Google Says ‘Human Error’ to Blame After Mistakenly Sending Nearly $250K to Engineer

An apparent payout mistake resulted in Google sending a security engineer and self-described hacker nearly $250,000.

Sam Curry, who works as a security engineer for the blockchain tech company Yuga Labs, revealed in a recently shared tweet that it’s been several weeks since Google “randomly sent me $249,999.” At the time, Curry added, he had not been able to get in contact with the company.

“[I]t’s OK if you don’t want it back,” Curry joked. He also shared a screenshot of the mistaken payment in question.

Curry’s original tweet about the payment was quick to spur a slew of jokes, namely of the I’ll Take the Money Instead variety. 

In a subsequent statement to MarketWatch, Curry confirmed that he was ultimately able to make contact with someone at Google to resolve the pricey problem. A Google spokesperson, meanwhile, has since explained to CNN and other outlets that mere “human error” was to blame for this money-minded mistake.

Per the spokesperson, the payment was indeed made “to the wrong party” and work was being done to correct the nearly $250,000 issue. “We appreciate that it was quickly communicated to us by the impacted partner,” the spokesperson said.

Complex has reached out to a rep for Google for additional comment. This post may be updated.