A woman in the UK woke up to what she describes as ‘amazing, incredible and a nightmare’ at the same time when she found out a mystery credit of £7,74,839 (Rs 7.7 crore) in her bank account.
She says that she has been in confusion and had experienced anxiety over legal repercussions.
The money was mistakenly deposited into her bank account by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) according to a report by The Guardian.
She was worried as knowingly keeping a wrongful credit is an offence in the UK under Section 24A of the Theft Act 1968.
“It was like something out of a Hollywood film, and after I had got over the shock, I just assumed that someone would realise that they had made a huge mistake and that they would swiftly take the money back. But no one did, and the money just sat in my account,” she stated to The Guardian.
The credit into the bank account took place in August 2020, amidst the lockdown. She was randomly checking her bank statement to find a £774,839.39 Bacs payment.
In desperate need, the mother of the five-year-old got in touch with the publication more than 15 months after the incident. At the time, it was discovered that HMRC had made a blunder
But there was one big problem – she had already spent £20,000 on the mystery deposit and was not in a position to pay it back immediately.
HMRC eventually discovered that a staff member had made a mistake while trying to pay a parcel customs duty rebate of just £23.39 to the woman.
The woman assumed that HMRC staff would notice their mistake when she paid her tax in November 2020, but nothing happened. As the money was destined for only her account, it may well have never been detected if she didn’t come forward.
“I even tried to ring HMRC but getting hold of anyone at the time was impossible. I’d wait 30 minutes on the phone and then would have to give up as my child would need to be fed, or something,” she said.
A spokesperson from HMRC said they are sorry for the inconvenience caused, adding they were trying to recover the payment. However, the credit of such an amount still remains a mystery.
