Couple Exploits Broken Transit Ticket Machine for $800k

In the wake of a recent scandal with MIT students hacking the subway comes a story of a Long Island couple who stumbled into a glitch in a ticket machine and exploited it for $800,000 in free tickets.

1 minute read

August 13, 2008, 5:00 AM PDT

By Tim Halbur


"MTA spokesman Jeremy Soffin said the glitch was exposed when Jordan, using a legitimate debit card from a small California-based bank, First Republic, found it gave her a free ticket.

Soffin said the account linked to the card had insufficient funds and although the bank sent a warning, it was not recognized by the machine, which in turn dispensed a ticket.

'It was sort of a freak incident,' he said. 'That someone looking to steal from the MTA happened to stumble on this is extremely obscure.'"

Tuesday, August 12, 2008 in Newsday

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