Google mistakenly transfers Rs 2 crore to hacker's account; here's what happened next

It is not everyday you see people receiving hefty payments amounting to crores, and that too accidentally. However, this was the case with a cybersecurity professional or a self-claimed hacker, as he calls himself.

Sam Curry who works as a staff security engineer at Yuga Labs in the United States recently received a huge deposit of around $250,000 (approximately Rs 2 crore) from Google without any explanation for the same. Taking to Twitter, the professional shared a screenshot of the payment made by the tech giant and jokingly commented, “it’s OK if you don’t want it back…”

In addition to that, while mentioning that it has been over three weeks since the transaction, he added that he hasn’t heard anything on the support ticket and sought suggestions to get in touch with Google regarding the matter. “It’s been a little over 3 weeks since Google randomly sent me $249,999 and I still haven’t heard anything on the support ticket. Is there any way we could get in touch with Google?”, the hacker tweeted.

Check his tweet:

It’s been a little over 3 weeks since Google randomly sent me $249,999 and I still haven’t heard anything on the support ticket. Is there any way we could get in touch @Google?

(it’s OK if you don’t want it back…) pic.twitter.com/t6f7v5erli

— Sam Curry (@samwcyo) September 14, 2022

It is pertinent to note that after getting such a bounty, he could have spent it all according to his wishes instead of going public. However, he decided to get in touch with the company and further confirm if they wanted the money back.

Eventually, his theory proved to be right and a team from Google confirmed that the amount was accidentally transferred to Sam Curry. According to NPR, a Google spokesperson has confirmed that a team accidentally made the payment to the wrong party further calling it a case of “human error”.

“We appreciate that it was quickly communicated to us by the impacted partner, and we are working to correct it. The company intended to get the money back”, the spokesperson added. Curry later told MarkeWatch he had been contacted by Google regarding the money.

In the meantime, the tweet went viral in no time as social media users were seen going into a frenzy over the huge amount of money. While some suggested that the user should not share it publicly, some also lauded the ethical behavior of the hacker.