My university has tranfered me money by mistake, and wants me to transfer it back
If you are convinced/sure its legit. Is doing a bank transfer to correct their mistake, actually the right way to do it in the first place?  Best is to write to University and ask if this extra can be adjusted towards future payments. Not sure how much that is and would one or two future payments cover it off.  The second best thing would be to ask if University can take it up with Bank and have this reversed? If the above don't work, then request for an address where you can send the check for the refund. Confirming whether the payment was an error The simplest method is to confirm manually with the University whether the payment was a mistake and satisfy that between yourselves. If you're concerned it's fraudulant, I recommend calling the University finance office on a phone number you find on their website, or call one of the people you know. Reversing the payment To formally reverse the payment, I'd check your Product Disclosure Statement on your account with the bank. There's almost always a fee involved where a payment is reversed. It's probably easiest to just issue the payment back to the university to an agreed BSB/Account Number. Call in to the bank using a publicly available number to verify the request. Really a very straightforward situation, and subsequently, answer.  Call the university pursors that you normally deal with, ask them to document the last 3 months of disbursements and highlight the incorrect one(s). If the money is already spent out, ask them if they can apply it to future disbursements via adjusting entries, and call it a day.  If not, and you CAN pay it back, go to your bank and ask them to figure it out...which they should be able to do, having the original sender's info. "You have received some good answers, but since your concern is proper protocol, keep everything in writing (emails, not phone calls).  Also, you'll get a quick response by contacting the University ""Accounts Payable"" department, confirm the situation with a summary as you posted here and ask for the ABA routing number for the transfer.  The routing number, email, and you bank statement is all the records you need to cover your but."
"I doubt there is anything you can do to convince them you paid, outside of just talking to them, which it seems you already tried. These are the possibilities I can think of for how this happened: IMHO, the most likely scenario is #4. If 1 or 3 happened you'll never see your money again, but the other 3 possibilities leave open the option of the error being discovered in the future. My suggestion, if the copay is small, is to pay it again, ask for a receipt, and ask them to make a note in the system that you claim you already paid, and ask them to ""be on the look-out"" for any discrepancies in that amount. This way, (with a good amount of luck), if they find it or discover the error (from another customer asking about the credit, or an accounting cash surplus), they can refund it to you." This is not your problem and you should not try to fix it. If your employer paid money into someone else's account instead of yours they should ask their bank to reverse it and should pay you your wages while they are waiting for this to be done. No bank will let you do anything about money paid by someone else into an account that is not yours, or give you details of someone else's account. "This is almost certainly a scam or a mistake.  This is not good, spendable money: it is not yours to keep. Very simple to handle.  Tell the bank, in writing that you were not expecting to receive this money and are a bit surprised to receive it. Preferably in a way that creates a paper trail.   And then stop talking.  Why?  Because you honestly don't know.   This puts you at arm's length to the money: disavowing it, but not refusing it. Wildest dreams: nobody wants it back ever.    As for the person bugging you for the cash, tell them nothing except work with their own bank.  Then ignore them completely.  He probably hacked someone else, diverted their money into your account, and he's conning you into transferring it to a third location: him.  Leaving you holding the bag when the reversals hit months later.  He doesnt want you reversing; that would return the money to the rightful owner!  He works this scam on dozens of people, and he wins if some cooperate. Now here's the hard part.  Wait.  This is not drama or gossip, you do not need to keep people updated.  You are not a bank fraud officer who deals with the latest scams everyday, you don't know what the heck you are doing in this area of practice.  (In fact, playing amateur sleuth will make you suspicious).  There is nothing for you to do.  That urge to ""do something"" is how scammers work on you. And these things take time.  Not everyone banks in real time on smartphone apps. Of course scammers target those who'd be slow to notice; this game is all about velocity.   Eventually (months), one of two things is likely to happen.   The transfer is found to be fraudulent and the bank reverses it, and they slap you with penalties and/or the cops come knockin'.  