Man goes to withdraw his $1,700 stimulus money, gets a receipt for $8.2 million
(CNN) — When Charles Calvin went to the ATM last Saturday, he was just going to take out some money for his rent.
The New Chicago, Indiana, volunteer firefighter had received an alert on his phone that $1,700 had been direct deposited into his account as part of the federal stimulus package.
The 45-year-old inserted his MetaBank card in the ATM and made a withdrawal for the maximum amount of $200. When he pulled out the receipt, he saw his account balance had a number with a lot of zeros behind it.
Available balance: $8,200,000.00.
“What in the world is going on, man? That doesn’t seem right,” Calvin told CNN.
He needed $800 for his rent payment anyway, so he made a few more withdrawals.
“It did it again,” he said. “$8.2 million.”
Figuring something was wrong with the ATM machine, he asked a worker at the Family Express gas station if they had received any complaints about it. No, she said. Why?
He showed her the receipt. She looked at the receipt, and she looked at Calvin, and then looked back at the receipt.
“Are you a millionaire?” she asked him.
“I said, ‘Lady, if I was a millionaire, do you think I would be here at the Family Express gas station getting $200 out for my rent?’” he said.
Calvin contacted a friend who is a police sergeant, and who advised him not to spend any of the money but to contact his bank on Monday.
The MetaBank teller he spoke to said that the records only showed the IRS deposit for $1,700, saying it was probably a flaw in the ATM system.
He asked the teller for his balance on the account. It was $13.69.
“That sounds more like my bank account,” Calvin said. “$8.2 million does not sound like my bank account. I wish it was my account!”
A MetaBank spokesperson told CNN in a statement that the customer received an inaccurate ATM receipt from an out-of-network ATM: “The amount shown on the ATM receipt did not accurately reflect what was in the account. We feel for the customer, but are glad he got his stimulus deposit and hope it helps in this difficult time.”
Calvin said his account is currently overdrawn because he’s had to pay his bills and buy food.
“I’m used to being broke so, just like everybody else. Everybody’s going through a hard time right now,” he said. “So you know, we’re just having to deal with this COVID-19 situation. We’re just all trying to do the best we can.”
CNN has contacted the IRS for comment but has not heard back.