JPMorgan Gets Orders to Claw Back TikTok Challenge Deposits

JPMorgan Chase & Co. prevailed in all four lawsuits against people and companies who used an ATM “glitch” popularized on TikTok to engage in what the bank said was fraud.

A default judgment was entered in favor of JPMorgan by the US District Court for the Central District of California on Friday, in a case where the bank sued for about $90,000. No dollar amount has been finalized in that case. Earlier this year, the bank secured court orders to claw back the other roughly $580,000 of $660,000 it sought in a set of October complaints.

Bank users in Los Angeles, Miami, and Houston were accused of using the methods of a viral TikTok trend to deposit tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in fake checks into Chase ATMs and withdraw large sums before the checks bounced. The lawsuits didn’t specifically reference the trend but describe its methods being used when it was popular.

Courts entered default judgments in three of four cases because the defendants failed to respond.

One defendant fought the case; it went to mediation, and a judge in the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida in March entered judgment in the bank’s favor. An attorney for that defendant didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

JPMorgan Chase representatives didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Greenberg Traurig LLP represents JPMorgan Chase & Co.

The Los Angeles case is JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. v. Reed, C.D. Cal., No. 2:24-cv-09243, 4/11/25.