JPMorgan Chase has begun filing lawsuits against customers who took advantage of an 鈥渋nfinite money glitch鈥� this summer 鈥� a technical issue with the bank鈥檚 ATMs that allowed people to deposit bogus checks and withdraw the money from their accounts.
The trend shot across social media with TikTok users broadcasting how to deposit the fraudulent checks and walk away with huge sums of cash.
The bank, which is the largest U.S. financial institution, has so far filed four suits 鈥� two against individuals and two against businesses. These have been in Los Angeles, Houston and Miami.
鈥淔raud is a crime that impacts everyone and undermines trust in the banking system,鈥� Chase spokesperson Drew Pusateri said in a statement. 鈥淲e鈥檙e pursuing these cases and actively cooperating with law enforcement to make sure if someone is committing fraud against Chase and its customers, they鈥檙e held accountable.鈥�
In the largest of the four suits filed so far, in the Southern District of Texas, JPMorgan wrote that a "masked man" deposited a fraudulent $335,000 check into a defendant's bank account at an ATM.
The man allegedly then withdrew most of the cash before the bank had realized it was counterfeit. The bank said it is owed back a sum of $290,939.47.
鈥淐hase prides itself on its efforts to protect its customers against fraudsters, particularly in an environment where bank and wire fraud are increasingly more commonplace,鈥� the bank said in its filing.
鈥淲hile fraud methods have evolved over time, the core intent to exploit and deceive remains unchanged,鈥� it said.
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