Supermarket giant ‘accidentally’ steals from customers

It’s like something out of a dystopian novel – an apparent computer glitch saw Woolworth’s customers have money withdrawn from their accounts yesterday. 

The computer glitch re-processed six-month-old transactions, withdrawing as much as $150 from some customers’ private bank accounts. 

ABC News reported that Woollies has blamed the mistake on its payment processor, Cuscal. 

“We have received confirmation from Cuscal, one of our payment processors that service credit unions and other financial institutions, that due to an error at their data centre, a limited number of Woolworths customers may have received incorrect transactions,” the company said in a statement.

A Cuscal spokesperson confirmed to the ABC that the “processing error” occurred on Sunday night. 

“We apologise for the stress and inconvenience this is causing people. We are working urgently to correct the errors,” a statement from Cuscal read. 

While it’s still not known how many were affected, dozens of angry customers took to social media to complain.

“We are working closely with Cuscal and can confirm any payment errors will be corrected within 24 hours,” the company said yesterday. “We apologise for the inconvenience this may cause customers. If further information is required please contact 1300 767 969.”

Were you affected by the glitch?