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Man Was 'a Billionaire for a Minute'
UPI ^ | Aug. 16, 2011

Posted on 08/16/2011 10:38:30 AM PDT by nickcarraway

A Florida man said he was shocked to discover he was "a billionaire for a minute" when his bank froze his account and flagged a $999.99 million deposit.

Otelo Vizcaino, 42, of Orlando, said he discovered after his card was rejected at a gas pump last week his account had been frozen by SunTrust Bank and a $999.99 million deposit had been flagged, the Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel reported Tuesday.

"That's right -- one penny short of $1 billion," Vizcaino said. "I was a billionaire for a minute, and I have nothing to show for it but grief."

SunTrust Bank said Monday the account was frozen as the result of internal computer procedures and there were no security breaches. The bank said the $999.99 million deposit is an internal signal to bank workers that the account is currently frozen.

"We work to verify funds as efficiently and effectively as possible to limit any impact to a client's account," SunTrust spokesman Hugh Suhr said. "Based on the feedback in this instance, it sounds like we could have done a better job communicating that process."

Vizcaino said the bank told him his account should be back to normal by Wednesday.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Computers/Internet; Weird Stuff
KEYWORDS:

1 posted on 08/16/2011 10:38:32 AM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway
$999.99 million...one penny short of $1 billion

There are three kinds of people: those who can do math and those who can't.

2 posted on 08/16/2011 10:44:40 AM PDT by notfornothing
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47 Days And FR Is Still Short Of Its Goal

Name Another Site Where You Can Get As Much Information

Can't Think Of One?

Then Why Don't You Donate

3 posted on 08/16/2011 10:47:21 AM PDT by DJ MacWoW (America! The wolves are here! What will you do?)
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To: notfornothing

There are 10 kinds of people who understand binary notation. Those that do and those that dont.


4 posted on 08/16/2011 10:50:32 AM PDT by Illuminatas (Obama - Dumber Than Bush!Toward)
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To: nickcarraway

I wonder if he could have withdrawn the money if he’d just worked the keys at the gas pump a little faster?


5 posted on 08/16/2011 10:55:54 AM PDT by Cicero (Marcus Tullius.)
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To: nickcarraway

Does rhat mean that when the 0bama campaign fund reaches $999,999,999.99, the funds will be frozen? Good news!


6 posted on 08/16/2011 11:20:00 AM PDT by reg45
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To: nickcarraway

He should have told them that it was an expected payment, and the nice Nigerian man said there were no legal impediments to the transfer.


7 posted on 08/16/2011 11:25:50 AM PDT by Oztrich Boy (New gets old. Steampunk is always cool)
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To: nickcarraway

Must have had a penny in his pocket....


8 posted on 08/16/2011 11:29:58 AM PDT by G Larry (I dream of a day when a man is judged by the content of his character)
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To: nickcarraway

Isn’t this kind of thing, using special numbers as trip signals, considered really poor coding practice?


9 posted on 08/16/2011 11:38:36 AM PDT by Lonesome in Massachussets (Somewhere in Kenya a village is missing its idiot)
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To: nickcarraway

According to Warren Buffet, he should be paying a lot more taxes. Expect him to get a call from the IRS.


10 posted on 08/16/2011 11:40:05 AM PDT by Lonesome in Massachussets (Somewhere in Kenya a village is missing its idiot)
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To: nickcarraway

Something similar happened to me in 1993.
I started working that summer at an automotive supplier, as a grad school intern (paid). The first thing HR/payroll ask for is a blank, cancelled/voided check with which they will use the routing and account numbers to set up direct deposit of wages.

So, two weeks roll around and I check my bank statement.
Something like $1.6 million in my account. I was tempted to start withdrawls, but I know how things like this usually work out, so I checked inside the bank.

Usually, a company will keep a payroll account open and mostly empty. Right before payday, they transfer funds into the account to cover the checks and direct deposit transfers. It seems the HR associate who took my check put it into the wrong folder and the bank/payroll used THAT account to place all employee wages for the pay period.

They found the error very fast, since the actual payroll account was empty and transfers were failing immediately.


11 posted on 08/16/2011 12:02:00 PM PDT by SJSAMPLE
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To: notfornothing
There are three kinds of people: those who can do math and those who can't.

But there is only one kind of fool, a liberal and his fantasy president.

12 posted on 08/16/2011 12:28:11 PM PDT by Louis Foxwell (This IS my blog site.)
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To: notfornothing

The deposit was for $999.99 million? Heck, if that is how they do their accounting, my deposits wouldn’t even be on the radar.


13 posted on 08/16/2011 12:29:05 PM PDT by fhayek
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To: Louis Foxwell

OOPS! : x , :(


14 posted on 08/16/2011 12:31:06 PM PDT by Louis Foxwell (This IS my blog site.)
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Comment #15 Removed by Moderator

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