My mom called me once to ask if I had put $50,000 into her bank account. No…I had not. This was back when you could actually walk into a bank and find a bank officer there. She went, and originally was told it was not a mistake. A month or so later, she got a letter explaining that two account numbers had been transposed…and the money had been sent to its correct account.
Maybe that’s what happened here. If so, the rightful owner will be looking for that money!!
UPDATE: Went to bank last Friday; manager was out, so talked with assistant manager. Let’s just say, did not instill confidence in me.
When I started to explain situation and my frustration with online dealings, he interrupted and said, " oh, well, there is a huge amount of Wallet theft right now, so delays could be two weeks to get someone to deal with you". Umm…no, I said Wire, not Wallet transaction, but duly noted! (must talk to Goskids)
It was an exercise in frustration. He could/didn’t seem to comprehend that I thought this was a big deal…and no, I wasn’t in the mood to “wait and see”. Another banker joined in, they were fiddling on computer, etc. Did a non-technical wire research request. “Do you just want to return the money?” Well, I would like to keep, but YES want to return it, but am also concerned about the safety/security of our account! Convince me that you are doing something/tell me what I should be doing!
Felt I was getting a lot of 'mansplaining, and eyeball rolling from the female. Fed up, I finally just said " this is suspicious and you need to file an SAR". Then, they had an “oh, crap” look, a lot of stammering and “ok, I need your permission to start a request for return of wire form–are you offering this?” Ummm…yes! Had they not been so irritating, I would have dropped it. So, then asked for the name of their compliance officer so I could follow up. Some gulping going on. 
So, thanks for all the wisdom here…especially @catcherinthetoast for your words!
P.S. Money is still in our account as of 10 minutes ago…
Glad it appears to be working out and you ruined the day of some of those evil banker types😀
I don’t think they’re evil. I just think they’re lazy.
They (we) are also highly regulated. Fear trumps laziness.
Really surprised that the bank is Chase. I’ve never had an issue with them either dealing directly with a local branch or online/telephonically.
Interesting seeing this from the other side:
https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=353360&sid=88df8bef1136afab22c103b8cd5cb77d
One has to wonder what’s going on in both cases, no?
Just thanking my lucky stars that I’m not missing a wire transfer…can’t imagine the hassle trying to get it back.
I will note that we’ve never had an issue with Chase before–had them for years.
Incorrect wire transfer still sitting in our account. Hoping we’ll get the interest at least…
A comment above recommended checking with your mortgage company (or the escrow/title company who closed the new loan) to make sure the old mortgage was paid off and that money wasn’t transferred to your account along with the money you took out with the re-fi. The title company should have proof that your mortgage was paid off. I can see how that would happen, that they were supposed to wire $X to you and $3xX to pay off the old mortgage, but instead just sent it all to you.
Call the closer and see if they can figure out what is going on.
Incorrect wire amount nothing that in any way correlates with our old mortgage; did not have our title company–just a law firm; had Citibank and an east coast bank listed, an address we do not recognize. Only thing we recognized was our names and account number.
H just confirmed that old mortgage was paid off.
Our account’s average qualifying deposit and investment balance has really skewed upwards in the last week! 
Could you look at public records online (county recorder’s office real property records)? You could find out who owns the property that way.
As an accountant, this makes me cringe. Just as your “books” are off, there’s someone on the other side who’s off as well. (You know, that whole debits=credits thing) The challenge is finding out who that someone is. But I’d bet that someone, somewhere, sometime, is gonna end up doing some reconciliation and say “huh, wonder where that cash is!?”
@CateCAParent …problem is I just have street address…a very common name, but no state. Google up with about 20 states that have this, so have no clue on the county. Guessing somewhere on east coast…because bank listed was regional NE bank.
@JustaMom5465 yes…accountant here as well. As this is not just $10, one would think someone is scrambling to find and get their books to balance.
Wire transfer still in our account this morning…
Why not take a quick vacation to the Cayman Islands to think this thing through ?
Update:
H got call from our title company, and they mistakenly put wire in our account. (Surprising, since H had checked with them initially and was told no, all was in order.) Frantic, frazzled person almost begged my H to wire amount back to them ASAP. He explained that I already did form to have wire returned. She said “Oh No! don’t do that —it will take a month for us to get the money.”
H told her ok, he’d handle right away. I said Whoa! Let’s double check with Chase first…because if process started and then he wired, we could be duplicating–and there’s not enough $$ in there to handle two huge wires!
First, my contact at bank tells me not to do wire…it would create problems.Then, he double checked with someone online at wire department. Yes, we would be able to stop process and we could just wire money back. But wire department would have to get verification from me. Expect a call to verify. Fine.
Our land line and H’s cell both got a very garbled message from “M- no last name” at JPM. Need verification and we needed to go to our branch. Left a case/code number. But no phone or contact info from caller. We both had to listen a few times to get info. Hmmm…
So again, I drag down to branch. My new bank friend listens to message and has no idea what he is supposed to do with this and since caller left no phone #, he’s just as perplexed as me. And also says “I can see why you think this could be a hacker/fraud”. Spends some time online, they advise for me to go on my cell app and send a secure message. OMG. This was the rathole I went down at the beginning!! I have him look with me to try and send message—surprise! You can’t! This doesn’t fit in their little drop down menu, so no go. More online time for him. OK…verifies my number…and says expect a phone call asap to verify and all should be good to go.
That was two days ago. No call.
Money still in our account.
In the old days, any such mix-up would have just involved a new toaster.
At this point, consider separating the funds & closing the current account because it is vulnerable.
As outrageous as this may sound, please consider the possibility that you are being set-up. I do understand that this may appear to be a ridiculous thought, but so is the reality of your situation. (Bank offenses are federal crimes.) Be careful if asked to sign any documents.
You can hire a lawyer. The lawyer can deposit the funds “with the court” until proper ownership of the funds is determined. (This is a common procedure in which one party admits liability, but multiple parties claim the funds. Essentially, this money is not ours & it needs to be returned to the rightful owner, but rightful ownership must be determined by the court so that we no longer face potential liability for the funds & we want to minimize our expenses and legal fees for dealing with this situation.)
I wouldn’t initiate a wire transfer to anyone. If transferring it between your own accounts is a bad idea sending it to someone else just because they claimed they sent it is worse, especially when you asked about it and they told you it wasn’t them. I’d have my lawyer handle it. I think that might get the bank’s attention and it will protect you. The title company probably did make the error but I’d want my lawyer to verify that the money was being returned to the rightful owner. If it takes a month to undo their error then they’ll see their money in 30 days.
It doesn’t sound outrageous at all: it totally seems like a set-up. Getting a lawyer to deposit the funds in court is not a bad idea. I feel bad, though, as OP may have to shell out money for this, at least on the front end. There is far too much odd stuff going on here, and the safest thing is to get out of the middle.
As an aside, you also might want to consider finding a new bank altogether in the future. They should have helped you from the first moment you contacted them.
“Yes, we would be able to stop process and we could just wire money back. But wire department would have to get verification from me“
Do nothing!!! You have informed the bank and they have a regulatory and legal responsibility to monitor and protect your assets and rectify the situation.
At this point your only financial liability is if you were to take any action. I would once again demand direct contact with a compliance officer and insist they document in writing steps that they are taking and confirm that you are waiting for their guidance. They also have a designated CISO (chief information security officer). You can ask if it has been reviewed by the CISO and or head of Cyber Risk to ensure it was accidental in nature and not malicious.
This is no longer your problem. It is now up to Chase to fix the situation.