California man collects $50,000 in microdeposits from E-Trade, Google, Schwabb
Have you ever briefly wondered if all those microdeposits that you collect when you open a new online account at a bank or brokerage could ever add up to anything, if you were crazy enough to take the time to add them all up? Well you wouldn’t be crazy for thinking it, but you would certainly be a bit deranged if you followed through with it, like one California man who accrued over $50,000 in microdeposits in 6 months. Sometimes craziness pays, it seems.
According to Wired, one man by the name of Michael Largent, who resides in Plumas Lake, California was indicted for purposefully exploiting the ‘microdeposits’ that online brokerages like E-Trade, Schwab, and other online banks and banking services offer as part as account setups. Those microdeposits can range from one cent to a dollar, and would certainly take quite a while to add up.
However, if you’re creative enough to write a script that creates over 58,000 accounts with false social security numbers, contact information, and even cartoon character names like Hank Hill of popular show King of the Hill, you could probably make more than a pretty penny.
Of course, the indictment as served by the Secret Service meant that the man would have to answer for his actions. He said he’d read the terms of agreement of each company, and felt that opening multiple accounts to reap the profits of the microdeposits didn’t violate the terms of agreement. He also said he planned to use the money to pay off debts, and felt it a legitimate means of making money.
Something tells me he didn’t figure he would be indicted for computer, wire and mail fraud. Though he’s out on bail (undoubtedly on the money he’s accrued through the microdeposits he’s in trouble for), I’m betting he’ll be paying for his actions for a long time to come.
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June 6th, 2008
Thats when you reply.. YOU BIG DUMMY