Student finds RM1.6k banked into account by mistake, returns money

Some may consider RM1,600 mysteriously appearing in their bank account as a "windfall" or "donation" but not for student Wendy Lim who decided to return the money.

Lim, who is pursuing a masters in social work in Australia, said it goes against her moral values to keep money that isn't hers.

As such, the 26-year-old student said she decided to return the funds to the owner who had for months tried to track her down with little hope of getting his money back.

"At that moment in time, it posed somewhat of a dilemma for me as I was torn between living up to my personal moral values or having 'free money' transferred into my bank account," she said.

Lim joked about Malaysians enjoying "free stuff" but said ultimately it was about doing the right thing.

"I suppose at the end of the day I knew the right thing to do was to give back the money to its rightful owner and that’s what I did," she told Malaysiakini.

Last June, Mohamad Azim Mohd Nor, who works at a factory in Selangor, had tried to track down Lim through social media.

 This after the 28-year-old engineer deposited RM1,600 into Lim's account by mistake.

All Mohamad had to go on was Lim's name and bank account number which he shared in a public appeal on Twitter which garnered some 6,000 shares.

Azim told Malaysiakini he was also forced to message every "Wendy Lim" he could find on Facebook.

Azim said he needed to track down the recipient as she needed to reverse the transaction.

In the meantime, Azim had to use his personal funds to compensate the migrant worker whom the RM1,600 was supposed to go to.

Azim said he had little hope left that he would get his money back.

The "Lim" he was looking for was also not contactable by phone as she was abroad completing her studies in Australia.

However, last November, the "Lim" he was looking for reached out to Azim.

"I felt really touched when Wendy said she wanted to return my money," Azim said.

Lim said she reached out to Azim after a friend alerted her about Azim's public appeal on social media.

She added that if it were not for social media and her friends, she would not have realised about the incident as she was not using the Malaysian bank account.

Lim said as an international student, she also understood the value of money for someone in a foreign land.

"The very first thing after I learnt that the money was for the coworker, was to understand how much this money meant to people.

"Being an international student allows me to understand the value of money.

"Without knowing whether the coworkers were local or international, I knew for a fact that each may rely on this money for survival or that it could be sent back overseas in order to help allay the (family's) financial difficulties," she said.

Lim said she hopes that with the matter resolved, Azim and his co-worker can now sleep better at night. - Mkini