88-year-old man confuses his bank details and sends $71,000 to a stranger, who refuses to return it
When handling large numbers you need to be very careful, especially if you are doing online transactions. Do you need to make a bank transfer? Double-check the recipient's account numbers perfectly and make sure they are the right ones, otherwise you could run into a serious problem. Gordon Layton, an 88-year-old man living in Bundaberg, Queensland (USA), was making a wire transfer to the company that was supposed to transport his house to his land when something went wrong. The elderly man, in fact, made a mistake in sending his money to the company and mistakenly made a transfer of a whopping $71,400 to a stranger. Everything could have been easily solved, after a little fright, were it not that the stranger refused to return the large sum of money.
via A Current Affair
Gordon Layton is an 88-year-old retiree who, after making a terrible mistake, risks losing all his life savings. Moreover, the money that the old man carelessly sent to the wrong recipient was used to cover the costs of transporting his home. After this tragic mistake, Gordon found himself not only without money, but also with the transport company on his heels, waiting to be paid. The man is desperate because the stranger to whom he has mistakenly sent the money has absolutely no intention of returning it.
Unfortunately, both he and his daughter, Jacqui Morrison-White, realized after three hours that the payment had been sent to the wrong recipient. The banks involved could not do anything to protect the elderly person, since the stranger not only refused to cooperate, but had already withdrawn the money received.
The unknown recipient was however accused of theft and was held accountable for his actions in court. Obviously Mr. Layton is concerned, as is his daughter, about the outcome of this story: if he doesn't pay the money owed to the transport company, he could find himself homeless.
In short, a real nightmare that could happen to anyone and which could have been avoided with a little more attention. Let's hope this old grandpa will get this sorted out soon!
