Scammer sent money to my account. What should I do?

Question

I need your advice on what to do. I am a foreign student studying in another country. On October 16 I received a call from a stranger. He tried to explain himself to me, but I could not know him from his description. He keep on calling, and we started getting familiar with each other without seeing each other face-to-face. He'd call and we'd talk about life and the rest.

Then suddenly on the October 21, he said he needs my help, that's he is in a terrible situation, that he moved out of town and he didn't go with his ATM card, and it's already Friday evening. He said that I should give him my account details, that he will send money to my account, and that I should withdraw and send it to him later in the morning. After a while he called me and told me he has deposited money in my account, and that I should go withdraw it. Although it was a bit late, I did as he said, and not too long ago, he called and said he has deposited another amount, and that I should go withdraw a total of about $1000 which is about 50k here. He said that when I get to where I want to send it, I should call him and he will send me his details and all.

I was not comfortable, so I told my friends about it, and they told me not to send the money. So I called and told him that I won't send the money unless he follows me to the bank to clear that he is the sender and the owner of the money. When I said that, he started acting rude and started shouting, so I told him I would give him three days to show up and follow me to the bank or else I will go to the bank and tell them that I don't know where the money came from and that they should send it back to where ever it came from.

Those three days passed and he didn't show up, so Thursday morning I went to the bank with my friends and told them that I saw the money in my account, that it's not mine, and that they should investigate and send it back to wherever it came from. When I went to the bank, they checked and say it came from one plaza account far from the name he told me, so I ask them to put the money in my account and transfer it back to the account it came from, so they put the money in my account, separate it from my own money, like total balance PHP54000, available balance PHP4000. I have gone to the bank several times, and they keep telling me they referred the issue to headquarters and that it's been handled there. They say that they will tell me the outcome, but I keep on calling and visiting my branch, and they keep telling me it has been moved from one department to another.

Now they advise me to open another account, that my other account is under investigation under the fraud department of the bank, on the other hand the guy who send the money in too has been on my neck as he has been calling with different phone number threatening me, saying that he will kill me, he will make sure I don't return to my country alive, and all. And also I have not heard from the bank at all. What should I do? I am confused.

Answer 1

I went to the bank with my friends and told them that I saw the money in my account, that it's not mine, and that they should investigate and send it back to wherever it came from

Right thing to do. Did you give this in writing? Do you have a stamped copy of the letter from Bank that they accepted your complaint?

he has been calling with different phone number threatening me, saying that he will kill me, he will make sure I don't return to my country alive, and all.

Lodge a formal police complaint.

And also I have not heard from the bank at all. What should I do?

Ensure that all your communication and follow-up is in writing. Even email is fine. But periodically send this via certified post with tracking number. Even when you call up the bank, keep a track of calls. After a day or two, send a email saying further to calls 1, calls 2, calls 3 etc you are still awaiting a response from Bank. Even after face to face visits, record all your follow-up and periodically send via email and after few email take a print of everything [even if its 10 pages] and send via certified mail.

The reason it is very important to have a written trail is if things go wrong, Law enforcement can accuse you to be part of fraud/scam. It will be difficult to establish you were the one who complained about it.

If not too difficult, change you phone numbers. Yes definitely open the new Bank Account; and don't give this to a random stranger on Internet.

Answer 2

I assume you figured out what the scam is: I put $1,000 into your account, from some illegal source. You send $1,000 or $900 to me. A month later the bank figures out it was a scam and takes the $1,000 back, and you are left $1,000 or $900 out of pocket.

You informed the bank about what happened. You should expect that eventually the bank will take the money away. That's fine, you haven't lost anything. Do NOT insist that they return the money, because they can't "return" it. They can just send an equal amount to the place where it seemed to come from, and if it is "returned", the bank may ask you for the same amount again.

So just leave the money in your account where it is, don't spend it obviously, and then you can wait safely until the bank does their job.