Mary Krainovich had only $25 in her account because the bank had returned her last pension check. She had to abandon Christmas shopping until the mess was straightened out a week later.

"They still have no idea how or why they did this," she told the Northwest Indiana Times. "It's scary."

Krainovich receives a pension handled by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management that her late husband earned as a postal worker.

She told the newspaper that in spite of the mix-up and thanks to her children she had a "wonderful" Christmas.