> If they do make contact for a return, make sure to receive a copy of their incorporation documents, signatures of its largest shareholders, a copy of government issued ID, a liveness test, proof of address in the form of a utility bill dated within 3 months. A copy of its last…<p>Quality bantz from the peanut gallery
I once did an internship with a BigTechCompany, and after my internship was over and I went back to university, they kept paying me! Every two weeks, I got another paycheck direct deposited. As a starving student, I have to admit it was not easy to just ignore it sitting there in my bank account but I knew if I spent it I'd eventually be in a world of hurt. I tried to contact BigTechCompany, but evidently their HR department was as incompetent as their payroll department--they didn't understand what I was talking about and kept saying since I don't work for them they would not discuss internal payroll issues with them. So month after month, my bank account grew and grew, and I'm sitting in class eating ramen noodles.<p>Finally, after about 8 months of this, I got an extremely threatening letter from BigTechCompany's lawyers informing me that due to a payroll error, I was overpaid, and they demand I immediately return the money that was not mine or face legal consequences, blah, blah, blah. Of course I sent it back, but what a wild and crazy way for a company to treat people when it's entirely the company's fault.
From one of the replies:<p>> Be careful.<p>> There is a scam where people put money into your account.<p>> You send the money back to them, only to they've applied for a loan in your name that you still have to pay back, but you've given away the money.<p>> Make sure it is you who initiates contact. Verify!<p>That’s a terrifying scam!
The author participates in bug bounties and Google have a $250k reward for certain vulnerability types so perhaps it’s more “sent me $250k without notifying me about my bounty submission” than “randomly”<p><a href="https://bughunters.google.com/about/rules/6171833274204160/android-and-google-devices-security-reward-program-rules" rel="nofollow">https://bughunters.google.com/about/rules/6171833274204160/a...</a><p>Alternatively, they have his bank details from participation in bug bounties and he was mistakenly sent someone’s Ad revenue.<p><a href="https://support.google.com/admanager/answer/2731686?hl=en" rel="nofollow">https://support.google.com/admanager/answer/2731686?hl=en</a>
It took Google several years to notice tens of millions in fraudulent invoices from one guy: <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/03/25/706715377/man-pleads-guilty-to-phishing-scheme-that-fleeced-facebook-google-of-100-million" rel="nofollow">https://www.npr.org/2019/03/25/706715377/man-pleads-guilty-t...</a><p>If this had been kept quiet, I think the odds are high it would have never been noticed. I don't think Google has any of their own internal special sauce on their invoicing and payment. They are just as bad at it as everyone else.
I once had a large company pay me 10x what they owed, and giving the extra back to them was quite a performance. I remember the long suffering lady in their accounts department saying that it was "like pushing the egg back up the chicken".
this could be an idea for the beggining of a nightmare tale.<p>A family strugling financially gets 250.000 from google but can never contact google because they are so difficult to reach but also can never use the money for fear of google noticing at some point and asking for the money back. Bank freezes account for suspect activity, irs audit and all kinds of hell...
Move the money to another account so it can't easily be reversed (reversal is not easy, but you're up against Google)<p>You're in a nasty little situation and they're not answering their business phones. You're facing a $80k windfall tax liability you'll need cash to pay, and the possibility Google will wake up an demand their money back at the most inconvenient time (after taxes are due, etc).
I would send a certified letter, perhaps even drafted by one's attorney, to Google's legal correspondence address requiring them to resolve the situation.
I used to work for a company optimising business processes. You’d all be surprised by just how much money large companies waste by paying invoices twice and/or paying invoices that nobody can trace back to a purchase order.
Just don't buy a mansion, they might sue you for it back a year later like crypto.com did<p><a href="https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2022/09/01/crypto-platform-sues-woman-after-accidentally-sending-her-7point1-million.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2022/09/01/cry...</a>
lol this would be a fantastic study of how closely tied your Gmail account is to your identity :) Granted it's a study of N=1.<p>But if you were to say "close down" all your Gmail accounts (I presume you have them) Will Big-G find you or deem it worthwhile for you to be found ?
Not the same scope, but I bought some photobooks from Google. They put a temp charge on my card, which isn't unusual, at checkout. Then it went away. And it went away for good. Happy for the free photobooks. ~$100 I didn't have to spend.
Why do they pay $249,999.99 instead of a round $250,000? Is it for tax reasons (different bracket)?<p>I think it would upset me a bit to not have that last cent there. Feels disrespectful in some way.