The Chase ‘glitch’ boomers could have told you was just check fraud

Trends come and go, but people remain the same. Just like in fashion, trends always come back again. Even the trend of check fraud. A so-called “glitch” started going viral on TikTok, the app where everyone believes information at face value. Content creators started to circulate a supposed life hack to get Chase customers free money.

These TikTokkers encouraged customers to write themselves a check, deposit it at Chase, and then withdraw a partial sum of the original amount before the bank had time to realize there were no funds. The result, as we all could have predicted, was these customers finding that they were negative thousands of dollars. Though they were able to take out cash money, Chase quickly became hip to the scam and recouped their losses in the accounts that participated. As it turns out, crime does not pay.

Chase customers are being held responsible for their fraudulent activity

Customers have become so accustomed to technology glitches in this modern age that they do not understand that fraud on any level is illegal. Those of older generations can remember a time when it was common to hear about people writing bad checks. As depicted in Steven Spielberg‘s Catch Me If You Can, check fraud was so prevalent that Frank Abagnale Jr. (Leonardo DiCaprio) made a career out of check fraud. Even though the times have changed, financial institutions have not changed their policies. A spokesperson for Chase told the Wall Street Journal that they were aware of the trend, and that there will be consequences.

“As with any fraud-related issue, we review internally and refer to law enforcement as appropriate. Regardless of what you see online, depositing a fraudulent check and withdrawing the funds from your account is fraud, plain and simple.”

Some of these consequences include Chase freezing the accounts of its customers for the prosecutable offense. But TikTok wasn’t just flooded with customers trying to get free money. Other content creators were also quick to point out the shortsightedness of this trend. @theluncheonlawyer posted a response on the social media platform, noting the inherent flaws in these fraudsters’ plans.

“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.”

This content creator also noted that it won’t take much for Chase to catch up with the perpetrators. With information such as social security numbers, home addresses, and ATM pictures, justice will be swift. And that they can take to the bank. But probably not, because they’ll be in prison.