$1,800 ATM Error: Devon Gluck, Student, Returns Money After PNC Teller Machine Mistake

Gluck made a withdrawal on Feb.1 when he heard a strange noise form the ATM machine, he told Delaware Online.

“My eyes just opened really wide, and I was like, ‘Oh, my God, this is $1,800 right here,’” Gluck, a senior finance major, said. “It’s pretty crazy.” The ATM mistakenly dispensed $1,800 to him that was not his. 

Gluck, after standing at the PNC ATM for a few minutes with the 18 $100 bills in his possession, decided to go home and figure out what to do.

He then spoke with his father before coming to his decision.

“After a couple days of just thinking about it, the right thing would be just to return the money,” Gluck said. “I mean, it was just eating at me at the time, because it isn’t mine, and I didn’t even know what to do with it.”

Marcey Zwiebel, a PNC spokeswoman, confirmed that Gluck returned the $1,800 to the bank and that the student whose account the money had mistakenly been withdrawn from was refunded.

PNC was not able to give further details regarding the incident.

Gluck did say that a bank manager thanked him for returning the money. The senior also expressed how much better it felt to be honest.

“I kind of just thought maybe I can get something good out of this. I’ll definitely feel better, and I’m looking into going into banking and finance, so I felt like this was a good opportunity to meet someone, get a good reference and do the right thing.”

Zwiebel appreciated Gluck’s truthfulness.

“Honesty is always the best policy when talking about money, and keeping money that you’re not authorized to have for any amount of time is unlawful,” she said.