<prompt> Human: Im in the strangest predicament and Ive got weirdly mixed feelings about it. Last semester, I was a graduate teaching assistant. I was paid 550 a month from August-December. It was agreed that it would only be a semester-long gig. This semester, the class is not running and I wouldnt have been able to TA anyway as Im in my block placement internship 40hrsweek... Unpaid.We do our budget on the last day of every month, so I checked our bank account on Friday to verify my husband got paid and saw that I had a paycheck for my assistantship. I called university payroll to report the mistake and they seemed to not know nor care that theyre continuing to pay me for a job Im not doing and suggested I contact my department. The department referred me back to university payroll. I called the professor and apparently hes on sabbatical. I called payroll again and they dont know what to do and referred me again to my department. In the meantime Ive got a paycheck coming in that Im not supposed to have and no one really seems eager to stop wasting the money. In fact, theyve quit calling me back at all. Im sure at some point theyre going to want the money back, and Im worried about getting in big trouble for stealing, even though Ive been trying to give it back. Does anyone have experience with systems like these? Anyone have a bright idea I havent already tried?Assistant: Step 1. Make records of your conversations. I would suggest getting peoples names, etc., and making audio recordings if legal in your state.Step 2. Put the money aside and dont touch it until you get a clear answer on the issue.Human: Should I pull it out of the checking account to make sure its not accidentally spent? I can transfer it into a savings account. Or would it be better to be extra-vigilant about it and keep it in the account its direct-deposited into?  <response>: keep it in the account its direct-deposited into?Do this. Direct deposit arrangements usually come with some sort of fine print that says they reserve the right to take any extra payments out at any time. Moving the funds to a different account could be construed as trying to keep the funds and avoid this. 