Dan Saunders exploited an Australian banking bug to gain millions

In 2011, Dan Saunders, a former waiter from Wangaratta, Australia, discovered a banking glitch that allowed him to access significant funds. While attempting a routine transfer between his current and savings accounts at a National Australia Bank ATM, he noticed that despite transaction errors, cash was being dispensed from his savings account.

By repeatedly performing these transfers during late-night hours, Saunders was able to increase his balance to approximately 1.6 million Australian dollars. The issue stemmed from the ATM entering an offline mode during the night, where transfers were recorded locally without immediate reconciliation with the bank's central servers. This created 'phantom money' where credits were applied without the corresponding debits being processed. Saunders eventually lost the wealth gained through the exploit.