The Chase bank logo above ATMs, taken in Manhattan.
Michael Kappeler | Picture Alliance | Getty Images
Chase Bank is urging its customers not to commit check fraud.
The bank’s plea comes after this weekend a viral trend took over TikTok and X, with users being told that there was a systemwide glitch and that, if they deposited false checks in an ATM and withdrew that money soon afterward, they would be able to cheat the system and take out a large sum of cash before the check bounced.
The only problem? This is not a “glitch” — it’s a check fraud scheme and those who participate will be on the hook for all the money they withdrew once the check bounces.
Although some on TikTok called the scheme a “glitch,” Chase reminded its customers that this “glitch” is actually an invitation to commit fraud.
“We are aware of this incident, and it has been addressed,” a spokesperson for Chase said in a statement to NBC News. “Regardless of 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 if anyone actually committed the crime as part of the viral trend. However, videos online purported to show people successfully withdrawing cash 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 conversation about the “glitch” has taken over TikTok, it appears the first mention of it was on Xwhen a user shared an excessive balance of more than $80,000 in his account on Thursday, according to meme database Know Your Meme.
One video appeared to show lines forming outside of a Chase branch in New York suggesting people were flocking to the bank to “get free money.” Just as quickly as the trend took off, however, people were soon posting screenshots of massive negative balances and holds on their Chase accounts as a result of allegedly trying to withdraw the money.
“I don’t know what these people think writing bad checks is, but I don’t know why they thought this was a glitch,” one TikTok user said. “Definitely don’t do it.”
Fake check deposits are a common form of check fraud and are not new, although the chaos of this weekend saw many online discover the tactic for the first time — and mistaking it for a money hack.
Large checks deposited digitally are often placed on hold while the bank reviews their authenticity, but some ATMs allow customers to access a portion of the newly deposited funds immediately. This allows users to quickly withdraw the money before their check clears or bounces.
Fraudsters often approach this by opening bank accounts with fake identities, creating and depositing counterfeit checks from seemingly legitimate sources, then abandoning the account and leaving it with a negative balance.
Another common trick involves a scammer pretending that they sent a check for a greater amount than they meant to, hoping that the recipient is willing to deposit the check and transfer the excess money, which would ultimately leave the victim out of their own funds after the check bounces.
But in this case, people online seem to be simply committing check fraud against themselves — making it relatively easy for a bank to catch on and hold them accountable.
In the days after the Chase “glitch” gained traction, other TikTokers began dunking on those who had tried it, with some joking about waking up with enormous negative balances and others warning users that they had no chance of outsmarting the multinational banking institution.
“Chase Bank glitch? No, that’s called fraud,” one TikTok user said in a video that accrued more than 1 million likes in one day. “You went to the bank and took $50,000 that didn’t belong to you. That’s not a life hack, that’s called robbery. You’re going to jail. Prison actually.”
