The Chase Bank logo above an ATM, photographed in Manhattan.
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Chase Bank Urges its customers not to commit check fraud.
Over the weekend, TikTok and large sums of cash before the check bounces.
The only problem? This wasn’t a “glitch” – it was a check fraud scheme, and once the check bounced, those involved were responsible for any funds they withdrew.
While some on TikTok called the scheme a “glitch,” Chase reminded its customers that the “glitch” was actually an invitation to commit fraud.
“We are aware of this incident and have resolved it,” a Chase spokesperson said in a statement to NBC News. “Regardless of what you may have seen online, fraudulent checks deposited and funds withdrawn from your account are Fraud, plain and simple.”
NBC News has not confirmed if anyone actually committed the crime featured in the viral trend. However, others were quick to point out their actions as criminal after videos online allegedly showed people successfully withdrawing cash from ATMs after depositing a fraudulent check into their bank account.
While talk of the “glitch” has taken TikTok by storm, it seems the first mention of it was in XOn Thursday, one user shared that he had an excess balance of more than $80,000 in his account, according to the meme repository. Know your memes.
A video appears to show Lines formed outside Chase branches In New York, people flock to banks to “get free money.” However, as the trend took off, people were quick to post screenshots of the following Large negative balance and hold These appeared on their Chase accounts as a result of alleged attempts to withdraw funds.
“I don’t know what these people think writing bad checks is, but I don’t know why they think it’s a glitch,” one Douyin users said. “Absolutely don’t do this.”
Fake check deposits are a common form of check fraud and aren’t new, although this weekend’s chaos left many people discovering the tactic online for the first time and mistaking it for money hacking.
Large checks deposited digitally are often put on hold while banks review their authenticity, but some ATMs allow customers to withdraw some of their newly deposited funds immediately. This allows users to quickly withdraw funds before the check clears or bounces.
Fraudsters typically accomplish this by opening a bank account using a false identity, creating and depositing fake checks from a legitimate-looking source, and then abandoning the account and leaving a negative balance.
Another common ploy is for scammers to pretend to send a check for a higher amount than expected in the hope that the recipient will be willing to deposit the check and transfer the excess money, which ultimately leaves the victim without their funds after the scam.
But in this case, people online appear to be committing check fraud only on themselves — making it relatively easy for banks to detect and hold them accountable.
In the days after the Chase “glitch” gained traction, other TikTok users began dunking on those who had tried it, some of whom joke when waking up huge negative balance and others Warn user They have no chance of outsmarting the multinational banking institutions.
“Chase outage? No, it’s called fraud,” one TikTok user said in a video It received over 1 million likes in one day. “You went to the bank and took $50,000 that wasn’t yours. That’s not life hacking, that’s robbery. You’re going to jail. Literally jail.”