HE COULD HAVE BEEN A CELEBRATED HERO BY REPORTING THE LOOPHOLE IN THE ATM. BUT NOPE, HE CHOOSES TO BE A CRIMINAL, STEALING MILLIONS OF DOLLARS VIA THE ATM. HE BECAME AN EMERGENCY MILLIONAIRE...
A country barman has experienced life as a millionaire after he discovered a 'loophole' in his bank's ATM system.
Dan
Saunders, from Wangaratta in north-eastern Victoria, lived the high
life for about four and a half months in February 2011, spending wildly
on expensive escorts, private jets, exclusive restaurants and
gambling.
The
29-year old-stumbled across a technical fault in the National
Australia Bank's ATM system which meant he had access to free money
whenever or wherever he wanted.
The country barman discovered a 'loophole' in his bank's ATM system one night when he went to get some money out while drinking with friends
One night he needed to withdraw cash from the ATM but he just had $3 in his savings account, so what he did was transfer $200 from his credit card, and despite the screen saying 'transaction cancelled' it worked
He took home his first $200 before embarking on a transaction spree
'I've never felt more alive than when I was charging on my credit card,' Mr Saunders told Australia's Current Affair.
'With the NAB card I could be anyone I wanted to be, go anywhere I wanted to go, do anything as long as I had the card in my back pocket. I felt like a king.'
'I felt like a rock star, probably looked like a fat, white Kanye West, but you felt like you were Kanye West,' he said.
In an exclusive interview with ACA, he divulged how it all unfolded one night out for beers with mates and how he quickly went on a wild spending spree, with money that was not his.
Mr Saunders had just moved to Wangaratta in country Victoria and one evening in February, 2011 he was out drinking with friends.
Like most people he needed to withdraw cash from the ATM, but when he tried, he realised he just had $3 in his savings account, so what he did was transfer $200 from his credit card.
'It said transaction cancelled but it worked,' he said.
$200 richer, Mr Saunders happily went back to the pub to continue drinking with his friends.
Dan Saunders (pictured) went on a wild spending spree on his discovery and told his new friends he was a poker player, sometimes a surgeon or an investment banker
From the humble life as a barman in Wangaratta, in country Victoria, Dan Saunders (pictured right) reached millionaire status and lived life to max from a technical fault in his banks ATM system
The barman who made a mere $700 a week couldn't believed his luck when he stumbled apon the technical fault in the banking system
But it wasn't until later that night that the barman, who earned a mere $700 a week, decided to try his luck again.
He tried to check his account balance at another ATM but it was just registering 'balance unavailable' so he again transferred $200 and it worked before he pushed his withdrawals out to $2000, the limit of his credit card and went home.
Because ATM are known to go offline at certain times, where people can transfer funds but not get a balance for their account, the money he was withdrawing was not registering.
He didn't stop there and within a couple of weeks, Saunders had transferred $20,000.
With his new found riches, rumours started to make their way around the small town and when he began punting heavily with a mate while at work one night at the pub, his luck turned.
'Turns out that we turned over more than the TAB would turn over in three weeks in one night so that alerted the TAB to the fact that we'd done that,' he told ACA.
'I told them it was friend taking the bets but they didn't want to take that on board and they got the publican to fire me as a result.'
To make matters worse, rumours made their way to his girlfriend, that he was spending money all over town and she then dumped him via text message.
Private Jets.... why not?! Dan Saunders (pictured) splurged on a number of expensive items when money started rolling in from the ATM
Within a couple of months of withdrawing money from the ATM, because of a 'loophole' he had already stolen from NAB about $1.6 million on his credit card
Mr Saunders (pictured) who talked exclusively to ACA said he 'felt like a king' after conning money out of NAB's banking system
But instead of wallowing in his losses, he decided to go back to Melbourne, get some advice from friends and kept his bank balance, rather healthy.
'On one hand you've lost your girlfriend, lost your job, but on the other hand, hey, you've got unlimited funds. Let's smash it up for a bit let's sort things out,' he said.
While he believed it was a luxury that would be short lived, Mr Saunders kept withdrawing more and more money every day and there his lifestyle as a country barman dramatically transformed into that of a millionaire.
He created many different alias' to new friends, including being a poker player, a surgeon and even an investment banker, living the dream of a high roller.
He then discovered another way to trick the ATM and double his money, transferring money from the ATM's 'credit' account option to his Mastercard, even though he only had one credit card.
Dan Saunders (pictured) conned NAB bank out of thousands, then evevtually reaching $1.6 million through an ATM flaw
At first he thought it was a mistake but tried his luck again and realised he could beat the system and withdraw as much money as possible whenever and wherever he wanted
In May that year, Saunders was believed to have already stolen $1.6 million of the banks money on his credit card.
But like anyone who is cheating the system, Saunders soon started felling guilty about his adventures and began to see a psychologist.
It was in June, four and a half months after making his costly discovery, that he stopped making continuous transfers.
He told ACA he then called the bank, who told him it was under police investigation and they wouldn't talk to him.
'It was never about the actual money it was just about the journey.'
Three and a half years later and Mr Saunders had still got off scot free for his dealing with ATM's, still blazay about funding his lavish lifestyle with money that wasn't his own.
'I've overdrawn my own accounts if that makes me a crook that makes me a crook,' he said.
It wasn't until just last week that police issued a warrant for his arrest and continue to look for Mr Saunders, who is now suddenly missing in action.
After four and a half months of solid spending Dan Saunders (pictured) said guilt got the better of him and he rang the bank, but they said police were investigating and they wouldn't talk to him
Finally after three and a half years of not being caught for his wild spendings have police issued a warrant for his arrest
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2818816/From-country-barman-lavish-lifestyle-private-jets-high-class-hookers-Dan-Saunders-went-wild-spending-spree-stumbled-costly-loophole-banking-system.html#ixzz3I88NIshs
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1 comment:
If you really believe he would have been celebrated as a hero if he had of told the bank about the loophole straight away, then your way of thinking is not on the current planet.....
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