Australian Couple vs. Bank

[SirenSongWoman]

I can't believe nobody's brought this one up so I will. Okay, the Australian couple who abandoned their lives and went on the run when they realized their bank made a mistake and put millions into their account...

I'm too freaking honest to do it myself but I hate banks and am totally rooting for the offenders ! I just heard tonight that the odds aren't in their favor, though, because SHE keeps logging onto Facebook!

The thing that's REALLY making me mad is all the forces pulled together for a massive international manhunt! Man, I hate banks. Interpol is searching everywhere for some ordinary couple that got what is truly a pathetically small amount of money (for them) from some fat cat bank (Did I mention I hate banks?). When have so many resources, on an international level, ever been pooled to capture a serial killer?!!

Thoughts, please...

 

[fit_fairy]

I am one that if someone gives me the wrong change or charges me too little I will tell them. So well, I guess you know how I feel.

 

[Fidget Queen]

While I would never be able to live with myself if I had done what that couple did, I wish... REALLY WISH... that they could get away with it and the banks could get a taste of their own medicine... just once. I actually look at that money as our taxpayer bailout dollars anyway.. oh, no, wait. All of that money has already been spent on the CEOs' vacations and 5th homes.

 

[morningstar]

I'd like to say I'd return it, but I just can't say what I'd do if someone accidentally gave me a million bucks. My brain might go on holiday, followed shortly thereafter by my body. Maybe I would just negotiate with the bank and get some money from them for not going on the lam (and of course, then I wouldn't have to actually go on the lam - what a way to screw with a life plan!)

 

[syzygy314]

I hope all of you who are defending the couple for taking the money and running realize that the money they have run off with is not the bank's money, but the thousands or so of people who have their money in that particular bank! That means its a family who has placed their life savings in that bank and now its gone. Of course, the bank has an insurance company like our FDIC to replace it if the couple gets away with it, but then, the bank has to pay higher insurance rates that get passed on to the customers. So, basically, everyone else is paying for that couple to have this money that isn't theirs!

I, personally, think they should get caught! It's just like robbing the bank even though it's the bank's error. I wouldn't want anyone to steal from me and get away with it!

Just MHO!

Tricia

 

[marnapril]

I just heard tonight that the odds aren't in their favor, though, because SHE keeps logging onto Facebook!

lol... IDIOT!!!

 

[msmik]

Why would you hate banks? I work at a bank.

Just curious.

Annie

 

[Govtgirl]

.......When have so many resources, on an international level, ever been pooled to capture a serial killer?!!

Countless, countless, times. It doesn't make the news splash like this because it doesn't have the whole Bonnie & Clyde drama to it.

Most people in law enforcement work tirelessly to bring people to justice, under the radar where nobody notices, and there is never an atta-boy or accolade waiting for them, just criticism when something like this lands in the front pages.

((...stepping down off my soapbox...))

 

[Jaffas]

I'd like to say I wouldn't do what they did because of my superior morals but in reality I know that I, and most likely they, would not get away with it. And it is stealing. And is it worth it? They will have to spend the rest of their lives hiding. If she can't even stay off of Facebook I'm pretty sure it won't be long before the authorities catch up with them.

 

[horseshowmom]

yes,it's illegal...yes, it's immoral....yes, it's wrong...yada, yada.....

BUT I still can't help but laugh and root for them in a way....

it's a much less horrible crime than the woman who smothered her child on the playground and buried him or the one who threw her child off a bridge or the man who strangled his wife and children......

oh, and I forgot, it's stupid ~ because *THEY* will never rest when there is money involved...

 

[baylian]

I hope all of you who are defending the couple for taking the money and running realize that the money they have run off with is not the bank's money, but the thousands or so of people who have their money in that particular bank! That means its a family who has placed their life savings in that bank and now its gone. Of course, the bank has an insurance company like our FDIC to replace it if the couple gets away with it, but then, the bank has to pay higher insurance rates that get passed on to the customers. So, basically, everyone else is paying for that couple to have this money that isn't theirs!

I, personally, think they should get caught! It's just like robbing the bank even though it's the bank's error. I wouldn't want anyone to steal from me and get away with it!

Just MHO!

Tricia

Totally agree . .

 

[LauraMax]

It depends. If it was an Australian bank I wouldn't do it. If it was Countrywide, Citibank, Bank of America, Wells Fargo........pretty much any bank who took my tax money & hasn't put it back into the economy like they were supposed to, I'd do it in a heartbeat. I am highly skilled at putting money into the economy.

Annie, why we hate banks--one word: BAILOUT.

 

[Beavs]

I hope all of you who are defending the couple for taking the money and running realize that the money they have run off with is not the bank's money, but the thousands or so of people who have their money in that particular bank! That means its a family who has placed their life savings in that bank and now its gone. Of course, the bank has an insurance company like our FDIC to replace it if the couple gets away with it, but then, the bank has to pay higher insurance rates that get passed on to the customers. So, basically, everyone else is paying for that couple to have this money that isn't theirs!

I, personally, think they should get caught! It's just like robbing the bank even though it's the bank's error. I wouldn't want anyone to steal from me and get away with it!

Just MHO!

Tricia

The banks are stealing from you and getting away with it! (The execs that you for their much deserved bonuses) As we all know (with the exception of this dopey Australian couple), the rules are different for the privileged.

