It should go without saying that real life is not a video game.
Real life is especially not “Grand Theft Auto: Online” where one can accrue untold gobs of cash with minimal (and typically illegal) effort.
Someone needed to explain that rather obvious fact of life to the people who tried to take advantage of a viral Chase bank “glitch” recently.
The “glitch,” which is really just a rehash of the age old scheme of passing fraudulent checks, effectively goes like this, according to the New York Post:
- Mobile deposit a fake check for a large sum of money into your Chase account
- Pull cash out at a physical ATM after the money posts but before the check clears
- Enjoy?
The “glitch” part of this viral sensation — which reportedly originated on TikTok — appears to be rooted in that second bullet point.
Normally, banks have safeholds in place to avoid this exact and similar situations (i.e. if a check were to bounce after depositing it), but this glitch appears to have overrode that safehold for Chase, at least for a moment.
The glitch largely appears to have gone viral at the end of August, going right into Labor Day weekend.
Should people who participated be charged with check fraud?
Accompanying videos of people exploiting this glitch swiftly went viral, as well, for obvious reasons. After all, who wouldn’t want some “free” cash?
Just one problem: This isn’t Grand Theft Auto, and when you effectively rob from a bank, they will actually come after you.
So there is a Chase bank money glitch right now where it approves people for high loans and deposits it in their account.
Some have been successful but some are going into massive debt after they withdraw the funds. pic.twitter.com/lG1JlP2oUi
— TrVon 🟢 (@TrVon) August 31, 2024
Yesterday, a glitch in Chase Bank’s system allowed people to withdraw funds they weren’t entitled to, prompting the bank to place 7-day holds on the affected accounts.
As a consequence, chase account holders who participated in this glitch are now dealing with massive negative… pic.twitter.com/T0M1FULvoW
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) September 1, 2024
Unsurprisingly, Chase was less than thrilled with the viral “glitch,” as noted by People magazine.
In a statement provided to People, the Post and other outlets, a Chase representative said, “We are aware of this incident, and it has been addressed.”
The rep added, “Regardless of what you see online, depositing a fraudulent check and withdrawing the funds from your account is fraud, plain and simple.”
Further adding to this nightmarish scenario, some social media users who claimed to have engaged in the stunt showed images of their Chase bank account tens of thousands of dollars in the red.
(People magazine did note that the Chase rep did not comment on the extent of the apparent fraud.)
Anyone who did partake in this stunt and ended up with a large negative balance won’t find much sympathy online.
It seems like for every type of fraud that exists there’s a TikTok influencer who just discovered it and thinks it’s foolproof
— Austen Allred (@Austen) September 1, 2024
This is called kiting. It’s a felony. It’s what catch me if you can was about. This is like a bougie version of tide pods.
— Zach Ware (@zachware) September 1, 2024
Good luck with the felony fraud charges to all who participated!
— LITizen Jeff 🇺🇲🚜👨👩👧👦🥋 (@LITizenJeff) September 1, 2024
It is worth noting that some on social media were dubious of the people claiming to be tens of thousands of dollars in debt.
I’m supposed to believe that person was able to withdraw $31,000 in cash from an atm?
— UnseriousDude (@UnseriousDude_) September 1, 2024
“I’m supposed to believe that person was able to withdraw $31,000 in cash from an atm?” asked one social media skeptic.
One possible explanation: The fraudulent check deposited may have been in the sum of $31,000, but the scam participant may have only been able to draw $1,000 or whatever is their daily limit.
