A recent TikTok scam has led to an astonishing $17 million being withdrawn from ATMs in New York City within a mere three-day span.
According to a report from the New York Times, this surge in withdrawals was made possible by a flaw in the cards issued for a youth employment program, which distributed roughly 30,000 cards to individuals aged 14 to 24 who were not eligible for direct deposit payments.
Originally intended solely to allow users to access their weekly wages, the cards enabled cardholders to withdraw staggering amounts—up to $40,000 per ATM in $200 increments—from July 11 to July 13. The glitch gained traction on TikTok and Instagram, prompting some users to sell their cards for as much as $1,000 each. As the situation escalated, a total of $17 million was extracted throughout the city before the cards were subsequently disabled.