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ATM $37,000: Homeless Man Scores Big Payout

Sounds like the universe was giving a guy a break — Or NOT — when a homeless man tried to withdraw $140 from an ATM Thursday. Instead, the man finished his business at the machine $37,000 richer. ...
ATM $37,000: Homeless Man Scores Big Payout
Written by Pam Wright
  • Sounds like the universe was giving a guy a break — Or NOT — when a homeless man tried to withdraw $140 from an ATM Thursday.

    Instead, the man finished his business at the machine $37,000 richer.

    It took some time for all that money to eject from the machine. So long that a woman called police to come to the TD Bank Branch in South Portland, Maine. She told police the man if front of her was taking far too long at the ATM.

    According to a police statement, officers found the man stuffing cash into a shopping bag.

    (Pause for a moment of laughter)

    Lt. Todd Bernard of the South Portland Police Department told the Bangor Daily News the unidentified man tried to repeatedly request $700 using the “cash advance” feature on the machine.

    He only had $100 in his account.

    The ATM honored his request an estimated 53 times before police arrived and intervened.

    Generally, the cash advance option only works on an ATM for people who have a pre-approved line of credit with a bank — the homeless man didn’t. However, according to a bank official, a “code error” allowed the transactions to proceed.

    “It is illegal. He is taking money that doesn’t belong to him, and the bank at this point has elected not to prosecute, although the case is still under investigation,” Bernard said. “That ATM has been taken out of service and is being checked out to determine why it malfunctioned.”

    The money was returned to the bank and bank officials say they don’t want to press charges. But police don’t seem to be as forgiving as they continue to investigate the incident.

    I wonder if he got his $100?

    Image via YouTube

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