ATM Spits Out $100 Bills by Mistake, Bank Says 'Keep It'

Banks aren't usually known for giving out free money, but Bank of America is begrudgingly making an exception after one of its Houston ATMs went haywire over the weekend, spitting out $100 bills instead of smaller denominations, per KTRK. A man discovered the glitch while withdrawing money Sunday night, which he soon posted about to social media; this caused a line of eager money-makers to soon form at the ATM, Click2Houston reports. Several fights took place during the two-hour period before deputies arrived and told everyone to go home, guarding the ATM so no one else could use it, officials say.

Bank of America's statement on Monday: "This was an incident at a single ATM in Houston caused when a vendor incorrectly loaded $100 bills. ... We have resolved the matter. Customers will be able to keep the additional money dispensed." It's not clear how much money BOA lost, or how many people profited from the error, though officials say if it had wanted the money back, people could've gotten in trouble for keeping it. "There's no free lunch," a Harris County Sheriff's Office sergeant says. "If you receive money that you know ... is not yours, and you refuse to give it back upon demand, you can, at the discretion of the district attorney, be charged with theft." (This man had a … different reaction to an overly generous ATM.)