# Anyone else win the ETrade lottery? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 30, 2022, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-win-the-etrade-lottery/968828 "2022-07-30T14:11:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2022, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-win-the-etrade-lottery/968828/1 "2022-07-30T14:11:04Z")
I woke up this morning to find about three _million_ dollars in my account. At that scale, it’s about three million more than I had 24 hours earlier. I don’t know how wide spread the problem is but I see other people talking about it on reddit, so it’s not just me. It seems to only have happened to people that got a dividend payment for $SPY. Where they should have divided the cost per share by your dividend to figure out how many shares you get (or what percentage of a share), they multiplied them. That is, if the stock is worth $400 per share and your dividend is $10, you should receive 0.025 of share. Instead they gave you 4000 shares. People are ending up with millions in their account. I’m sure it’ll all be cleared up by Monday, if not sooner, but I’m already seeing people talking about transferring it out of their account assuming there’s nothing etrade can do about it. I’m guessing there’s something in the TOS stating that you have to return money you receive by accident. At least if I get to keep it (I know, that’s not happening) the majority of it is in my Roth IRA ---
**Author:** ![Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tired_and_Cranky)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2022, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-win-the-etrade-lottery/968828/2 "2022-07-30T14:30:55Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > I’m sure it’ll all be cleared up by Monday, if not sooner, but I’m already seeing people talking about transferring it out of their account assuming there’s nothing etrade can do about it. This is the first I’ve heard of this problem. Transfers like that aren’t instantaneous so I’m certain this strategy won’t work for them. Although, frankly, I’m surprised it happened in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2022, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-win-the-etrade-lottery/968828/3 "2022-07-30T15:18:33Z")
You sound so calm about it, all in all that’s make me very suspicious about the possibility of other errors in accounting. I do not have an E\*trade account. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2022, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-win-the-etrade-lottery/968828/4 "2022-07-30T16:02:11Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Where they should have divided the cost per share by your dividend to figure out how many shares you get (or what percentage of a share), they multiplied them. FTR, it’s dividing your dividend by the pps so $10 div ÷ $400 pps = 0.025 new shares. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2022, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-win-the-etrade-lottery/968828/5 "2022-07-30T16:15:44Z")
They already fixed it. Oh well, fun while it lasted. I’m guessing this would have been a much bigger deal for them if it happened when the markets were open. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2022, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-win-the-etrade-lottery/968828/6 "2022-07-30T16:31:00Z")
Lucky yours was in a Roth. I wouldn’t be surprised if the IRS sent people some bills next April. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2022, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-win-the-etrade-lottery/968828/7 "2022-07-30T17:12:29Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > I’m already seeing people talking about transferring it out of their account assuming there’s nothing etrade can do about it. I’m guessing there’s something in the TOS stating that you have to return money you receive by accident. It doesn’t require anything in the TOS. There is no principle of law that you get to keep money or shares transferred into your account by mistake, any more than there is a law of finders keepers. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2022, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-win-the-etrade-lottery/968828/8 "2022-07-30T17:18:00Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > I wouldn’t be surprised if the IRS sent people some bills next April. Why? The investor is not going to report an error (and correction) to the IRS, and nor should they; the broker is not going to report it on a 1099. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2022, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-win-the-etrade-lottery/968828/9 "2022-07-30T17:41:05Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > There is no principle of law that you get to keep money or shares transferred into your account by mistake, any more than there is a law of finders keepers. Sometimes there is. > **[Citibank sues for $176m payment made in error](https://www.bbc.com/news/business-53802994)** > > Citigroup says the over-payment to hedge fund Brigade was due to an "operational mistake". ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2022, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-win-the-etrade-lottery/968828/10 "2022-07-30T17:57:29Z")
More of a tongue in cheek joke aka “knowing my luck …” ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2022, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-win-the-etrade-lottery/968828/11 "2022-07-30T17:59:08Z")
As I remember the situation with Citibank, this was money that was already owed to the payees. They were just expecting payment over time, and instead Citibank (accidentally) paid them early. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2022, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-win-the-etrade-lottery/968828/12 "2022-07-30T18:14:23Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > Sometimes there is. But that unusual situation is in no way analogous to suddenly receiving $3 million dollars into your account which is very obviously nothing more than a clerical error, and people should under no circumstances attempt to transfer the funds out of their account if something like that happens, or they can get into trouble. From that article: > Can you keep money paid by mistake? Generally, no and if you spend the money **it can in some circumstances end up as a criminal matter**. If it were a _small_ amount that you can plausibly claim not to have noticed, then you’d just have to pay it back. It you were obviously taking advantage of a large error to take money that you know does not belong to you, you are committing a crime. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2022, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-win-the-etrade-lottery/968828/13 "2022-07-30T18:27:54Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > It doesn’t require anything in the TOS. [https://us.etrade.com/l/f/customer-agreement](https://us.etrade.com/l/f/customer-agreement) > #### Obvious Error; Trade Nullification and Adjustment > > The Account Holder understands that a transaction may be nullified or adjusted under Applicable Law or the rules or agreements of a market center if the transaction or its execution was the result of an “obvious” or “catastrophic” error. In addition, E\*TRADE reserves the right to adjust, cancel, correct, or take any other appropriate action when, in its reasonably exercised, good-faith discretion, it deems a transaction to be erroneous in nature, even if such transaction would not be required to be or subject to nullification or adjustment pursuant to Applicable Law or the rules or agreements of a market center. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2022, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-win-the-etrade-lottery/968828/14 "2022-07-30T18:56:32Z")
So what? I said it doesn’t _require_ anything in the TOS to make it illegal to steal money that goes into your account through error. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2022, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-win-the-etrade-lottery/968828/15 "2022-07-30T19:08:08Z")
I didn’t say it was required either but your post implied I was incorrect in guessing that such a clause existed. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2022, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-win-the-etrade-lottery/968828/16 "2022-07-30T19:09:16Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > your post implied I was incorrect in guessing that such a clause existed. No, it didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2022, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-win-the-etrade-lottery/968828/17 "2022-07-30T19:16:26Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > But that unusual situation is in no way analogous to suddenly receiving $3 million dollars into your account which is very obviously nothing more than a clerical error, and people should under no circumstances attempt to transfer the funds out of their account if something like that happens, or they can get into trouble. I know, I just thought it was amusing that there _was_ a situation where a bank made an error, and the recipient got to keep it. I still remember as a kid getting threats from the bank because the teller gave me an extra dollar when cashing one of my dividend checks. ---
**Author:** ![Bootb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19b73/32.png) [@Bootb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootb)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2022, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-win-the-etrade-lottery/968828/18 "2022-07-31T05:46:17Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > I’m sure it’ll all be cleared up by Monday, if not sooner, but I’m already seeing people talking about transferring it out of their account assuming there’s nothing etrade can do about it. I’m guessing there’s something in the TOS stating that you have to return money you receive by accident. I’ve seen such goings-on in similar cases. I’m fascinated by the number of people whose thought process apparently goes like this – “When the authorities find out that the money has been moved, they’ll give up in despair.” ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2022, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-win-the-etrade-lottery/968828/19 "2022-07-31T06:41:57Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > I know, I just thought it was amusing that there _was_ a situation where a bank made an error, and the recipient got to keep it. Happened to me and I got $200 from it. Same as when I passed GO on the next turn