Receiving Tons of Money "in Error"

[Fleetwood03]

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

My girlfriend, K, just bought a new home last month. Last week, she received a "gift card" supposedly from her mortgage company that said it was for 250.00 USD. The gift card is not in her name as it does not have a name on it AT ALL.

Anyways, she called the number on the back of the gift card and it told her that her balance was 1 BILLION, 274 MILLION dollars. She then talked to a live person and though they sounded astonished, told her "yes, this is the balance".

She has been out spending money! I have told her several, several times that this is illegal. Not only that, but since it is from her "mortgage company" she should be calling her MORTGAGE COMPANY. The number to her mortgage company and the number on the back of this gift card do NOT match.

She is trying to rationalize spending this money "well it was a gift" yada yada. In the meantime, I have cut off ALL ties with her but feel

1.) this is highly illegal
2.) I should be reporting this somewhere.. but where?

I am a paralegal in Pennsylvania. I know DARNED well she is breaking just about every law out there, I believe perhaps federal ones as well ( dont know, I dont do federal law).

Any advice?

[Mr. Knowitall]

I like this story. I'm not sure that I believe it (okay... I don't) but it's amusing.

You could advise your girlfriend that with $1 billion plus, she could buy a lot of fungible goods, purchase a yacht, hire a crew, and sail down to Venezuela. No, they're not the most progressive democracy on the planet, but they have no extradition treaty with the United States.

This is a gift card for what store? They haven't yet noticed that she's purchasing an inordinate amount of merchandise, or that the zeros run off the end of her receipt when they print out the balance on her gift card?

If you're serious, tell whomever issued the gift card to check their books.

[kist]

With a billion bucks she could pay the retainer on a lawyer good enough to win her case and keep the gift card.

[Fleetwood03]

I wouldn't have spent the time posting here if I wasn't serious. Really, what for?

She told me the name of her mortgage company and I am going to be sending them an email.

I have NO clue why/how this happened and I didn't believe a spit of what she said until I called the number on the back of the card, either.

After I call the mortgage company and give them her name, I pretty much want nothing to do with it. She can get busted all on her own.

This was a SERIOUS visa gift card mistake. Its laughable that it would be THAT MUCH of a mistake, but its a huge one.

[Mr. Knowitall]

I wouldn't have spent the time posting here if I wasn't serious. Really, what for?

People do all sorts of things that don't make much sense. (If you don't believe me, ask your girlfriend.)

After I call the mortgage company and give them her name, I pretty much want nothing to do with it. She can get busted all on her own.

If you're serious, tell whomever issued the gift card to check their books.

[LawResearcherMissy]

I wouldn't have spent the time posting here if I wasn't serious. Really, what for?

Welcome to the Internet. Clearly, you're new here and could use a little guidance. Be mindful of the trolls, they enjoy posting absurd hoaxes so they can laugh at the people they catch with them.

She told me the name of her mortgage company and I am going to be sending them an email.

You're going to have to do more than just send an e-mail if you expect anything to come of this. If you're really on the level here. Yes, I'm very skeptical. I've been on the Internet for a good long while, and I've seen all kinds of outrageous claims. Occam's Razor has never been so hard put to the test.

As Mr. K notes, you'll need to contact the company that issued the gift card. That may be the mortgage company, that may be someone else entirely. In any case, they'll need more than just an anonymous e-mail. They'll need the gift card number and documentation, for starters. The mortgage company isn't going to budge without the mortgage account number, either. They'll want a letter on actual paper, too.

[zedex]

Before reporting this mistake, please advise her that I was considering upgrading from my Porsche. I was thinking along the lines of a new Ferrari. Perhaps she would be willing to help out. And, since she would be in such a nice mood, a new ZX14 would be sweet, too.

Oh, oh, I know !! A Lambo !! yea !! Thats the ticket. And a new house, and money for school, and property in Aruba and a new Piper.

Oh, yea. Before I forget, do you think she'll buy me more Mac and Cheese??

[FlyinHawk®]

Visa/Mastercard gift cards can only hold a max limit of 1,000. In order for someone to have 1 billion 274 on a Visa gift card they would need 1,274,000 gift cards.