Chase Bank urges customers not to commit check fraud.
The bank’s call comes after a viral trend took over TikTok and X over the weekend, with users being told there was a system-wide glitch and that if they deposited fake checks into an ATM and withdrew the money shortly after, they could trick the system and withdraw a large sum of money before the check bounced.
The only problem? This isn’t a “bug”: it’s check fraud, and those who participate will have to pay back all the money they withdrew once the check bounces.
Although some on TikTok have called the scheme a “glitch,” Chase reminded customers that the “glitch” is actually an invitation to commit fraud.
“We are aware of this incident and have addressed the issue,” a Chase spokesperson said in a statement to NBC News. “No matter what you see online, depositing a fraudulent check and withdrawing the funds from your account is fraud, plain and simple.”
NBC News has not verified whether anyone has actually committed this crime as part of the viral trend. However, videos online have purported to show people successfully withdrawing money from an ATM after depositing a fraudulent check into their own bank account — before others quickly pointed out that what they were doing was a crime.
While conversations about the “problem” have taken over TikTok, it appears the first mention of it was on X, when a user shared an excessive balance of more than $80,000 in their account on Thursday, according to meme database Know Your Meme.
A video shows lines forming outside a Chase branch in New York, suggesting that people were rushing to the bank to “get free money.” But once the trend took off, people were quick to post screenshots of massive negative balances and freezes on their Chase accounts following alleged attempts to withdraw money.
“I don’t know what these people think about bouncing checks, but I also don’t know why they thought it was a technical glitch,” one TikTok user said. “Please don’t do it.”
Fake check deposits are a common form of check fraud and are nothing new, although this weekend’s chaos saw many internet users discover the tactic for the first time – and mistake it for a money hack.
Large checks deposited digitally are often placed on hold while the bank verifies their authenticity, but some ATMs allow customers to immediately access a portion of the newly deposited funds. This allows users to quickly withdraw the money before their check is cashed or bounced.
Fraudsters often do this by opening bank accounts with false identities, creating and depositing fake checks from seemingly legitimate sources, then abandoning the account and leaving it with a negative balance.
Another common trick is for a scammer to pretend to have sent a check for a larger amount than expected, hoping that the recipient is willing to deposit the check and wire the excess money, which would ultimately leave the victim without their own funds after the check bounces.
But in this case, the Internet users appear to be simply committing check fraud against them, making it relatively easy for a bank to detect them and hold them accountable.
In the days since the Chase “glitch” emerged, other TikTokers have begun to lash out at those who tried it, with some joking about waking up with huge negative balances and others warning users that they have no chance of outsmarting the multinational banking institution.
“Chase Bank problem? No, that’s called fraud,” one TikTok user said in a video that racked up over a million likes in a day. “You went to the bank and took $50,000 that didn’t belong to you. That’s not a trick, that’s robbery. You’re going to jail. Jail, actually.”
nbcnews
