What started as an ordinary trip to the ATM has turned into a legal nightmare for one man — after a bizarre technical glitch caused the machine to spit out far more cash than he requested.
According to reports, the man visited a local bank’s ATM to withdraw a small amount of money. But as soon as he entered his PIN and confirmed the transaction, the machine went haywire — ejecting stack after stack of bills in rapid bursts. Security footage shows him standing in disbelief as the bills piled up around his feet.
“It was like something out of a movie,” said a witness who happened to walk by. “He didn’t even know what to do — he just froze.”
Initially, the man claimed he tried to contact the bank’s helpline but couldn’t reach anyone because it was late at night. Unsure what to do, he reportedly picked up some of the cash — money he insists he didn’t realize was a glitch at first — and went home.
The next morning, the story took a sharp turn. Bank officials noticed a massive discrepancy during their daily system check and traced it back to the ATM incident. When the man returned to the branch to clarify what happened, he was shocked to learn that the bank had already filed a theft complaint against him.
Now, he finds himself at the center of a heated debate: Was it theft — or just bad luck?
Legal experts are divided. Some argue that knowingly taking money that doesn’t belong to you — even due to a machine error — is considered theft under most laws. Others point out that this wasn’t a deliberate act, but rather a technical fault that any ordinary person might have mishandled in the confusion of the moment.
“Morally, it’s complicated,” one attorney commented. “But legally, it’s quite clear: banks see any unreturned money as stolen property.”
The man’s lawyer, however, insists that his client did not intend to steal and is being unfairly targeted for a system malfunction that wasn’t his fault. “He didn’t hack the ATM. He didn’t force it. The machine malfunctioned,” the lawyer said. “Instead of investigating the technical issue, the bank is punishing an innocent customer.”
The case has since gone viral online, sparking widespread discussion about corporate accountability versus human error. Many social media users sided with the man, arguing that banks should take responsibility for their machines instead of blaming customers.
“If the ATM glitched, that’s on the bank,” one commenter wrote. “They’d charge you for a $1 overdraft, but when it’s their mistake, they call the police.”
As the legal process unfolds, the man’s fate remains uncertain — but one thing is clear: a few unexpected seconds at an ATM have completely turned his life upside down.
Sometimes, easy money can come with the heaviest price tag of all.
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