Dan had just $3 in his bank account when he stumbled across an ATM glitch that gave him ‘unlimited’ money… then he spent $1.6million in FOUR months

An Australian man who blew $1.6million after discovering a banking glitch has opened up about the wild lifestyle he enjoyed before his conscience got the better of him.

Late one night in early 2011, bartender Dan Saunders, from Wangaratta in country Victoria, stumbled across a technical fault in National Australia Bank’s ATM system.

The then-29-year-old found the loophole after transferring $200 from his credit card to his bank account, which had just $3.

The ATM said the transaction failed, but the money appeared nonetheless.

He realised he had access to ‘free money’ to transfer from his credit to his savings account whenever the ATM system was ‘offline’ for one hour each night due to network maintenance.

Mr Saunders spent the next four months living the high life of private jets, exclusive restaurants, luxury hotels, limousines, champagne and gambling.

He confessed to authorities and was eventually charged with 111 offences relating to fraud and theft.

He spent 12 months in jail before he returned to work as a bartender earning $22 per hour.

Now a public speaker whose life inspired the 2024 film ‘ATM Boy’, Mr Saunders has reflected on his former life during an episode of SBS Insight which is due to air on Tuesday night.

‘I found a glitch in the NAB system, where I was able to make my account balance look like it had millions of dollars in it,’ he told the stunned studio audience.

‘I could go into the branch and literally ask the teller how much is in my account and they … just let me [withdraw] whatever I wanted to get.

‘It was like discovering fire for the first time. It was extremely addictive.’

Mr Saunders said he used the glitch to spend money on his friends too.

‘The way I describe it is, you get your friends in a circle and you say to them, ”Hey what do you want to do today?”’ he said.

‘Some people wanted a car. Some wanted a horse, which cost about $50,000. 

‘One night, I shouted the whole restaurant dinner and a lady came up to me and said, ”Are you the richest guy in Australia?”

‘I said, ”Nah, I think I’m seventh.”’

While Mr Saunders experienced a confidence boost thanks to his funds, there were also pitfalls.

‘I had a lot of anxiety around actually doing it as I thought I was going to get caught at any time,’ he said.

‘I had nightmares about [a] SWAT team storming into my home, even though I didn’t have any guns.’

Mr Saunders later contacted NAB to admit his actions.

Three years later, after speaking publicly about the case, he was arrested.

‘They [the bank] said they were going to get me, then nothing happened,’ he said.

‘Eventually, I had to do what I thought was right so I told the media about what happened to get closure.

‘I had lost myself as a person. I didn’t know who I was anymore.’

Mr Saunders spoke to several media outlets, including A Current Affair. In one interview he said he felt like a ‘white Kanye West’ while spending the money.

‘I’ve never felt more alive than when I was charging on my credit card,’ he told the program in 2014.

‘With the NAB card, I could be anyone I wanted to be, go anywhere I wanted to go, do anything as long as I had the card in my back pocket. I felt like a king.’

Police issued a warrant for his arrest after he appeared on national television. 

Mr Saunders said his 12-month jail stint provided much-needed closure.

‘It felt so good – my brain is a bit different to everyone else’s,’ he said.

He was also sentenced to 18 months of community service and ordered to pay $250,000 compensation to NAB.

Insight: Coming Into Money airs at 8.30pm this Tuesday on SBS or SBS On Demand.