A Louisiana family became billionaires for four days after their bank accidentally deposited $50 billion into their account, Fox affiliate KTTV reported Monday.
Darren James of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, told Fox that his wife showed him a $50 billion deposit from Chase after coming home from work June 12.
“All we were thinking was who’s going to be knocking on our door … because we don’t know anybody with that type of money to begin with,” James said to Fox.
After pondering the implausible idea that the source could have been an unknown rich uncle, James decided to contact Chase, Fox reported. (RELATED: ‘They Took Everything’: Bank Denies Help After Thieves Withdraw $23,000 From Man’s Account)
“We knew it wasn’t ours,” James said to Fox. “We didn’t earn it, so we couldn’t do anything with it.”
James quickly determined that keeping the money would be considered theft, citing his experience as a law enforcement officer for the Louisiana Department of Public Safety, Fox reported.
Chase eventually removed the $50 billion from the account four days after the deposit, according to the outlet.
“We had a technical glitch over a week ago impacting a limited number of accounts,” a Chase spokesperson said to Fox. “The issue has been resolved and those accounts are now showing accurate balances.”
While the $50 billion did not last long, James still found the experience interesting.
“It was a great feeling while it was there to see that many zeroes in your account,” he told Fox. “It was pretty neat to see what it looked like.”
Other Chase accountholders have reported large balance fluctuations, with users on social media claiming that their accounts displayed a balance of negative $50 billion, according to The Sun.