What to do if you accidentally sent a transfer to the wrong person

Life hacker wrote, what to do if your card receives a transfer from an unknown sender. Let's figure out what steps to take if you made a mistake and transferred funds to the wrong place.

You made a mistake when paying for your mobile phone

Such situations arise quite often. If you find that you entered the phone number incorrectly, simply contact your mobile operator. You will definitely be asked for a receipt to confirm the transaction. And then the transferred amount will be transferred from the wrong number to the correct one. This is easy, especially if you entered 1-2 numbers incorrectly.

If you paid using your mobile banking app, a receipt will be generated automatically. It will be enough to find it, copy it and send it to the operator.

You transferred money using non-existent bank details

In this case, returning the money is also quite simple. If the number you specified cards or the account does not exist, which means the transfer will not be completed. Money may not move out of your account at all. But it is possible that they will be written off and return in a few days. And you will receive an error message in the banking application and a failed transaction.

You mistakenly transferred money to a valid bank account

If you sent money from a bank and indicated the recipient's account number, the transfer will not be completed instantly. Several hours may pass between the sending and crediting of funds. If your transaction has not yet been processed, you can withdraw the transfer. That's why call to the bank immediately as soon as an inaccuracy is discovered. Employees of the financial institution will tell you what to do next.

You made a transfer from a mobile application using a phone number

This is the most difficult case. It may not be easy to get your money back. In this case, the transaction will be completed almost instantly. The funds will be credited to another person’s card, and the bank has no right to return them.

But don't rush to say goodbye to your money. Here are the steps you will need to take.

1. Call your bank immediately and tell them about the erroneous transfer.

Perhaps they will advise you on how to speed up the process money back. Don't be surprised if your bank can't help you. Its employees are not required to understand why clients make transfers. But they will record your error message - this fact may be useful to you in court.

2. Contact the recipient's bank

Information about the financial institution is on the check. Most likely, you will be asked to come to the office and write a statement about the incorrect translation. It must indicate the date and time of the transaction, as well as the amount transferred. You may be asked to indicate the reason for the error. For example, you entered one digit incorrectly in your phone or card number.

Of course, you will need to provide all the documents that confirm the transfer - they can be examined by the bank's security service.

3. Contact the recipient himself

This is possible if you have his phone number - the same one to which you transferred the money. But do not persuade the person to simply return the funds. He may refuse because he is afraid of getting into some kind of fraudulent scheme.

Ask the recipient to contact their bank and inform them that the money was received in error. That he is in no way connected with the sender and was not waiting for the transfer. He may also need to write a statement. In it, he will indicate that he does not claim the transferred amount and asks the bank to return it to the sender, that is, to you.

This is a great solution for both parties. You can expect that the recipient will meet you halfway when he is convinced that the money really came by mistake. After all, not dealing with money, the origin of which you do not know, and entrusting the bank to correct obvious inaccuracies is a good way to avoid becoming victim of scammers.

The recipient's bank, having examined your application and the attached documents, may itself contact the client with a request to return the funds to you. But this operation is possible only with the consent of the person who received the transfer. Without such approval, the bank does not have the right to withdraw money from his account and transfer it to you.

4. If the recipient refuses to cooperate, inform them that they will go to court

It happens that a person does not want to return the money. Then you have every right to hold him accountable by filing a claim for unjust enrichment. The law is on your side - that's what it says article 1102 Civil Code of the Russian Federation. If the funds do not belong to the recipient, he has no right to keep them and must return them. And it doesn’t matter how they got to him.

At this stage, it is better to communicate with the recipient not by phone, but through a messenger - this way you can do and save everything screenshots your correspondence. Inform your interlocutor that you intend to act in accordance with Article 1102 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation and meet with him in court. Sometimes this is enough for a person to stop hoping that he can embezzle other people’s money with impunity. This means that you agreed to contact your bank of your own free will and asked the financial institution to return your money.

If he persists, he will actually have to prepare a lawsuit.

5. File a claim and defend your interests in court

Prepare all the documents that prove that you really sent translation and immediately reported an error. You act according to the law and can count on a decision in your favor. Such cases have already been considered in the Russian Federation, and the court ruled verdict in favor of the careless applicant.

But don’t delay your appeal: the statute of limitations amounts to three years from the day you learned about the violation of your rights. You may also want to consult with a lawyer before taking action.

To avoid such situations, carefully check the details before sending money. Maybe it will take time. But it will take much more to correct this annoying mistake.