Man returns nearly $30,000 mistakenly transferred to his bank account

The money was retrieved by the bank on Nov. 29, officials said, after Phuc reported to local police that a stranger had sent money to his bank account.

Nguyen Xuan Phuc (L) from central Nghe An province returns VND719 million mistakenly transferred to his account, in the presence of local police. Photo by Hung Le

"Authorized by the money sender, a representative of the bank contacted me and offered to come to my place to retrieve the money," Phuc, 38, said. "I did not want them to travel such a long distance [as the money sender resided in a different location], so I said I would return the money to a local branch of the bank instead."

Phuc said he was shocked and worried after receiving the money last month, as he had no ties to the sender. He and his wife then asked for the authorities’ help in verifying the sender’s identity, so that he could return the money.

Officials contacted him a few days after, announcing that they had found the sender. They said the sender transferred the money to Phuc’s bank account by mistake.

Phuc subsequently completed the money returning process in witness of the bank’s representative and local authority officials.