Commercial Bank of Ethiopia glitch lets customers withdraw over $40m
Remember those scams calling you to dial a code and get free money in your account? This dream of many students came true when a small tech glitch in the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia's fintech systems was discovered by some students. They realized they could now withdraw more money than they actually have in their accounts.
This news went viral in colleges and universities, resulting in a massive withdrawal by students nationwide, causing CBE to lose more than $40 million in withdraws or transfers to other banks.
The local media reported on this calling it a “systems glitch” that led the state-owned commercial bank to freeze transactions.
However, after hours of juggling with the codes and finding ways, the bank was able to freeze all transactions of account holders.
A student told BBC that people were withdrawing money by standing in long lines at campus ATMs until police officers arrived at the campus to stop people from withdrawing more than they had in their accounts.
A whopping $40 million has been already withdrawn by people who merely have any balance in their accounts as the majority of them were students, it is a massive loss for the CBE (Commercial Bank of Ethiopia).
In Short:
- A tech glitch in an Ethiopian bank (CBE) allowed students to withdraw more money than they had in their accounts.
- This news spread quickly among students, leading to a massive withdrawal of funds, totaling over $40 million.
- The bank eventually froze transactions to stop further losses.
- Police were called in to control the situation at ATMs on campuses.
Students used social media apps and phone calls to spread this news so their friends and loved ones could also withdraw the money even if they had 0 balance in their accounts that crossed the $40m mark over a few hours.
