Customers asked to return $40 million after a bank glitch let them take out more money than they had, report says
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- Customers of an Ethiopian bank found they could withdraw unlimited cash for a few hours last weekend.
- More than $40 million was withdrawn or transferred from CBE, local media reported.
- Maintenance and inspection activities rather than a cyberattack could be to blame for the incident.
A technical glitch let customers of an Ethiopian bank take out or transfer more money they had in their accounts.
Local media reported that more than $40 million had been withdrawn.
Long queues formed at ATMs as news spread in the early hours of Saturday morning that unlimited withdrawals could be made from the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE), the reports said.
Several hours went by before the bank halted transactions and police cleared crowds around ATMs, BBC News reported, citing a local student.
Much of the cash was taken by university students, the bank's president Abie Sano said at a press conference on Monday, the outlet reported.
Universities have encouraged students to return any money that didn't belong to them, BBC News reported. Sano said that no one who returned money would be prosecuted.
More than 40 million Ethiopians have an account with the bank.
A campus official at Dilla University told the outlet that police were collecting money being returned voluntarily by students. However, the report added that a student at Jimma University said he hadn't heard of anyone giving money back.
The CBE hasn't confirmed the cause of the glitch, but in a post on X said it was not related to a cyber attack, per a Google translation.
የኢትዮጵያ ንግድ ባንክ የሳይበር ጥቃት እንዳልደረሰበት ተገለፀ፡፡
— Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (@combankethiopia) March 18, 2024
ባንኩ የሳይበር ደህንነት በተለያዩ ዓለም አቀፍ መመዘኛዎች የደህነነት ማረጋገጫ እንዳገኘ አቶ አቤ ገልፀው፣ በዚህ ረገድ ደንበኞች ስጋት ሊገባቸው እንደማይገባ ገልፀዋል፡፡ pic.twitter.com/VRBQenftHT
A statement issued by the body serving as Ethiopia's financial regulator on Sunday and translated by BBC Amharic said the glitch occurred during "maintenance and inspection activities."
Last August, a similar incident affected the Bank of Ireland, enabling some customers to withdraw cash beyond their balances.
The Bank of Ireland said at the time that there had been a "technical issue" and warned account holders that any transfers and withdrawals made would still be applied to their accounts.
The CBE did not immediately reply to a request for comment from Business Insider.