ARLINGTON — It seemed so easy.
An Arlington ATM was spewing out money for anyone who knew the trick.
You could double your money: $50 became $100, $100 turned into $200, $250 into $500, the machine’s daily withdrawal limit.
Since last summer, the ATM has doled out more than $62,000. One girl, 17, made off with more than $16,000. Her 18-year-old boyfriend netted around $10,000.
“It seemed like it was the perfect crime,” Arlington police detective Peter Barrett said.
It wasn’t.
The girl was arrested Dec. 11 after police reviewed surveillance footage and tracked down bank records.
Police believe she used the Boeing Employees Credit Union automated teller machine in the 3700 block of 172nd Street NE nearly 50 times, averaging about $320 a pop, according to court records. Her boyfriend is accused of using two bank cards to take out about $10,000 that wasn’t his.
A software error, combined with a mechanical malfunction, allowed people to get the ATM to double-dispense customer withdrawals. The cardholder’s account was debited only once. Thieves jammed the machine to cause the malfunction.
“It was an isolated incident,” said Stephen Black, a BECU spokesman. “It was a manufacturer issue that was discovered eventually, and then corrected.”
It’s not clear who first discovered how to trick the machine, Barrett said.
“The information got passed around,” he said.
Now, police are talking to a number of other people. No charges have been filed.
The nearly six-month investigation continues and the scope could be broadened. More people may face arrest and the bank’s losses could grow, Barrett said.
Barrett recalls one suspect telling him, “We knew it wasn’t our money, but it just became addictive.”
Around Thanksgiving, Arlington police got their first tip, but BECU officials did not believe it was possible, according to a search warrant filed Feb. 2 in Snohomish County Superior Court.
After more investigation, the credit union determined that nearly 40 different bank cards were used to illegally withdraw $62,280.
Police at first believed the money was used to buy illegal drugs, but soon learned it was being spent on meals, activities, clothes and other personal gifts.
“The best we could get was that it was discretionary spending,” Barrett said.
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