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Monday, November 7, 2022

Unexpected Money

Those of you who regularly read this blog may recall our experience with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service in which it took 2 years to receive a 2020 tax refund. That was due to an IRS snafu and in 2022, we received a refund plus accumulated interest.

(SNAFU is a popular example of military acronym slang that has become widely used to stand for the sarcastic expression: situation normal all f#$!!ed up.)
 
Now, we have another U.S. institution which has made a mistake—this time it's either the Social Security Administration (SSA) or the financial institution into which our funds are direct deposited twice monthly.

Most folks (OK everyone) like to get 💰but when it's unexpected, it becomes suspicious. And, we're not exactly sure where these $$$ came from as this deposit was earlier than expected.

Let me explain, further.

Here's, what was in an email received at the start of last week (numerical sequences have been changed)We recognized that the message came from the financial institution and wasn't a fake email.

Great news! We were able to post your deposit early.

You may have noticed that your scheduled deposit from SSA TREAS 000 XXSOC SEC to your checking account ending in XXXX posted earlier than usual. You can access your money now.

Normally, we get two emails this the financial institution twice monthly when our SSA monies are deposited. We read and delete the emails after verifying that the amount listed is correct, which it always has been . . .

That was until this email as the💲amount listed was less than the usual SSA 💵 monies by at least half. The timing was early as my usual monthly SSA funds are not received until mid-month. This email came at the start of the month🤔

What to do?
First call was to the financial institution. After a series of answering questions to ascertain my status as the valid account holder, I was told that SSA deposits the funds and to contact that entity.

Luckily, there is a local SSA office in Nashua, NH, so a second call was made.

Then came a wait — 45 minutes total. Yes, a long one, but the call was never dropped and, after many recordings that others were being served and to continue holding to keep my place, at last the voice of an SSA agent came on the line.

Eureka (sort of)!
Once again, there was a series of questions to determine my status as the valid SSA recipient. After, passing all the interrogatories, I could then explain the situation and ask the question: Whats going on here ?

Once again, came another hold (brief one this time) as the SSA agent said he would check with the Treasury Dept. (honest, that's exactly what he said).

What happened next ?
The agent said his check showed that the regular  SSA payment had not been released early and was still scheduled (as usual) for mid-month.

Why did the bank send that email?
The agent had no answer and recommended to wait until the normal scheduled payment date to see what happens.

OK and that that's what I planned to do, until the next day another email was received and stated:

Great news! We were able to post your deposit early.

You may have noticed that your scheduled deposit from SSA TREAS 000 XXSOC SEC to your checking account ending in XXXX posted earlier than usual. You can access your money now.

No
, it was not the same email as this one had a different $$$ amount listed, less than in the previous email. Stranger yet,
 when adding both amounts from the two emails—the combined total was more than my regular amount 🤔

Does any of this make any sense & What will we do?
Absolutely not and we suspect that somewhere, there's been another snafu.

Exactly what the SSA agent recommended—waiting to see what happens later this month (maybe next month too).

To be continued — when there's more to post . . .
Anything like this ever happened to anyone else—If so, was it resolved?

32 comments:

Vee said...

No, never. You are being very wise to be suspicious. It certainly causes one's spidey senses to be alert.

Pamela M. Steiner said...

Did the bank verify that the funds were actually in your account? I definitely wouldn't touch that money if it is in your account as they may realize their error and want it back...but it sounds very suspicious to me. I would also forward those email messages to the SSA if possible so they can look into the origination of them. Good luck with this!

Anvilcloud said...

Up here, whatever messages I receive seem to always tally. I get a message saying that there is mail at the Revenue Canada site. I check in and all seems copasetic.

Bijoux said...

Oh boy. This sounds like a scam to me. I tend to think it’s something to do with your SSN being misused. It’s good that you’ve contacted both entities, but what a hassle. Keep us posted.

MadSnapper said...

I agreee with bijoux, got o be a scam and i can't believe the bank said wait and see or the SS said wait and see, nope, not a good answer. someone has to know where the money came from. keep calling until they find out is what I would do

MadSnapper said...

someone might be using your SS number.