You refer them to the letter you sent, explaining your surprise at receiving it.  That letter is your ""get out of jail free"" card.   The other person works with their bank and claws back the money.  One day it just disappears.  (not that this is your problem, but they'd file a dispute with their bank, their bank talks to your bank, your bank finds your letter, oh, ok.)  If a year goes by and neither of these things happens, you're probably in the clear.  Don't get greedy and try to manipulate circumstances so you are more likely to keep the money.  Scammers prey on this too.  I think the above is your best shot." The company says it's out of their control - it isn't. All they have to do is to INSTRUCT HSBC to send a certain amount of GBP, and then HSBC MUST send GBP.  Obviously the bank doesn't like that because they make money through the conversion. That's not your problem. When told to send GBP, they must send GBP.  Depending on what your relationship with that company is, you lost money because they didn't send the GBP. At the very least, they sent you four percent less in Euros than they should have sent you. So send them a bill for the difference. It's unfortunate that your bank charged for the conversion Euro to GBP, but fact is that less than the agreed amount arrived at your bank, and that's the responsibility of the sender. "The whole concept of ""spending a fraudulent check"" is misleading. Both in practice and legally there are two separate transactions - you (not) receiving funds by depositing a fraudulent check, and you sending a cash transfer further on. Regarding the fraudulent check, generally your bank is 'responsible' in the sense that it's their responsibility to recover the money from you - it will not receive any money from the bank that supposedly issued the fake check, and if they give it to you, you spend all that money and are unable to pay it back, that's their problem and not of the other institutions. Regarding the cash transfer, from the bank point of view it's solely your responsibility - it was really you who made that payment, you explicitly authorised/instructed the banks to deliver money to the recipient, and none of those banks have the duty to return it. You have been defrauded by the recipient of this payment, and may attempt to recover the money from the fraudster - but that's not particularly likely to happen even in the case of a successful arrest and conviction.  Very fast reaction with involvement of police may block the ""vendor's"" account before they are able to withdraw the money. If that is the case, you might be able to recover your money or part of it." "It can be a money laundering scheme. The stranger gives you cash for free at first, then proposes to give you more but this time asks you to ""spend"" a fraction of it (like 80%). So on his side the money comes from a legitimate source.  So you do it because after all you get to keep the rest of it and it is ""free"" money. But you are now involved in something illegal.  Having money for which you cannot tell the origin is also something highly suspicious. You will not pay tax on it, and the fiscal administration of your country might give you a fine. Customs might also be able to confiscate the money if they suspect it comes from an illegal source." Let's define better the situation and then analyze it: Start with: End with: Process: So B has the same amount of money, just in a different bank account, but A and C changed states. A now doesn't have money, and C does, as the result of the transaction between A, B and C. The gift tax issue I see is the transfer of money from A (you) to C (your brother). If you're a US tax resident then you have $14K exemption from gift tax per person per year. £20K is more than that, so it will be subject to the tax. The fact that a third person was involved as an intermediary is irrelevant - for the purpose of gift tax there's no distinction between using a bank for transfers or a private party. Keep in mind that paying tuition directly to the institution on behalf of your brother may help you mitigate your gift tax liability - tuition payment made on behalf of your brother is exempt from gift tax. But it has to be made directly to the institution, it cannot pass through your brother. "For some reason can't transfer it directly to his account overseas (something to do with security codes, authorized payees and expired cards). Don't become someone's financial intermediary. Find out exactly why he can't transfer the money himself, and then if you want to help him, solve that problem for him. Helping him fix his issue with his expired card, or whatever the real problem is, would be a good thing to do. Allowing him to involve you in the transaction, would be a bad thing to do.  