The Agony of Being an Honest Person

So. This is weird.

I logged on to my bank account as I do every day or so. My eyes nearly popped out. My savings account was higher by a big amount, more than doubling my account total. (Because we’ve been saving for the wedding for about a year now, there is a significant chunk of cash in there right now.) I looked at the transactions, and it said that there was a deposit yesterday. Looking at the detail screen did not reveal anything. No details, no info about whether it was an ATM deposit or a bank teller deposit or whatever.

Now, this looks like a landfall windfall (woops!). However, if someone is making deposits to my account, someone might be making withdrawals, and I don’t like this. Also, if it’s someone I know, I want to thank them.

So I called my bank. For the first several minutes, they had no idea how to track this transaction. But it looked like it came from some sort of “internal transaction” which means that money was moved around from one account to another rather than cash being deposited. After some searching, they were able to give me the name and number of a person; this was the person who made the transaction, although it is not clear if this is a bank teller or an individual. I am thinking someone miswrote a digit or two of the receiving account, and I am the beneficiary. The bank customer service agent said to me, “Well, congratulations. It seems like you have some extra money.”

So, I struggled internally for about 2 nanoseconds before I called the number. I knew I would call, as much as I wish I could live with myself if I didn’t. To my mixed feelings, I got voicemail. I left a message about the transaction, not detailing the amount or any info that might let them scam me. I hope they call me back. But what happens if they don’t?

WHAT?!!