Imagine waking up one day to find an extra $68,000 in your bank account. It sounds like a dream come true, but for one Australian man, it was a reality that quickly turned into a dilemma.
The man, who chose to remain anonymous, initially thought he had been hacked or charged for something he didn't purchase. However, it turned out that the money was credited to his Visa Platinum account due to a cashback charge.
The man admitted to Yahoo News that the thought of keeping the money was tempting.
"It was pretty tempting to do something dodgy, I'm not going to lie. But a quick Google search saying it's a crime was enough for me," he said. He contacted HSBC, his bank, to resolve the issue and even shared screenshots of his conversation with a customer service representative, who found the situation "worrying."
Tim Mozsny, the Head of Mortgage Services at HSBC Australia, assured the man that the payment dispute would be resolved "within the rules of the credit card scheme."
Despite the inconvenience, the man was charged a $9.52 AUD cash advance surcharge by the bank, but he also received a $100 AUD transfer payment, which he believes could be a goodwill gesture from the bank.
The man took to Reddit to share his experience, stating,
"It was a blissful and magnificent feeling to suddenly have $100k+ [AUD] in your bank account but overall quite annoying, would not recommend." He also expressed surprise at how easy it was to transfer such a large sum of money and reverse the transaction.
HSBC declined to comment on the individual account matter, citing client confidentiality.