 

[SirenSongWoman]

As I said, I wouldn't do it. Two wrongs don't make a right and God is watching. However, had that silly woman not continually logged onto Facebook (making their capture pretty mush a sure bet), I would still think it funny.

As for why I hate banks, it started long before the bank bailout. It started with two carpal tunnel surgeries and a car accident. Not being at work meant I was earning literally half what I had been, and that's continued since our economy tanked. Bottom line: two lousy late payments on two credit cards caused the banks behind each of my credit cards to TRIPLE my interest rates (huge minimum payments due about every 15 days) on ALL my cards. After that, everything just snowballed (inability to pay at all, late on all utilities, gas shut-off, late mortgage payments, chapter 13... what fun). I can't even get into the crap my own bank has put me through. Two years ago I had an 800+ credit score and used to spend my spare change neutering the stray cats of the neighborhood. Seems like a LIFETIME ago. Soon after banks started tormenting me THEY began begging for me, as a taxpayer, to bail THEM out - all while sending me threatening letters regarding my credit card payments. Had they not kicked me when I was down by tripling my interest rates in the first place, I would never have even been in this mess!!! THEN, after they got their no-strings-attached bailout money, which any rational person would assume they would understand was to be used for only the most crucial bank operations (like loaning it out to get the economy started back up), they used it for things like decorating their offices with $1,500 trash cans! Does anyone really still not understand that We the People were flat-out RAPED?!

Once I'm out of this God-awful mess I'll own one credit card that I'll never use for anything but gasoline. And I'll pay it off every month, strictly for the purpose of re-building my credit. Aside from that, I will never not pay cash for a thing, ever again. And because I blew through every dime of my savings, just trying to stay afloat, while I was off work, my focus will be on building up that. I'll never ever get into a mess like this again. And I will make it my mission to prevent any bank from ever taking personal advantage of me again. But laws regarding new controls over banks can't come fast enough. Those people are OUT OF CONTROL.

Don't get me started on how I feel about the underhanded games bank loan officers played to convince pretty much everyone I know to take out much bigger loans for much more expensive homes than they actually really wanted when they went in for mortgage loans. They lined their pockets, with no trace of guilt, and never looked back. I live in central Ohio, the default capital of the world so please pardon me for not shedding a tear for the bank fat cats.

Now I, too, am off MY soapbox. Thank you.

 

[syzygy314]

The banks are stealing from you and getting away with it! (The execs that you for their much deserved bonuses) As we all know (with the exception of this dopey Australian couple), the rules are different for the privileged.

It's not just the banks. It's our elected officials, the CEOs of the companies where we spend our money every day, etc., etc. As for things being different for the privileged, it has always been that way for as long as there have been privileged people all the way back to the days of the early Egyptians and probably farther.

 

[jonahnah]

I am one that if someone gives me the wrong change or charges me too little I will tell them. So well, I guess you know how I feel.

Me too! You know the poor person working the register will get in HUGE trouble if their drawer is short. I figure they need their job more than I need the extra few $$.

I think if these people had first notified the bank of the error & the media world found out about their good deed, the world would have praised them and all kinds of good things would have come to them. Instead, they are now criminals. What's their life going to be like once they get caught? Five minute of stupidity = a lifetime of regrets.

 

[Beavs]

It's not just the banks. It's our elected officials, the CEOs of the companies where we spend our money every day, etc., etc. As for things being different for the privileged, it has always been that way for as long as there have been privileged people all the way back to the days of the early Egyptians and probably farther.

Absolutely...and what amazes me is that there has not been rioting. I guess as long as people can watch crap reality tv and charge QVC junk to their credit cards life is good.

 

[SirenSongWoman]

Absolutely...and what amazes me is that there has not been rioting. I guess as long as people can watch crap reality tv and charge QVC junk to their credit cards life is good.

So true. And doesn't that make you sick?

 

[sweaty1]

I have been a VP of a bank for 20 years. We work very hard for our customers and many banks are very fair and a huge help to their communities. The news out there about banks right now is not all inclusive. many, many banks are fair and good. I work my butt of every day to make the lives of others better. I can't even begin to get into this because it upsets me so...

REmember, a human being had to put that amount in the system somehow. a HUMAN. Meaning, error can happen. Shame on those people. The money is not theirs. Plain and simple. And it hurts all the other customers. We are all human, errors happen and this was one with too many zeroes. No one deserves these people to run off with that money. They will be caught and will be in trouble. That bank and its customers do not deserve the loss and especially not a cynical "they deserve this because they are a bank attitude."

If a person pays attention to their checking accounts, balances, pays their payments and understand the products they have at their bank; plus, finds a banker that they click with; their banking relationship is a good one. If you don't balance yoru checking, don't pay your payments on time, and have tons of fees; which means you are not in the right product, talk to your banker (locally...don't call a 1 800 #...go there) don't just assume the bank is screwing you.

Not all banks are a bunch of crooks. I take great offense to that. I have cried with my customers and held their hands over lost jobs and lost income. Sorry for the rant; but I am tired of this attitude that all banks are bad. Find a good banker at a good bank. There are many, many out there. And pay attention to your banking relationship...it is your money. Know what is happening with it. And remember, banks are run by people inputting information. Errors will happen. It will never be fool proof.

 

[toffeedog]

Old news. This was reported early on the week in the UK.