Wishful thinking was more than a notion for one volunteer firefighter checking for his stimulus deposit over the weekend.
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Charles Calvin of New Chicago, Indiana, had heard some would get their stimulus check, which would be about $1,200 for most, in their accounts over the weekend. While checking his account a local ATM, he discovered much more than what's been reported as the economic boost to ease the strain of COVID-19. His account showed a more than $8 million gain from an unknown source, according to Chicago news station WGN 9.
“I went to the ATM at the Family Express and once I withdrew $200 out of my account I looked at the available balance still left in my account,” he told the station.
He said his account had $8.2 million in it. He would have only qualified for about $1,700.
Calvin told the news station he even ran his card at the ATM a second time to find the same abundance of money. Despite the most pleasant surprise, Calvin was not convinced that his million-dollar fortune was real. He sought out his local bank to confirm whether there had been a clerical error.
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By Monday, he called his bank and checked his account a third time. The bank reported they did not see the more than $8 million nor his expected $1,700 stimulus check. On Monday morning, Calvin called his bank and they said they didn't see that amount in his checking account anymore. However, they did note that his $1,700 stimulus payment was deposited.
He is not sure if the erroneous account reading was due to a mistake on behalf of his bank or the federal government. Either way, the firefighter said the disappointment was immediate after learning of the error.
“It kind of sucks,” he said. “You go from being a millionaire one second then back to being broke again. But hey, once you're poor you don't have anywhere else to go but up.”
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