A PAYPAL customer was left stunned after becoming an overnight quadrillionaire, but he lost every cent in just two minutes.
Chris Reynolds said $92,233,720,368,547,800 was accidentally deposited into his account after an error in 2013.
Chris ReynoldsChris Reynolds opened his account to find he’d become an overnight quadrillionaire[/caption]
Chris ReynoldsReynolds said $92,233,720,368,547,800 was accidentally deposited into his PayPal[/caption]
But he lost the money in minutes as the mix up was quickly reversed.
The dad-of-three, from Delaware County, Pennsylvania, did not spend the cash he was sent but did make sure Paypal sent some money to a charity of his choice as a result.
The 17 figure bank balance was a result of an error, the company said.
Paypal said in a statement at the time: “This is obviously an error and we appreciate that Mr Reynolds understood this was the case.”
The company added: “We think it’s inspiring that he decided to use this occurrence to donate to a cause he believes in.
“And we hope to honor this spirit by donating to a cause of his choice—we’ve reached out to him to make this offer and to let him know we are grateful that he’s a customer!”
Reynolds – a regular Paypal user buying and selling vintage car parts – had been expected to see $100 in his account.
But the mix-up made him the richest man in the world – albeit briefly.
He told The Philadelphia Daily News: “I’m just feeling like a million bucks.
“At first, I thought that I owed quadrillions. It was quite a big surprise.”
“It’s a curious thing,” he added, “I don’t know, maybe someone was having fun.”
The Sun also reported on a couple who splurged cash on cars, quad bikes and friends after $120,000 was paid into their account by mistake.
Robert and Tiffany Williams, from Pennsylvania, went on a two-week spending spree after noticing the accidental transfer.
Rather than notifying the bank, they bought an SUV, two quad bikes, a camper, a race car and even dished out $15,000 (£13k) to pals.
By the time the blunder was spotted three weeks later, the pair had already spent around $107,000 (£87k).
Staff from the BB&T bank contacted Tiffany – but she reportedly told them she had used the money to pay off bills.
She said they would work out a repayment plan, but stopped communicating after two phone calls – prompting the bank to call the police.
Before the cash was accidentally sent to them instead of investment firm Dimension Covington Investment, they had just $1,121 (£1,044) in their account
The money was deposited on May 31 2019, and was withdrawn by June 20.
When investigators spoke to the pair in July, both “admitted to knowing the mislaid money did not belong to them, but they spent it anyway”, according to state trooper Aaron Brown.
This came after a mum was stunned to find £6million in her bank account before splashing out on a luxury home and helping out her family.
Thevamanogari Manivel was due to receive a £60 refund from cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com, which uses actor Matt Damon in its advertising.
But the company accidentally entered an account number in the field that was meant to be the cash amount.
Ms Manivel, from Melbourne, Australia then spent a large chunk on a plush house and shipped the rest off to other accounts.
She had splashed out £800,000 on a five-bedroom, four-bathroom house as a “gift” for her sister, Thilagavathy Gangadory.
The rest of the wrongful payment was then dished out between six other people, including her daughter and sister.