Guy tries to deposit $1,200 at a Citibank ATM to pay his mortgage. Then, the machine froze.

Using a cash deposit machine is supposed to simplify the process of putting money in your account and increase convenience. But, the experience can quickly become scary when a customer is informed that the device just ate up the money that they just deposited due to a technical error. A TikTok user @computersamnyc went through something like that and later took to the video-sharing platform to warn others. In the video which went viral, TikTok user Computer Sam sat in his car in front of Citibank in the dark and said, "I just went in to deposit $1,200 into an ATM. The ATM took my money. Then the door closed, it sounded like it was counting money like it normally does. And then the ATM froze." He then showed an image displaying a message on the ATM screen that read, "Sorry, this machine is temporarily out of service."

Sam then tells his viewers that he tried hitting cancel several times to get back his money however, all his efforts were in vain. "I just spent 30 minutes on the phone with Citibank. They said they’re going to investigate," Sam added. Many took to the comment section to talk bout the situation, "Why do people deposit large sums of money after hours smh," read one of the top comments by a viewer @user037443263. "Have them pull the camera footage," @fxf.iii suggested. "Had this happened to me with a withdrawal? I called and filed a complaint. I was credited temporarily pending an investigation and then it was credited permanently. Good luck, Bro!," @maplefarmer recalled. "You got lucky. The ATM gave you back your card. A few years back this happened to me and didn’t give me my card back. It was the weekend and had to travel on Monday. It was a mess," wrote another user @gracegutz01.

Others simply asked people to not trust the ATM when it comes to depositing cash. "This is why I don’t never trust machines. I rather take the time and go talk to a bank teller in person," wrote @Ro_Ro13_. 

While it's scary to think that the ATM will not acknowledge your deposit after you have already fed the cash into it, the error is in reality completely fixable. According to SoFi, it's best to contact the bank in case something like this happens. It also helps to note the time and location of the incident and take pictures of the error screen. Moreover, there are several reasons why something like this can happen. Firstly, the machine can eat your money when it has misread your check amount or even miscounted the cash amount. Other reasons include a technical error or simply a power outage. Sometimes, depositing a large amount of cash can also create an issue.

If you struggle to get the funds back despite filing a complaint with the bank, contact the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, as they can help by connecting with your bank to get a direct response. 

You can follow @Computersamnyc on TikTok for more such videos.