Etc.

It was fun while it lasted

For 24 hours, Jenny Woollvin couldn't stop thinking about the glamorous vacation she suddenly could afford, not to mention the new house and car she could buy for herself. Good thing she didn't sign any purchase and sale agreements – because, just like that, she was no longer a millionaire. The 20-something, who works in a retirement home in Seaford, England, had gone to her local branch bank to cash a savings bond and deposit it in her account. The amount: $102.85, which would have padded her balance to $477.22. Only that wasn't what her passbook said when she checked it afterward. A quick glance showed her new worth to be ... $3.62 million. Was she excited? Oh, yeah. She raced back to Burdyke Lodge Residential Home and told her coworkers all about her good fortune. And then she realized that in the deposit column the teller mistakenly had entered, not the $102 and change, but her account number. "I had no intention of ever using any of that money," she told reporters. "But I [wanted] to see how long it would take to spot the mistake." Answer: only 'til the close of business that same day, when it was corrected. Bank policy, however, calls for the depositor to be notified of such an occurrence by letter, and that didn't happen. So, Jenny has received a verbal apology and the promise of a gift. "I don't know what it'll be; it hasn't arrived yet," she said. But, no doubt correctly, she doubted it would be $1 million.