DUBLIN. – For a few hours, Bank of Ireland clients were able to withdraw money they did not have from Irish ATMs. Police were deployed after the news spread through social media.
An IT glitch allowed Bank of Ireland customers to overdraw cash from ATMs, but the issue has since been fixed, bank officials said yesterday.
According to Irish media, the bank’s clients were able to take out up to €1,000 (US$1,009) over their account balance on Tuesday. Social media users spread news of the glitch, leading to long lines at ATMs across the country.
A man waiting in line in Dublin told the Irish Times newspaper that he heard about the issue online.
“I don’t know if I’ll get away with it, but it’s worth a shot,”
he said.
The glitch apparently affected ATMs, the bank’s online portal and its digital app. Even customers with no money and a low account balance were able to transfer up to €1 000 into a linked account on banking apps such as Revolut, and then use their Revolut cards to withdraw the money.
Bank urges clients in ‘financial difficulty’ to contact them
Police officers were deployed in some parts of the country to maintain order, although a police spokesman said the deployments were decided on a “case-to-case basis.” In turn, the bank said it had contacted authorities but did not request that police be stationed at its ATMs.
dw.com via The Herald
