Ive got an interesting situation on my hands that I can't find precedent for anywhere. In early October I quit a job with a local call center. I had just finished my third week and quit without notice. Some time later I realize while viewing my bank account statement online that they have continued to pay me every two weeks, and it continues to this day. The total amount weighs in at just over 4000 presently. I currently have every cent of the money to return to them if need be, but I hate call centers and have a different plan in mind. I have seen one similar situation where the 'payee' offered to pay back the sum at a rate of one days pay every two weeks until the sum was paid back in full, which the 'payer' accepted. My plan is to use the money as a student loan, still eventually paying the amount back in full.

My credit is already ruined and collection agencies don't worry me. I am only concerned with the possibility of a criminal record resulting. Even a forced garnishment of wages wouldn't bother me that much.

PS I'm not interested in any moralists who feel like commenting 'just pay them back' etc...
this call center worked with cellular phones. I had previously worked with a different cellular call center that used exactly the same billing program which I will call 'vista' . This program is deeply flawed, and creates billing errors that are the fault of this company which result in undue amounts on a daily basis. I know this for a fact. Unless the individual or business receiving these bills let the cellular company know about the error within 3 months, then the cellular company keeps the amount of the error. This is part of their 'cellular agreement' I feel absolutely no guilt carrying out my plan. Thanks for any input you can give.

You are receiving money under false pretences, if you don't return and make them aware of the problem, you could possilby be charged with grand theft.

If that program is flawed report it to the public service commission in your state.

Maybe you didn't see my plan for repayment? My plan is to alert them of the error once I have the amount that would allow me to pay a local college tuition and make my planned repayments for the whole school year (8 months). Im not far away from the amount now.

Your plan then would be consider theft of money you received under false pretense.

You may want to hire an attorney now before they find their mistake on their own, the payroll accounting will most likely be closing out the year now.

Suppose the situation were different and I only received one pay check, which is legitimately possible to overlook. You mean they can just start up criminal proceedings, just like that? Without even getting into repayment? I find that difficult to believe

The point is, it is not just one pay. Grand theft. You can go to prison for that. I think the best thing to do is notify them of what happened and go from there.

One paycheck would not be a problem. You could say you thought it was for unused vacation or due to the normal delay between pay period end and check issuing.

But once you got the second check, you were honor bound to report it to them. By keeping the money without reporting, you are committing fraud and/or theft. You are also getting close to grand theft limits. The company WILL catch up. They have auditors that will notice the discrepancy. They certainly can prosecute you.

The way I see this playing out, is they catch on to the error. They then have two ways to look at the situation. Either you are a very careless individual who never balances their checkbook or you are a thief. The latter being the more likely reaction. So now they have two options to proceed. They can contact you requesting immediate reimbursement or they can report the theft to the police. Let the police arrest you and then offer to drop the charges for full reimbursement. That's the way I would go if I were them.

Another point is that full reimbursement could include interest.

Scott,

Excellent point. They may want to charge interest. What would be interest on 4,000 or more. That equals grand theft amount.

Joe

It Could Result In A Grand Theft Which Is A Felony, Knowingly This Money Was Not Yours.it Is Not Worth The Chance Of Prison Or Jail.you Never Had It To Start With So I Want Be Miss To Badly,don't Let Greed Put You In The Slammer

I would agree, as soon as they realize the error, they will come after the money rather vigorously, and I don't think offering them 50 bucks every 2 weeks will satisfy them. Since the amount is over 4000 I think they would get a lawyer to freeze your account if you do anything less than offer to send them a money order in full.

Notify Them Of Their Mistake Before You Make A Big Mistake That You Will Regret.money Is The Evil Of This World.grand Theft Is A Felony.

Seeing the type of person you seem to be, I say go for it and see. Let us know what happens.

Please note the original question was posted over 2 months ago and there was not activity for 2 months. Please check dates BEFORE you response to a thread.

Oops, who bumped it up... now I wonder what happened!

Who votes for he did the right thing?

Me 1

Close your bank account, or have your bank deny any future direct deposits into your account, wait 3-6 months if nothing happens, well then nothing happens. But don't accept anymore money. Its your life, and you're the one that has to live with it, not us.