It’s not something that happens often, but the chance of it never happening to you isn’t impossible either. Besides, you know of at least one person that has made this exact mistake: transferring money to the wrong bank account. You’re lost as to what to do next so all you can do is cry over your lost money. Why must something so convenient be so easy to mess up?
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Well, don’t worry because the way to fix a mishap like that is simple!
1. First, once you realize you’ve made the transfer wrongly, immediately make a police report.
Source: paultan.org
It’s important to be as detailed as possible when making the police report. The wrong bank account, the amount of money transferred, how and when the money was transferred are just some of the things you’ll need to include in the report. Make sure not to miss out anything!
2. With your police report in hand, visit the nearest branch for the bank your account is registered to.
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Explain your situation to the staff at the bank and request their help with retrieving your money.
3. Once the bank has contacted the owner of the other bank account, you’ll need to wait for the owner of the receiving account to agree.
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Since you technically transferred the money out of your own free will and it was also successfully transferred into the receiving account, the banks are not allowed to transfer the money back into your account without the permission of the receiving account’s owner.
From this point, only one of two things will happen: either the owner of the receiving account agrees to return your money to you or they refuse to.
If the owner of the receiving account agrees, they’ll need to visit the nearest branch for the bank their account is registered to and fill in the designated forms. The forms required vary from bank to bank but once they’re processed, your money will be returned to you safe and sound!
4. However, if the owner refuses to return your money…
Source: The Kuala Lumpur Bar
The only choice you have is to take things to court! Okay, dramatic flair aside, you do actually need to settle the issue in court. If the amount you mistakenly transferred was below RM5,000, you’ll need to file a claim through the Small Claims Procedure.
The Small Claims Procedure is done through the Magistrate Court and can only be done when the amount claimed does not exceed RM5,000. Any parties going through the procedure are not allowed to be represented by a lawyer, but consulting a lawyer outside of court is allowed.
All you need to do to file the claim is to fill in the necessary form obtained from the Magistrate Court. Since lawyers aren’t involved in this procedure, the court will not be as strict with regard to procedure.
However, if the amount you transferred was above RM5,000, you have no other choice but to find a lawyer to help you retrieve your money back.
In the end, the procedure is still more trouble than it’s worth. It’ll be easier to just double check, triple check, and check four times before confirming a transfer. Better safe than sorry!
Also read: Lim Guan Eng: “Drunk Drivers May Be Fined Up to RM100,000 and Jailed Up To 20 Years”
