If a substantial sum of money unexpectedly appeared in your bank account, what would you do?
This is what happened in August 2020 to Helen Peters [not her real name] when she found that Her Majesty’s Revenues & Customs (HMRC) deposited in her bank account the sum of £774,839.39. She decided to wait and see what would happen but found herself spending almost £20,000 before contacting a newspaper to ask what she should do. It’s in the news today.
A similar thing happened to me in November 1980. At the time, I was banking with Barclays before I withdrew my account in protest at the bank’s involvement in apartheid South Africa. My account suddenly showed a deposit of £324,610.00. I paid it back in days. But it was fun while it lasted.