The $23 Quadrillion Glitch

We knew smoking was costly to your health. But we didn't know it could also break the bank. The Associated Press reports a man in New Hampshire went out to get a pack of cigarettes using his Visa card and it cost him — wait for it — $23,148,855,308,184,500.

The New Hampshire man wasn't the only one to find the 17-digit mistake on his statement. NPR's All Things Considered found another case in Texas in which a man was charged the same amount after using his Visa to swipe for pizza and a soda.

Seeing as the amount charged onto the card exceeded global gross domestic product, which is estimated at $60 to $70 trillion, we might expect the bank to quickly correct the error. Instead, the New Hampshire man ended up spending two hours on the phone with his bank, Bank of America, trying to sort out the glitch. The bank fixed the problem the next day but said Visa could answer questions. Visa passed the buck back to the bank.

Oh, and as if being on the phone with the bank for two hours wasn't enough, the man didn't just have to contest the charge. Apparently, the bank also slapped him with a $15 overdraft fee.