This really did happen, even though it sounds like something from a heist movie. Some users of JPMorgan Chase found a bug in the bank’s ATM system that let them take out thousands of dollars before a check became bad.
Late in August, a TikTok video went popular showing how to get unlimited cash from an ATM. This was the start of the problem. One of the craziest cases involved a man in Houston whose friend used a fake $335,000 check to pay at an ATM. After that, the man took out $290,939.47 in stolen money.
When the bank sued this customer in federal court on Monday, they made it clear what the problem was in letters sent to at least three federal courts. A man in a mask put a $335,000 check into Defendant’s Chase bank account on August 29, 2024, the bank said in the Texas statement. “Defendant started taking out the vast majority of the stolen funds after the check was deposited.”
It’s still too early to say how bad the “infinite money glitch” really was because the bank is still looking into it and the thousands of customers who used it. Sharing the scam on social media made it easy for many people to see it, when it would have only been seen by people in the same area.
The only reason the effect wasn’t worse is that only a small amount of the money that was placed can be withdrawn until it is cleared by staff, which can take days. In that case, it would have had a bigger effect.
Even though checks aren’t used as much as they used to be, they are still a popular way to commit fraud because they are used for big purchases and sending money to other people. The Nasdaq Global Financial Crime Report says that check theft cost the world $26.6 billion last year.
The bank will no longer let this loophole remain after this, which will hurt people who still get paid by check and live from paycheck to paycheck.
After the bug was found, Drew Pusateri, a spokeswoman for JPMorgan, told CNBC, “Fraud is a crime that affects everyone and hurts trust in the banking system.” There are cases being looked into, and we are working with the police to make sure that anyone who is fraudulent against Chase and its users is caught.
JPMorgan Chase lawsuits filed
The bank moved quickly and sued in both civil and criminal ways, based on the state, the case, and the amount. A number of cases have also been sent to police offices for further investigation.
People who are accused of crimes have been charged in courts in Miami and the Central District of California. The amounts they owe the bank range from about $80,000 to $141,000.
The bank wants to handle as many of the cases as possible individually with their security team because most of them were not that big. People who work at the bank are calling customers to remind them that they broke the deposit agreement they signed when they opened an account and that they need to return the stolen money along with interest, overdraft fees, lawyers’ fees, and sometimes punitive damages.
These steps don’t always work, so cases are taken to the right court for the amount of money that was stolen.
Of course, the bank is focusing on the cases where the most money was stolen, but they plan to go after everyone whose money isn’t returned to their satisfaction. The goal is to make people pay back their bills and show that the bank won’t stand for fraud.