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This guy put money into my bank account and wanted me to send some of it to another person in Nigeria. 500.00 to be exact. But since he wired money into my account I was unable to touch the money.

He told me it was a donation to UNICEF. Since I was unable to take the money out he threatened to get the police involved and said he was going to. I got a bunch of missed calls from an unknown number and a really unprofessional email from a guy who supposedly worked for UNICEF saying I had 4 hours until I am suppose to be visited by police and that there was nowhere I could run to. The money is still in my account I have not touched it.

He has my bank account info, and I just want to know where I stand legally.

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    Which country are you in?
    – Brythan
    Commented Dec 6, 2016 at 5:14
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    Chances are you are bank account will be temporarily frozen and the funds reversed to the original owner. Next time don't give your bank account to a stranger even though they promise to send you money for no apparent reason...
    – NuWin
    Commented Dec 6, 2016 at 6:56
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    For the love of God, don't send anyone any money. You are the victim of a scam.
    – JohnFx ♦
    Commented Dec 9, 2016 at 2:57

2 Answers 2

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He has my bank account info, and I just want to know where I stand legally.

Legally you can't keep the money. It would either go back to the originator or to Government unclaimed department.

I got a bunch of missed calls from an unknown number and a really unprofessional email from a guy who supposedly worked for UNICEF saying I had 4 hours until I am suppose to be visited by police and that there was nowhere I could run to.

These are common tactics employed to ensure you take some action and transfer the real money somewhere. Do not succumb to such tactics.

The money is still in my account I have not touched it.

Advise your Bank immediately that there is this deposit into your account that is not your's. Let the bank take appropriate action.

Do not authorize Bank to debit your account. The max you can do is authorize the bank to reverse this transaction. The best is stick to statement that said transaction is not yours and Bank is free to do what is right.

There is a small difference and very important. If you authorize bank to debit, you have initiated a payment. So if the original payment were revered by originator bank, you are left short of money. However if your instructions are very clear, that this specific transaction can be reversed, you cannot be additionally debited if this transaction is reversed.

He has my bank account info,

Depending on how easy / difficult, my suggestion would be monitor this account closely, best is if you can close it out and open a new one.

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    best is if you can close it out and open a new one. I would second closing the account. It's been compromised once, no reason it can't happen again.
    – grfrazee
    Commented Dec 6, 2016 at 16:13
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    @grfrazee: how exactly has the account been "compromised"? By having some scammer deposit money into it? All they need to know for that is the account number, which is not required or intended to be secret.
    – Michael Borgwardt
    Commented Dec 9, 2016 at 15:28
  • Agreed it's not compromised such that a malicious person could take OP's money. However, this person could still be a nuisance and keep up with the bogus deposits, making the OP's life miserable waiting for the bank to sort it out.
    – grfrazee
    Commented Dec 9, 2016 at 15:33
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    @MichaelBorgwardt The scammer has account number, phone number, email ... Phone banking I'd pretty loose, quite a few times in enthusiasm to do great customer service, they goof up. Date of birth and mother maiden name are easy from Facebook. Last few transactions you know because you have deposited ... Now you can pretend to be account holder and do quite a few things. When Barclays account number and name and address was hacked, the minister went on TV and displayed his name and address with challenge that one can only deposit. An ethical hacker transferred 50 GBP to a charity.
    – Dheer
    Commented Dec 9, 2016 at 17:14
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To add to @Dheer's answer, this is almost certainly a scam. The money deposited into your account is not from a person that made an honest mistake with account numbers. It's coming from someone that has access to "send" money that isn't their own. I don't know exactly what they're doing to "send" the money but at some point in the near future your bank will claw that money back from you on the grounds that it was illegitimately transferred to you in the first place. If you send someone money on the premise that you're returning this money then that will be a separate transaction which won't be undone when the deposit in question is undone.

Another possibility is that this person has gained access to an account from which they can send domestic wires but not international wires. Their hope is to send money to someone domestically (you) and that this person will then send the money on to Nigeria. If you comply with them; you, in a worst case scenario, could be seen as a money laundering accomplice in addition to having the deposit taken back from you. It's not very likely you wouldn't be seen as another victim of a scam but people have been thrown in jail for less.

You should not respond to this person at all. Don't answer the phone when they call and ignore their emails. Don't delete the emails, it's possible that someone at the bank or LE want them. Call your bank immediately and tell them what's up.

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