There is no such thing as free money, and people who tried the latest viral trend on the social media platform TikTok are learning that lesson the hard way.
People were reportedly going to Chase ATMs, depositing checks and immediately withdrawing the cash.
The checks were fake, however, meaning those who participated in the trend obtained the cash through obvious fraud.
They recorded themselves committing a crime and posted it online for the world to see.
“It’s just an awful thing,” said Harrine Freeman, who heads the financial consulting firm H.E. Freeman Enterprises in D.C. “It’s not free money, and ignorance is not an excuse for breaking the law.”
People may have believed they looked cool on video, showing off massive stacks of cash, waving it around and throwing it up in the air. But now they are subject to serious penalties.
“You have state laws and you have federal laws, so the consequences of bank fraud are huge,” Freeman said. “It may seem like you’re getting away with it at the time, but it all comes back around.”
In some cases, people who got roped into the trend now have negative account balances in the tens of thousands of dollars.
Those who took part in the trend face fines and possible criminal charges, not to mention what it can do to their credit score for the foreseeable future.
As a result, banks may also ban them from doing any business with them whatsoever.
“I would encourage the social media platforms to ban these types of videos, and I would encourage people to take a financial literacy education course,” said Freeman. “It’s a very unfortunate situation.”
Justin Page, a spokesman for Chase Bank, sent a statement to WTOP, saying, “Regardless of what you see online, depositing a fraudulent check and withdrawing the funds from your account is fraud, plain and simple.”
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