Possible problems which might be caused by becoming directly involved in the transaction: -The relative is being scammed themselves, and doesn't realize it / doesn't realize the risks, and either wants you to take the risk, or simply thinks there is no risk but needs administrative help. -The person contacting you is not the relative - perhaps they are faking that person's identity, and are using your trust to defraud you. -The person is committing some form of fraud, money laundering, or worse, and is directly trying to defraud you in order to keep their hands clean. -The transaction may be perfectly legal, but is considered taxable in one or more countries. By getting involved, you might face tax filing obligations, or even tax payment obligations. -The transaction may be perfectly legal and legitimate, but might accidentally get picked up as potential fraud by a financial monitoring system, causing the funds to be held, and your account to be flagged for further investigation, creating headaches for you until it becomes resolved. There are possibly other ways that this can go awry, but these are the biggest possibilities I can think of. The only possible 'good' outcome here is that everything goes smoothly, and it works exactly as well as if your relative's ""administrative problems"" were solved first, and the money went through his own account. Handwaving about why your account is needed and his is faulty is a big red flag. If it is truly just an administrative issue on his end, help him fix that issue instead." The money NEVER becomes your money. It has been paid to you in error. Your best response is to write to the company who has paid you in error and tell them that for the responsibilty and subsequent stress caused to you by them putting you in a position of looking after their money you hereby give notice that you are charging them $50 per week until such time as they request the repayment of their money. Keep a dated copy of your letter and if they fail to respond then in 12 weeks they will have to pay you $600 to retrieve their $600. If they come back to you anytime after that they will OWE YOU money - but I wouldn't push for payment on that one. I have successfully used this approach with companies who send unsolicited goods and expect me to mess about returning them if I don't want them. I tell them the weekly fee I am charging them for storage and they quickly make arrangements to either take their goods back or (in one case) told me to keep them. "Not sure about specific French laws. Assuming its not a political party receiving such donations, and it an normal individual ... General common sense answer would be; but it could very well be a generous donation from someone in the Caimans or Germany The onus would be on you to prove it is a generous donation. What is the threshold between ""this money looks like money-laundering"" and ""this money looks like a generous donation""? There is no threshold. By default if you don't know the source; it is money-laundering.  In particular: is it up to me to explain where the money comes from, or is it the sender's problem?  You have to explain the source of money.  That the Bank in Germany may have to do its own due-diligence is separate from your having to explain the source of funds." "Why would you ask ""is the money yours"", when you know it isn't?   When we were young children we were told ""two wrongs don't make a right"". As an adult we know that breaking the law ""to get back at"" someone we perceive as breaking the law is illegal.  In sports and in real life, the retaliator often receives a worse punishment than the initial rule violator.   In the case mentioned, the second part of the ""scam"" would proceed if you participated or not.  The person would go to their bank and indicate a mistaken deposit and have such refunded to their account.  By the correct amount yours would be debited.  Woe to the person that spent this money prior to the debit." "This is a very trivial scam. Flow is like this: Send money to Mr. X (you, in this case). Call Mr. X and ask for the money back, because mistake. Usually they ask for a wire transfer/cash/gift cards/prepaid cards or something else irreversible/untraceable. Mr. X initiates transfer back to Scammer. Accept the transfer from Mr. X Dispute the original transfer or otherwise cancel it through the netbank Mr. X cannot dispute his transfer to the Scammer, since it was genuinely and intentionally initiated by Mr. X. End up with twice the money, at the expense of Mr. X In other countries this is usually done with forged checks, but transfers can work just as well. As long as the transfer can be retroactively canceled or reversed - the scam works. You mentioned money laundering - this is definitely a possibility as well. They transfer dirty money to you from unidentified sources, and you send a ""gift"" to them with a clear paper trail. When the audit comes - the only proof is that you actually sent them the gift, and no-one will believe your story. You'll have to explain why the Mr. Z who's now in jail sent you a $1K of his drug money. However, in this case I think it is more likely a scam, and the scammer didn't really know what he was doing..." "They are right to ask for the money back because you were not entitled to that money. However, you may have a defense called ""laches"". Basically, you can try to show that because of the government's unreasonable delay in asking for the money back, in the meantime you relied on the assumption that it was your money in good faith, and spent it, and now to have to come up with the money that you assumed you wouldn't need would cause great harm to you." "I had about $16k in student loans. I defaulted on the loans, and they got  > passed to a collection type agency (OSCEOLA).  