MELBOURNE (Web Desk) – An Australian has shared the shocking story of how a Commonwealth banking app ‘glitch’ last year had left him $123 million richer.
Matthew Pearce, 30, said he awoke in November last year to find his phone telling him that his small personal bank balance had somehow risen overnight to the considerable sum of $123,456,789.01.
A screen capture of the app appears to confirm the claim.
Mr Pearce, who works as a glazier in Melbourne, said the sum was dramatically larger than the greatest saving he had mad, adding that the extra millions were available for withdrawal from his account.
“It [the app] actually gave me the option to transfer the money and BPAY it, I could actively transfer money into someone else’s account,” he told 9news.com.au
“I was pretty shocked about it. I actually thought they’d actually paid me the money thinking I was someone else.”
Upon further investigation, Mr Pearce realised the figure was a glitch, owing to the fact the sum read as a series of numbers in numerical order.
He said he contacted Commonwealth Bank to notify them about the overdraft, and claims a banking representative laughed at his account, telling him, ‘Oh, that’s great’.”
Mr Pearce claims “nothing was done about” the issue, until about two weeks later, when he received a call from a bank representative claimed it had been a “glitch in the system and it can happen sometimes”.
Mr Pearce said his previous account balance has since been restored.
A Commonwealth Bank spokesperson has told 9news.com.au Mr Pearce’s claims are being investigated.
“We’re investigating how this could have occurred but I can confirm our CommBank app and NetBank are working as normal,” they said.
Mr Pearce said he was inspired to come forward in the wake of recent news over a Sydney student who went on a $4.6 million spending spree after a banking error left her with an unlimited overdraft.
Christine Jiaxin Lee, 21, was arrested earlier this month while trying to board a flight to Malaysia, following allegations she spent $4.6 million of the overdraft on retail purchases of handbags and designer goods, and deposited $1.3 million into a number of secret accounts.
Ms Lee has been charged with dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception and knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime. She was released on bail on May 6.
