[Fair Use: For Education and Research Purpose Only]

Note: Posted for the record in case it was missed-Jan. 12)

Y2K BUG BITES 1 MAN'S BANK ACCOUNT

By Christopher Dunagan, Sun Staff

Dan Peters of Belfair and other subscribers of Seanet Internet service have fallen victim to a Y2K monster that gobbled money out of their checking accounts, $20 at a time.

A few Y2K-related computer problems continue to pop up across the nation, but few have been as serious as the one that took money from customers until it was fixed.

Peters' Seanet account allows his $20 monthly fee to be withdrawn automatically from his checking account.

He had no indication that a Y2K glitch was in the works until he went to his bank Friday to cash a paycheck. He was informed that his account was overdrawn by $72.

The first $20 was withdrawn Tuesday, Jan. 4  right on schedule. But the malfunctioning computer program took out another $20 Wednesday and then another $20 later that same day.

Thursday, the computer pulled out another $20. Peters caught the problem on Friday, but not before another $20 had been withdrawn.

After the first withdrawal, Peters' bank began charging $20 in overdraft fees for each transaction. The bank forgave the mounting fees when officials learned it wasn't Peters' fault.

Mark Grosz, corporate sales manager for Seanet, said the problem was caused by a computer operated by a national firm that processes debit transactions.

A woman in the billing department, who identified herself only as Kim, confirmed that it was a Y2K problem and was affecting numerous accounts.

Seanet, which took over Hurricane Ridge in Kitsap County, sends its billing statements to a clearinghouse in daily batches, according to Kim.

On Jan. 3, the clearinghouse processed the first batch of the new year. On the second day, it processed the second batch  but it also processed the first batch again. On the third day, it processed the third batch  but also the first and second, and so on until the problem was caught Friday.

The Los Angeles Times reported a similar glitch affecting debit-card transactions processed by Visa and MasterCard through some retail outlets and cash machines. The problem was traced to an interaction between merchant software and the processing software developed by ICVerify.

So far, the most intransigent problems have been caused by the interaction between two different computer programs.

Charles Keating, a local computer consultant, said most Y2K problems have gained little attention because they are either cosmetic, easily fixed or simple to work around.

"The vast majority of bugs will not be reported," Keating said. "Those that are reported will be things that affect customers and that vendors cannot hide."

Although a few Y2K problems may continue to show up, Keating said, the long effort to seek out and remove potential problems appears to have paid off.

If there was any surprise, he said, it was that so few problems were seen in "embedded" clocks  such as those found on automatic thermostats and alarm systems. "I think people overestimated how many embedded systems would be affected," he said.

Published in The Sun: 01/12/2000 http://www.thesunlink.com/news/2000/january/0112a2a.html

-- Dee (T1Colt556@aol.com), February 20, 2000

Answers

Good work Dee, I would say that is a problem actually caused by y2k.

-- Butt Nugget (catsbutt@umailme.com), February 20, 2000.