The 29-year-old from Zurich said he couldn't believe his eyes when he checked his account and saw what looked like "dozens of noughts" instead of the minus sign he was expecting.
But he didn't stay rich for long after reporting the transfer to the authorities.
"It was obviously a mistake and I didn't want to get in trouble with the revenue office so I reported it straight away. It was nice to be rich for a short time though," he said.
An investigation revealed that a computer glitch in the Zurich accounting office had directed millions in public payments to the man's account.
The payments included police officers' phone bills and social services fees.
Rudolf Meier, head of the Zurich financial office, called the incident a "data processing error and a chain of unfortunate circumstances" and said the problem in the canton's new system had since been fixed.
But he didn't stay rich for long after reporting the transfer to the authorities.
"It was obviously a mistake and I didn't want to get in trouble with the revenue office so I reported it straight away. It was nice to be rich for a short time though," he said.
An investigation revealed that a computer glitch in the Zurich accounting office had directed millions in public payments to the man's account.
The payments included police officers' phone bills and social services fees.
Rudolf Meier, head of the Zurich financial office, called the incident a "data processing error and a chain of unfortunate circumstances" and said the problem in the canton's new system had since been fixed.
Oops wrong car ......sorry!
BERLIN (Reuters) - A German woman became so furious after a fight with her husband she stormed out of the house armed with a hammer and smashed up his car -- before realizing she had vandalized the wrong vehicle, police said Wednesday.
The 43-year-old from Essen, western Germany, told police she shattered the windshield, broke the headlights and wrenched off the wing mirrors, causing more than $1,200 in damage, because she was filled with rage after a telephone quarrel.
After going back indoors she realized she had battered the wrong car. Only noticing the color, she had attacked her neighbor's blue Opel Corsa and not the blue Ford Fiesta belonging to her spouse.
The 43-year-old from Essen, western Germany, told police she shattered the windshield, broke the headlights and wrenched off the wing mirrors, causing more than $1,200 in damage, because she was filled with rage after a telephone quarrel.
After going back indoors she realized she had battered the wrong car. Only noticing the color, she had attacked her neighbor's blue Opel Corsa and not the blue Ford Fiesta belonging to her spouse.
Police confused over expensive fake Yen
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese police have been scratching their heads in bewilderment over the country's latest counterfeiting trend -- fake bills that cost more to make than their face value.Experts estimate that it cost 1,000 yen ($9.10) to make each of the more than 400 bogus 1,000 yen notes that have turned up in vending machines in Saitama Prefecture, north of Tokyo, suggesting profit was not the motive, the Asahi newspaper's English-language edition reported Tuesday.
"Police suspect a techno-maniac is involved," the Asahi said.
The fake bills are made by replacing the middle strip of genuine notes with a color photocopy, and securing them with tape. To the human eye they are obviously bogus, but they fool some older vending machines.
No comments:
Post a Comment