JPMorgan Chase began suing more customers this week, alleging that they stole money from the bank by taking advantage of an “infinite money glitch” popularized on TikTok. The bank claimed that the trend was nothing more than check fraud.
The “infinite money glitch” began last summer on TikTok when Chase banking customers noticed that they could deposit a check at Chase ATMs for a large sum of money and withdraw the funds before the check bounced. An August post about the scam on X was viewed over 7.5 million times. The trend eventually snowballed into lines forming at Chase banks in New York as people tried to cash in on fraudulent checks.
JPMorgan fixed the error within a few days, locking accounts and giving negative balances to customers who participated in the trend. In October, the bank began suing customers who withdrew the highest amounts, ranging from $80,000 to $300,000, in federal court. Now, the bank is going after customers who allegedly withdrew below $75,000 in state courts, per CNBC.
In a lawsuit filed on Tuesday in Gwinnett County, Georgia, Chase accused a customer of depositing a $73,000 check into their bank account and withdrawing funds before the check bounced six days later.
According to the lawsuit, the customer owes Chase $57,847.69 and has not yet returned the money.
Related: Chase Bank Viral ‘Glitch’ Is Just Plain Old Bank Fraud, Company Says
Chase has filed similar lawsuits against customers in Miami, Florida; The Bronx, New York; and two counties in Texas, per CNBC. Since October, Chase has sent letters to more than 1,000 customers demanding payment for the funds they withdrew as part of the “infinite money glitch” trend.
According to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, check fraud has increased by 385% since the pandemic.
TikTok has seen other, less fraudulent personal finance trends. In June, TikTok was the center of the “pay off my debt” trend, in which users watched each other’s videos and gave each other views to help generate money through the platform to pay off debt.
Related: JPMorgan Is Suing Customers Over ‘Infinite Money Glitch’ TikTok Trend