the OP there was a victim of a serious crime... spare a thought for them.

Somebody decided to buy drugs, I expect. That was foolish, but does it make them a victim?

Drugs?  From the article -  "It emerged that the money sent to her account was the proceeds of an online scam".

ZeroSum

friolento said:

A good example why people should be made to attend personal finance lessons at school.

The problem is that we might not have enough teachers with the relevant skills.

But if its a close friend that you trust, you wouldn't think anything of it, regardless of how much personal finance education you've had. Mind, in the article it does seem that they've been asked to hand the money back in cash. Which I'd refuse to do, just as its an inconvenience for me, I'd just transfer it back to the account I had saved (which I'd assume would be the same the one that originally sent the money)

Zanderman

ZeroSum said:

friolento said:

A good example why people should be made to attend personal finance lessons at school.

The problem is that we might not have enough teachers with the relevant skills.

But if its a close friend that you trust, you wouldn't think anything of it, regardless of how much personal finance education you've had. Mind, in the article it does seem that they've been asked to hand the money back in cash. Which I'd refuse to do, just as its an inconvenience for me, I'd just transfer it back to the account I had saved (which I'd assume would be the same the one that originally sent the money)

Well there are two glaring issues, friend or not.

First is when you lend someone £50 and they pay back several hundred pounds, that's clearly not a mistake. They've done something very very odd and should be challenged. It aint something you do by accident.

The second is the request to pay back the overpayment with cash, which is, again, very odd as they were happy to pay in by bank transfer so why not back again. Instantly dodgy.

If a close friend I trust did either of those two things I'd instantly stop trusting them!  If they did both I'd stop being their friend forever.

That is what personal finance education would tell you to do, regardless of friendship.

ZeroSum

Zanderman said:

ZeroSum said:

friolento said:

A good example why people should be made to attend personal finance lessons at school.

The problem is that we might not have enough teachers with the relevant skills.

But if its a close friend that you trust, you wouldn't think anything of it, regardless of how much personal finance education you've had. Mind, in the article it does seem that they've been asked to hand the money back in cash. Which I'd refuse to do, just as its an inconvenience for me, I'd just transfer it back to the account I had saved (which I'd assume would be the same the one that originally sent the money)

Well there are two glaring issues, friend or not.

First is when you lend someone £50 and they pay back several hundred pounds, that's clearly not a mistake. They've done something very very odd and should be challenged. It aint something you do by accident.

The second is the request to pay back the overpayment with cash, which is, again, very odd as they were happy to pay in by bank transfer so why not back again. Instantly dodgy.

If a close friend I trust did either of those two things I'd instantly stop trusting them!  If they did both I'd stop being their friend forever.

That is what personal finance education would tell you to do, regardless of friendship.

The 2nd point I did actually highlight & agreed I wouldn't be paying cash. The first point would be depending on the amounts. If I lend £50 & got £500 back, then accidentally pressing an extra zero is a perfectly reasonable mistake to make for it not to be questioned.

robatwork

 Her family friend vanished 

He really didn't - and as usual there's much more to this story than we are reading. The devil (who we rarely see in financial journalism) is in the detail (which we rarely see in financial journalism).

born_again

robatwork said:

 Her family friend vanished 

He really didn't - and as usual there's much more to this story than we are reading. The devil (who we rarely see in financial journalism) is in the detail (which we rarely see in financial journalism).

Need to say ANY journalism.

Never let the real facts get in the way of a good story.

How many times had it happened before? As police would not just raid for one incident.