Florida Woman Woke Up With $1 Billion In Her Bank Account
A Florida woman couldn't believe her eyes after finding out how much money was in her bank account.
Julia Yonkowski of Largo, Florida, went to her local Chase Bank to withdraw $20 and was shocked to see there was $999,985,855.94 in her account.
"Oh my God, I was horrified," she told WFLA, an NBC affiliate in Tampa. "I know most people would think they won the lottery, but I was horrified."
Yonkowski said that she felt scared about the situation after hearing similar stories about law officials who take action against the account holder for not informing the bank.
"I know I've read stories about people that took the money or took out money, and then they had to repay it and I wouldn't do that anyway because it's not my money," she said.
Yonkowski tried to then withdraw the $20 but the ATM informed her that it would cause an overdraft.
"When I put in for the $20, the machine came back and said we'll give you the $20 but that'll cause an overdraft and you will be charged and I said, 'Oh just forget it,'" she said.
Yonkowski spent a few days not touching her account and trying to get a hold of Chase. She was worried her rightful money would be compromised.
“I just can’t get through. I get tied up with their automated system and I can’t get a person,” she said.
WFLA got in contact with a representation from Chase on Tuesday and they cleared up the confusion. The ATM reportedly would not allow Yonkowski to withdraw funds from her account due to suspicious activity.
Yonkowski didn't have a billion in her account. A bank representative said that her balance was actually negative of a billion dollars and that her account had been locked as a fraud prevention method. Chase uses the $1 billion as an indicator of fraudulent activity, the representative said.
Yonkowski’s late husband was a joint owner of the bank account, and it was flagged when she went to use it.
“People are required to turn in proper documentation in a situation like this to avoid a freeze on a joint bank account," a Chase representative said.
Yonkowski said she hopes her story can be used as an educational lesson.
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