Youth briefly becomes 'world's richest' after astronomical credit; Kotak clarifies
What's the story
In a bizarre banking incident, a 20-year-old man from Greater Noida found an astronomical amount credited to his deceased mother's savings account. The viral screenshot showed ₹100,13,56,00,00,00,00,00,01,00,23,56,00,00,00,00,299 in the account. This sparked social media curiosity and speculation about the source of such a huge sum. Initial reports suggested that the account belonged to Kotak Mahindra Bank, but the lender has denied any such incident.
Bank's response
Bank urges customers to check account details
Kotak Mahindra Bank has issued a clarification regarding the incident, stating that "media reports suggesting an unusually large balance in a customer's account are incorrect." The bank urged customers to check their account details through Kotak's mobile banking app or net banking platforms. They assured that all systems are functioning normally and all services are secure and fully operational.
Online reactions
User claimed income tax department was investigating the case
The incident first came to light through a tweet by a user named Sachin Gupta, who identified himself as a journalist. In his post on X (formerly Twitter), he wrote that 20-year-old Deepak's Kotak Mahindra bank account was credited by a 36-digit amount. He added, "The income tax department is investigating, and the bank account has been frozen.
Account details
Account belonged to Deepak's deceased mother
According to a News24 report, the account belonged to Gayatri Devi, who passed away two months ago. Her son, Deepak, reportedly received a notification on August 3 indicating the massive credit. The Economic Times reported that Deepak was overwhelmed by the sudden attention and began receiving calls from friends, relatives, and neighbors. He eventually turned off his phone to avoid further scrutiny.