Dozens of people lined up for a chance to withdraw from a faulty ATM in Scotland this weekend after the cash machine started spitting out double the requested bills, the BBC reports.
People were alerted to the fortuitous banking problem via social media after a picture of the queue was posted on Twitter.
Strathclyde Police said they were alerted to the incident at the Bank of Scotland in Rutherglen around Saturday at lunchtime, according to the BBC.
The run on the ATM was halted quickly, however, after officers were sent to stand guard over the machine until it could be shut off, according to Belle News. (The incident is similar to what happened in July, when a Lloyds cash machine in Ipswich also began issuing twice the requested amount.)
The Daily Mail obtained a statement from the bank that said, "We can confirm that, for a very short period of time, the ATM in Burnside, Glasgow, was mis-dispensing cash. It will be difficult to trace all payments, as they won’t all be our customers, so it’s unlikely that we will take action. We [apologize] for any inconvenience caused."
While it seems like many of these customers will get away with the money, according to the law, any cash erroneously dispensed is ill-gotten gains and therefore tantamount to stealing, Yahoo! reports.
Detroit retiree Ronald Page found out the hard way that bank error does not mean immunity from prosecution. In 2009, the retired General Motors worker was able to withdraw unlimited amounts of cash from ATMs at casinos in the Detroit area. He ultimately withdrew close to $1.5 million in cash.
Page was indicted on stealing bank funds in 2009, and prosecutors recommended a 15-month sentence, according to Local 10 news station.
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