He took advantage of an ATM malfunction and spent two million shekels in four months
Dan Saunders was working as a bartender in Melbourne, until one night he discovered an ATM glitch that allowed him to withdraw unlimited money.
He chartered private flights and spent a fortune until his conscience tormented him and he turned himself in to the police.
Today he returned to his job and his story became a movie
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09/21/2022
Wednesday, September 21, 2022, 11:25 p.m
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An ATM distributed money to passers-by (Editor: Yair Daniel)
An Australian bartender lived the dream and became an instant millionaire after he found an ATM glitch that allowed him to withdraw over one million Australian dollars (about 2,300,000 NIS) effortlessly. Dan Sunder, whose amazing story is now being made into a movie, spent the fortune on private jets and luxury restaurants after discovered a trick that gave him access to an unlimited amount of cash.
Dan's life took a sharp turn in 2011 when, after a routine outing in Melbourne with friends, he went to an ATM by the bar to withdraw money. He noticed that the machine he was trying to withdraw money from was behaving strangely , does not show him his real account and allows him to withdraw funds beyond his limit.
Watch his story
"I transferred $200 from my savings account and got a message that 'the transaction was canceled,'" he explained, "I thought it was really weird, so I decided to try withdrawing $200 from my savings to see what would happen. It worked."
After a few drinks, Dan decided to go back to the same ATM.
"I inserted my credit card again and started playing with the machine. I transferred another $200 and got the money. After that $500 and after that $600, just to see what would happen."
It turns out that Dan did encounter a problem with the machine, which was not connected to the bank and generally to the Internet every night between 1 and 3. He quickly realized this and took advantage of the situation to withdraw money.
"On the first day I spent $2,000 and on the second day I transferred $4,000 to the account to make sure I didn't go into the red," he explained, "I made the transfer at night and the following night again. I hung up on the machine."
He understood the method - the transfer at night goes through, then reverses one day later.
But if you preempt that reversal by making another transfer, "you could trick the system into thinking you have millions."
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That's exactly what Dan did and he didn't use his trick to save the money, instead he immediately began living a life of luxury and for four months lived and thought like a millionaire.
He partied non-stop and traveled around the world.
He chartered private jets, paid off their student loans for his friends and even donated money to the homeless so they would have a place to sleep at night.
Dan lived like a rock star and bought what he wanted.
The bank would occasionally call to verify that certain transactions had indeed been carried out by him, but they never mentioned the glitch or questioned the amounts of money he had - and no one seemed to notice.
Asked to summarize the period, he said: "If you have enough imagination and money, you can help people live their wildest dreams. It's very fun and addicting, especially when the money comes literally out of nowhere. People who think you have money treat you differently. If a guy understands that you have a lot of money, he will suddenly share with you the idea of making even more money. And with the opposite sex - it attracts women even more. For example, I remember going to the bank to withdraw some money and the lady behind the counter saw my balance and her whole attitude just changed. She suddenly I was amazed by this guy who has millions of dollars in his bank account. This is how it is to be rich. People change their thinking about you and change their behavior towards you."
And sometimes the celebration is over
But Dan was not a rogue by nature and was overcome with anxiety and nightmares about being caught.
""I had a dream last night that the SWAT team was outside the hotel room where I was staying.
I remember waking up in a puddle of sweat, and realizing it was just a dream.
" "It wasn't long before I asked myself: Who are you?
You have reached your limit but in the end - who are you?
What are your positions?
Are you Dan from Australia or are you that guy in the movies who is just going to disappear one day with the millions and then what happens?
I didn't want to leave my family without any trace or anything like that," he said
In the end, he informed the bank about the problem he encountered.
They explained to him that he was in serious trouble and that the police would contact him - but he did not hear from them for two years.
"I never contacted the police. I simply stopped making the transfers and contacted the bank in June and July 2011. They told me: "This is a police matter now and we cannot talk to you.
They'll turn to you, you're in trouble" - and that's it. All I was going to say was that I had $80,000 in a Hilton laundry bag and they were welcome to take it. I haven't heard anything since then for two years. It was always on my mind so I couldn't really move on with my life. I mean who Taking money like that and then doing nothing to it?"
After being forced to go to a psychiatrist because of the feelings of guilt that consumed him, Dan decided to turn himself in to the police - not before he was interviewed by three newspapers and a TV show and told his story.
He was tried and sent in 2015 to 12 months in prison for theft and fraud.
The fact that he eventually "did the right thing" and turned himself in to the police paid off for him, and he returned to his job as a bartender.
Today, he is writing his life story, which will also be adapted into a film.
When asked by the VICE network what his moral of the story was, he said: "I learned that when faced with temptation it is very easy to lose your true self, but I am slowly returning to my natural state.
I felt like Macaulay Culkin after "Forget Me Home 2" - one minute you're hot, then you're not and it's a little hard to digest.
There was definitely a hangover time when I thought to myself - oh man, maybe I should have taken the money and gone to Spain after all."
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