WHEN a bank transferred $37million into a mum’s account, she hoped it was a “Christmas miracle”.
But, sadly for “millionaire” Ruth Balloon – who works in a Texas shop – there was no mysterious benefactor behind her sudden windfall.
The mum-of-two checked her bank account last week, and was stunned to see it had suddenly been topped up to turn her into an instant multi-millionaire.
“I was like, ‘wow’, we have a lot of money’,” the 35-year-old said.
Balloon told KTVT-TV that she had wanted to believe “someone really gifted us with that $37 million” but she knew it was too good to be true.
She works in Roma Boots, a Dallas-based social enterprise that sells fashionable rain boots and donates a pair for each pair sold to an impoverished child living in cold and wet climate conditions.
And just for a moment, her mind drifted to what the huge windfall could be splurged on.
She said: “First I was going to do 10 per cent tithing [to a religious group]. Then I was going to donate some money, and then I would have invested in real estate.”
However the mum was brought back down to earth upon revealing the windfall to her unimpressed husband, Brian, 39.
He dismissed the funding boost as a scam.
I was like, ‘wow’, we have a lot of money’.
Ruth Balloon, momentary millionaire
Balloon had been “randomly” checking her bank balance, and recent transactions, last Tuesday when she noticed “the $37million in green,” she explained to DailyMail.com.
She added: “Even if the amount was a real transfer, I knew the money did not belong to us.
“I could not spend money that does not belong to us [but] I did daydream of what would I do with it if I did have it.”
Brian phoned their bank, LegacyTexas, which dashed the couple’s hopes by admitting the extra money wasn’t a Christmas miracle but a clerical stuff-up.
The bank apologised and took the millions back.
KTVT-TV was told that even if the Balloons had not flagged up the glitch, it would have eventually been spotted and corrected.
The bank said: “On Tuesday, December 10, our client made a foreign currency deposit into her account.
“Due to the fluctuation in exchange rates, all foreign currency transactions must be manually entered into our system through our back office.
“When our client’s deposit was being keyed in, our representative entered her account number into the amount field by mistake.”
Balloon was hoping to get a “thank you” reward for her honesty, but this hasn’t transpired, reports Fox News.
She said: “I was a millionaire; I have a screenshot of it, so I can say that now – it’s quite a story.”