My name is Erika. said...

You have to be suspicious in this day and age. Hope it gets cleared up. Its scary what can happen.

Marcia said...

Waiting for the rest of the story. Suspicious to say the least.

Boud said...

Have you contacted your financial people's hq? There's something afoot and I'd proceed with caution if there's been a phishing attempt or two. It would be very unusual indeed for ssa to make a mistake. Their system is set for different days and weeks of the month to send payments, so as to spread the load. They don't change it like that.

Barbara Rogers said...

Definitely sketchy! Can't wait till the next chapter, "Frog and Penguin vs. big Dollar Mix-Up in Social Security!"

NewRobin13 said...

That does sound very suspicious. I hope you find out what's going on. I'm looking forward to a follow-up on this.

Emma Springfield said...

It sounds like a mystery. I hope that you simply have a nice windfall of money.

Sandra said...

Wow. As someone said, you have to always be alert, so waiting and wondering is the best course of action. This is a puzzle.

gigi-hawaii said...

Well, this just baffles me. I hope it all gets sorted eventually and you get the full amount due you. I am so sorry that you have had so much trouble with the IRS and the SSA.

photowannabe said...

Hmmm, like everyone else, it sounds suspicious to me too. I know we are getting a cost of living increase in our SS and that comes at the first of the year...
Going through the red tape and actually getting to talk to a human is half the battle. Hope it's not a scam but who wants to have to return the less than your deposits windfall? Good luck
Sue

Michelle said...

Sounds suspicious and glad to see that you are on top of the situation, but what a pain!

Linda G. said...

Waiting for rest of the story ….

Sandy said...

Wow, that's very interesting and suspicious. Can't say I've ever experienced anything like this before. Hope all works out for you, and you don't have to wait forever to get it resolved.

Popped in from a mutual blog friends blog, it's always fun to meet new blogers.

Sandy's Space

Sandy said...

Popped back to say I'm adding you to my blog list also. That's the way I like to keep track of blogs to visit as well. Have a good evening.
Sandy's Space

Red said...

Sounds very much like a scam. Don't touch it.

Carola Bartz said...

This sounds sketchy to me. "Wait and see" is a pretty unacceptable answer in my opinion. Better be alert and very suspicious.

Rain said...

Unexpected money is always a suspicious thing in my mind! I guess the wait and see approach is all you can do!

William Kendall said...

It sounds sketchy as hell to me.

Jenny said...

I wonder if it's some kind of scam trying to get you to go through them & gain access to your accounts? Goodness...scammers have become such a horrendous burden on every day lives. It takes so much time dealing with them.

nick said...

We've never had anything like that. Our pension payments are always paid on the expected date and are always the right amount. It looks your emails are the result of some sort of computer malfunction that was as much a mystery to the people you spoke to as it was to you.

Salty Pumpkin Studio said...

Oh dear, that sounds like one of those scams for ooops email asking you return overpayment. Write down the email header to ask the bank if the emails are from them. Somebody has to know.

Rita said...

Now that is scary! If the government makes mistakes--even in your favor--you are usually the one who suffers. Let us know what happens.

Jeanie said...

Good grief. NONE of that makes sense. I hope it's worked out OK.

Eggs In My Pocket said...

That is really odd. I hope you can figure it all out. Wishing you a blessed Thanksgiving!

Lowcarb team member said...

Very strange.
I think you have to be suspicious; I do hope the situation becomes clearer for you ...and soon!

All the best Jan

Rob Lenihan said...


Yikes, what a mess!

So sorry you're going through this. I hope you get this squared away as soon as possible.

I've tangled with government bureaucracy before, but nothing quite this serious.

Keep us posted.

baili said...

Things happen everywhere and my country is not exception dear Dorothy .
I agree with John here and what first commenter said that you are being wise to be alert.
Hope everything will be sorted out at the end of this month.

Wishing you everything Best in the world my friend!