TikTokers tried to exploit a Chase bank ‘glitch’ — and learned it came at a huge cost

NY Post ^ | 09/01/2024 | Isabel Keane

[Drew68]

A new TikTok trend has people posting their attempts to exploit a “glitch” in Chase bank ATMs that offers “infinite free money” — but quickly learning that a bank and its money are not so easily parted.

Experts say the “glitch” videos look an awful lot like check fraud — one of the oldest scams in the book.

Videos urging customers at the bank to take advantage of the “glitch” quickly took off online, prompting people to deposit fake checks for large sums of money. The glitch would credit some of the sham deposits to the customers’ accounts before the checks cleared.

One video showed people lined up outside of Chase locations in New York City, allegedly looking to take advantage of the “viral glitch to get free money,” one person wrote on X.

But, Chase quickly fixed the bug, and is now clawing back any money doled out to people who didn’t deserve it.

A spokesperson for Chase Bank told the Post consumers should be skeptical and if something seems too good to be true, it likely is.

“We are aware of this incident, and it has been addressed. Regardless of what you see online, depositing a fraudulent check and withdrawing the funds from your account is fraud, plain and simple,” the spokesperson added.

The people who took advantage of the glitch were soon reporting that their accounts were locked and hit with massive negative balances.

One user posted deductions labeled “ATM deposit error” totaling nearly $40,000.

People shared videos online of their accounts, now thousands of dollars in debt, after attempting to take advantage of the glitch. X

For a short window when the exploit seemed to work, clueless social media users were exuberant.

Chase customers shared videos of themselves dancing with joy and throwing handfuls of bills...

[Drew68]

Short story: People were writing themselves massive bad checks, depositing the bad checks into their Chase accounts, and then immediately withdrawing the cash from ATMs. Not a glitch. Just old-fashioned check fraud.

Multiple videos on X about this and all seeming to be of one particular demographic.

Just amazing profound stupidity to think that they'd get away with this.

[dfwgator]

[LukeL]

Back before direct deposit people would play the float. This however sounds like a version of kiting.

[Sarcazmo]

Dang, $40k. You could buy a lot of weed with that.

[hole_n_one]

[Sarcazmo]

Yeah, this was obviously a troll on TikTokers.

Like that video that had people drilling holes in their iphones.

[BipolarBob]

How could I have missed out on this? I’m always late to the party.

[Who is John Galt?]

...Just amazing profound stupidity to think that they'd get away with this.

That's what I thought, when one of our major political parties decided to nominate a dementia patient who wouldn't leave his basement, to run for president...

[Drew68]

Back before direct deposit people would play the float.

Yep. I was guilty of floating checks when I was young and irresponsible. I called in "check roulette" where I'd write a check and hope that my paycheck was deposited before the check I wrote hit the bank.

Sometimes I won and sometimes I lost. And when I lost, it was very expensive.

This is a little different here. I always intended on paying for the goods I purchased with a floated check. These people are just flat out writing $40,000 checks that they know will never clear, doing a mobile deposit, and then running to an ATM to withdraw the cash.

[Jonty30]

That’s how a piece of scum recently ripped off my father by about $10,000. He deposited cheques from a recognized business and then proceeded to take out as much as he could as quickly as he could.

[CFW]

That’s not a “glitch”. That is banking fraud. Those attempting to try “this one neat trick” are going to be surprised at how much it costs them.

[aomagrat]

And these people vote.

[catnipman]

“all seeming to be of one particular demographic.”

yeah, i pretty much figured it was mostly the usual suspects ...

[Brandonmark]

Back in the day people might take advantage of the float using multiple accounts, but generally that was not intentionally defrauding the financial institutions.

[LouAvul]

What kind of idiots would think they would get away with that?

[Drew68]

yeah, i pretty much figured it was mostly the usual suspects ...

Some of the reaction videos are pretty funny of people posting their bank accounts that are thousands of dollars in the red. I suppose they could give the money back but it's likely gone, spent immediately.

The real joke will be on Chase when they discover they don't have the resources to collect arrears from 10,000+ members of the most protected class in America.

[Drew68]

What kind of idiots would think they would get away with that?

People who do not possess the IQ to imagine consequences or basically to imagine anything more than ten seconds into the future.

[Drew68]

Those attempting to try “this one neat trick” are going to be surprised at how much it costs them.

Waiting for Kamala to promise "justice" for the "victims" of the Chase free money "glitch."

[cross_bearer_02]

I am loathe to believe that people this stupid actually exist. On the other hand, I also know there are people who actually do support leftist fascism, so here we find ourselves.

I do admit I have zero sympathy for these people. They endeavored to engage in a scam and it came back to bite them in the rear, good ‘n hard.

[mikey_hates_everything]

43 years ago I used an ATM that I didn’t know was off-line and accidentally punched in a withdrawal amount over what I thought was my balance. It gave me the money and I went ahead and kept doing more withdrawals until I hit the daily limit. I couldn’t believe it was that easy and get away with it so I did not spend the money. Didn’t take long for First Virginia Bank to track me down. They weren’t out for blood, just wanted the money back.