(CNN) – For four days, Darren James and his family were millionaires.
Last Saturday, Louisiana’s Baden Rouge, a real estate agent, and his wife were doing a routine review of their finances when they noticed $ 50 billion had been wrongly deposited in their Chase bank account.
“It’s not like a zero error or two zero error, it’s someone sleeping on the keyboard,” James joked. “I was excited. I was really surprised how he got there, wondering if he has a rich uncle.
But to his disappointment it was not a hereditary, incredibly unusual mistake.
Chase Bank recovered the family account to the correct balance on Tuesday, James said.
“We are still trying to find out what happened, why it happened, how it happened, but we know it’s not just us who it happened to,” he told CNN. “I’m worried if my account is compromised and the bank does not call me. We did not ask anyone.
Chase Bank admitted the error to CNN, but gave a different deadline when it would be fixed.
“A few weeks ago we had a technical problem that affected a certain number of accounts. A day later this issue was resolved and all accounts show accurate balances,” Chase Bank spokeswoman Amy Ponidatibus told CNN.
Individuals who spend money incorrectly deposited in their bank accounts may be charged with refund, payment, and offense. In 2019, a Pennsylvania couple faced a heinous theft offense after their bank accidentally deposited $ 120,000 in their account, police said, adding that the couple spent most of it instead of contacting the bank.
But James said he never considered spending money.
“My moral compass only goes in one direction, that’s the right way,” he said. There is a big difference between morality and legitimacy. Honesty and good morals came into effect immediately, and money can do nothing for us. I didn’t earn it, the cost was not ours.
However, he joked, “If it wasn’t for a rich uncle or one of those emails, I promised to give him $ 50 billion from a prince in Saudi Arabia. That’s a different story.”
James said if the family had been able to keep the money, they would have tried to “bless” others in need.