These guys are as legitimate as a collection agency can be. One thing that I feel is very sketchy is when they were verifying my identity they said ""Does your Social Security Number end in ####. Is your Birthday Month/Day/Year.""  That is not sketchy. It would be sketchy for a caller to ask you to give that information; that's a common scheme for identity theft. OSCEOLA are following the rules on this one. My mom suggested I should consider applying for bankruptcy Won't help. Student loans can't be discharged in bankruptcy. You have the bankruptcy ""reform"" act passed during the Bush 43 regime for that. The loan itself is from school. What school? Contact them and ask for help. They may have washed their hands of your case when they turned over your file to OSCEOLA. Then again, they may not. It's worth finding out.   Also, name and shame the school. Future applicants should be warned that they will do this.  What can I do to aid in my negotiations with this company? Don't negotiate on the phone. You've discovered that they won't honor such negotiations. Ask for written communications sent by postal mail. Keep copies of everything, including both sides of the canceled checks you use to make payments (during the six months and in the future). Keep making the payments you agreed to in the conversation six months ago. Do not, EVER, ignore a letter from them. Do not, EVER, skip going to court if they send you a summons to appear. They count on people doing this. They can get a default judgement if you don't show up. Then you're well and truly screwed. What do you want? You want the $4K fee removed. If you want something else, figure out  what it is. Here's what to do: Write them a polite letter explaining what you said here. Recount the conversation you had with their telephone agent where they said they would remove the $4K fee if you made payments.  Recount the later conversation. If possible give the dates of both conversations and the names of the both agents.   Explain the situation completely. Don't assume the recipient of your letter knows anything about your case. Include evidence that you made payments as agreed during the six months. If you were late or something, don't withhold that.  Ask them to remove the extra $4K from your account, and ask for whatever else you want. Send the letter to them with a return receipt requested, or even registered mail. That will prevent them from claiming they didn't get it. And it will show them you're serious. Write a cover letter admitting your default, saying you relied on their negotiation to set things straight, and saying you're dismayed they aren't sticking to their word. The cover letter should ask for help sorting this out. Send copies of the letter with the cover letter to: Be sure to mark your letter to OSCEOLA ""cc"" all these folks, so they know you are asking for help. It can't hurt to call your congressional representative's office and ask to whom you should send the letter, and then address it by name. This is called Constituent Service, and they take pride in it. If you send this letter with copies you're letting them know you intend to fight.  The collection agency may decide it's not worth the fight to get the $4K and decide to let it go.   Again, if they call to pressure you, say you'd rather communicate in writing, and that they are not to call you by telephone. Then hang up.  Should I hire a lawyer?  Yes, but only if you get a court summons or if you don't get anywhere with this. You can give the lawyer all this paperwork I've suggested here, and it will help her come up to speed on your case. This is the kind of stuff the lawyer would do for you at well over $100 per hour. Is bankruptcy really an option Certainly not, unfortunately. Never forget that student lenders and their collection agencies are dangerous and clever predators. You are their lawful prey. They look at you, lick their chops, and think, ""food."" Watch John Oliver's takedown of that industry.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxUAntt1z2c Good luck and stay safe." You were the subject of a typical scam - you cashed a check that was drawn on a stolen account, and then you forwarded the money to a second account or via other means (Western Union etc).  The owner of the stolen account informed their bank and the check was reversed, returning the original money from your account, leaving you completely out of pocket. If you forwarded the money by bank transfer or check, contact your bank and report the fraud.  If you forwarded the money via another means, such as Western Union, then these methods are usually non-reversible and you will remain out of pocket. You will not be able to get the money back from the stolen account, that was their bank reversing a fraudulent check, they wont do anything to help you. Talk to your bank.  Talk to the police.