Mistaken Identity Makes Her a Millionaire. Briefly

Boston woman calls up bank after mix-up involving her account
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jul 20, 2018 2:38 PM CDT
Mistaken Identity Makes Her a Millionaire. Briefly
Easy come, easy go.   (Getty)

For a few brief but glorious minutes, a Boston woman was a millionaire. Ellen Fleming says she received a voicemail from a TD Ameritrade financial consultant Wednesday afternoon that a deposit had been made into her account. The 26-year-old opened the company's app on her cellphone and was surprised to find $1.1 million instead of the $50 that she had left a few months ago, per the AP.

Fleming tells the Boston Globe that she immediately thought about how nice it would be to pay off her student loans and quit her job. Instead, she called the consultant back and informed them of the mix-up. Fleming says the money was meant for a woman with the same name who lives in Florida. “You need to take every opportunity that’s handed to you,” she tells the Globe. “But that seemed like an opportunity that could lead me to federal prison, so it didn’t seem worth it.” In a tweet, she asks that in her obituary she is referred to as a "one-time millionaire."

(More strange stuff stories.)

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