Recently, a TikTok trend went viral and had people under the false assumption that they could deposit large amounts of cash from Chase Bank ATMs, however, this “glitch” has been identified as check fraud, which as a felony, can be up to 3 years in county jail.
The glitch allowed people to deposit checks for large amounts of money before withdrawing for a smaller amount, leading them to believe the system had a bug.
A TikTok user by the name of Grant Greenly posted a video that discourages anyone hoping to attempt the glitch saying, “If you hear the words ‘free money’? Odds are something’s not right about it,” he claims. “You cannot be surprised when you are fined and thrown in jail.”
The “glitch” is the result of a very common error within the bank’s software which can lead to incorrect balances being shown and customers receiving large amounts of money that don’t belong to them. In 2011, while working as a bartender, an Australian man named Dan Saunders discovered an ATM glitch that allowed him to withdraw $1.6 million. He was eventually caught and charged with fraud and theft, he pled guilty and was sentenced to 12 months in prison, 18 months community service and was required to pay back $250,000.
Not only is it check fraud, but it’s also check kiting, a practice that transfers non-existing funds into a bank account. This means that checks are used as credit, without being approved by the bank. The idea of the “get rich quick” scheme is becoming more common as a study from Forbes shows that 80% of Americans representing the millennial or gen-z age groups get their financial advice from social media.
“Regardless of what you see online, depositing a fraudulent check and withdrawing the funds from your account is fraud, plain and simple,” a Chase spokesperson said.
