Overpaying cash machine Southport

Photo: Natwest, Cambridge Road

Natwest on Cambridge road has accidentally been overpaying customers making withdrawals from the cash machine.

One customer said:

“I have had an extra £10 paid to me, when getting £30 it paid me £40.

“This has happened on two separate days and a friend was overpaid on one occasion”.

A spokesperson for the bank said:

“It is unclear how much money has been overpaid to customers but we are now aware that incorrect amounts were being dispensed”.

So if you take money under these circumstances, what is the correct course of action, legally and morally?

Report it 

If you happen to be passing and someone tells you it’s handing out £200 every time, then it’s clearly theft because there’s knowledge and intent, and the intent could be proved.

“So the best course of action in terms of the law is to report it straightaway to the bank,” says Haslam. “It’s the only way you can preserve your position, but if you sit on it and wait for them to find you, then it’s a lot weaker.”

The law concerned is more likely to be theft rather than fraud, he says, because you’ve taken money to which you are not entitled.

The 1968 Theft Act says: “A person is guilty of theft if he dishonestly appropriates property belonging to another with the intention of permanently depriving the other of it.”

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