A glitch in New York’s Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) cards allowed massive ATM withdrawals totaling $17 million in just three days.
Some teens reportedly sold their cards for $1,000 each, as social media spread the scam rapidly.
City officials say no taxpayer money was lost, but investigations into how the scam worked are still ongoing.
A fast-moving scam tied to New York City’s youth jobs program allowed people to withdraw tens of thousands of dollars from ATMs — money they were never supposed to access — in a fraud spree that lasted less than 72 hours and totaled $17 million.
The scheme involved prepaid payment cards issued to thousands of participants in the Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) — a city initiative that gives teens and young adults their first job experience. Normally, the cards are used by participants who don’t have bank accounts to collect modest weekly earnings. But between July 11 and 13, the cards inexplicably unlocked unlimited cash, with some users pulling out $10,000 to $40,000 per ATM, $200 at a time.
Word of the glitch spread quickly on TikTok and Instagram, where some users bragged about the windfall and offered to buy cards for $1,000 apiece. “We’re printing money right now,” one man said in a now-removed video. Another urged SYEP workers to “hit me up” to join in, according to a New York Times report.
City officials believe some young participants were unknowingly drawn in and exploited by older scammers who took advantage of their inexperience with money and financial tools.
Massive impact, few details
Of the program’s 100,000 total participants, about 30,000 received cards rather than direct deposits. Authorities don’t yet know exactly how many cards were abused or how the system failed so catastrophically. But by early Sunday, the cards were deactivated, and the scam was halted.
The NYPD Financial Crimes Task Force and the Department of Youth and Community Development are now investigating. ATM companies, like ATM World Corp, say their machines were heavily hit, with one store losing $43,000 in a single location. CEO Youssef Mubarez described people standing at machines for over an hour, withdrawing cash continuously.
Teaching moments, unanswered questions
City officials emphasized that no taxpayer funds were lost and said the financial institutions behind the cards will likely bear the loss. Still, questions remain about how such a large vulnerability went unnoticed.
SYEP includes financial literacy training, and the city had posted Instagram warnings telling students to safeguard their cards and personal information. But with social media fueling the fraud, that advice came too late for many.
For now, the city’s biggest youth jobs program — meant to introduce young people to the world of work — is left dealing with a very grown-up financial mess.