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New England

US man charged 23 quadrillion dollars for smokes

Published on Friday, Jul 17, 2009 at 12:12 am | Last updated on Thursday, Jul 16, 2009 at 8:08 pm 5 Comments
MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (AP) - A New Hampshire man says he swiped his debit card at a gas station to buy a pack of cigarettes and was charged over 23 quadrillion dollars.

Josh Muszynski checked his account online a few hours after the purchase and saw the 17-digit number - a stunning $23,148,855,308,184,500 (twenty-three quadrillion, one hundred forty-eight trillion, eight hundred fifty-five billion, three hundred eight million, one hundred eighty-four thousand, five hundred dollars).

Muszynski told WMUR-TV that he spent two hours on the phone with Bank of America trying to sort out the string of numbers - and the $15 overdraft fee.

The bank corrected the error the next day.

Bank of America said the card issuer, Visa, could answer questions. Visa, in turn, referred questions to the bank.

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Displaying comments, from newest to oldest

germand's picture

Wow..I knew smoking was bad

Wow..I knew smoking was bad for your health..but your bank account ????

to be or not's picture

Pay up or they will take it

Pay up or they will take it out of you Pay Check.OH Sorry you are not a Law Maker are you?? then you don;t make that kind of money.tomo put your name on a Ballet to be a Law Maker OK??!!!

Kevin Saisi's picture

Well... Baldacci IS trying

Well... Baldacci IS trying to fund his health care plan, perhaps taxes were added. BTW: What was this guy's credit limit???
oops, wrong state. I guess the NH government has to tax someone... why not him??

"I tried putting in my two cents, but after taxes, fees and deductions, there was nothing left" -kns

ratterrier1's picture
verified

Holy smokes!

Holy smokes!

Deblmc79's picture
verified

When an error of magnitude

When an error of magnitude takes place. The one thing that sticks out is that the financial institution cannot accept responsibility nor can VISA. It is a good thing this man reviewed his account quickly online. That is the type of error that must be caught quickly or this could have caused financial ruin. If not cigarettes it could have been another small purchase.

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