--- title: "Google Accidentally Sends Users Free Money" description: "It might be gone by now, but if you use Google Pay, you might've received some free dinero that you'll want to cash out sooner than rather than later." date: "2023-04-07" modified: "2023-04-07" authors: - name: "Frank Landymore" job_title: "Contributing Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/flandymore" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/google-accidentally-sends-users-free-money" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "Future Society" - "Google" tags: - "Google" - "tech industry" - "the digest" --- # Google Accidentally Sends Users Free Money ![It might be gone by now, but if you use Google Pay, you might've received some free dinero that you'll want to cash out sooner than rather than later.]() *\Image: Getty Images\* ## Pay It Forward If you use Google Pay, you might be in luck. Users of the payment service noticed that for seemingly no discernible reason, they're receiving cash deposits of up to $1,000 in their app accounts. There may be no such thing as a free lunch, but, hey, here's some free money. The whole fiasco was kickstarted on Tuesday, when confused Google Pay-ers took to social media wondering why they received the influx of cash. "Uhhh, Google Pay seems to just be randomly giving users free money right now," [tweeted]() Mishaal Rahman, a tech journalist, attaching a screenshot of the errant couple buckets he received. In a [thread](), befuddled Redditors also joined in on the fun, comparing the dinero they received or wondering how to cash in on the free goods. "I just got almost $100 in six different cashback rewards for 'dogfooding the Google pay remittance experience,''" wrote one user. "What does this mean?" they asked. ## Rewards? For What? What it means is that Google Pay screwed up its "reward" program, [according to *Ars Technica*](). It's a lot like any other rewards program, where you can earn a discount or the odd dollar or two for regularly using the service. Except in this case, these cash rewards were meant to be doled out to employees for "dogfooding," which in IT slang, is when devs use their own product (like an app) for a while to test it, usually before it's released. For one reason or another, these compensatory payments got sent out to a bunch of random Google Pay users. Google, in an email it sent to the surprised recipients days later, blamed it on an "error." "You received this email because an unintended cash credit was deposited to your Google Pay account," the company wrote, as quoted by *Ars*. "The issue has since been resolved and where possible, the credit has been reversed." Presumably, anyone that left the money sitting in their app accounts had the credits reversed. But if you were hasty or eager enough to cash out the credits right away, Google says, "well played" — you earned it, buddy (for some cosmic reason). **More on Google:** *[Google CEO Says It's Adding AI to Search]()* ## Author At Futurism, my work has often centered on bringing a sense of clarity and insight to complex topics ranging from the regulation of emerging technologies to the esoteric ideologies of Silicon Valley executives, while striving not to lose the poetic sense of awe inspired by often-obscure fields like astrophysics and quantum computing. I broke the story of CNET using AI to produce articles that turned out to be riddled with factual errors and plagiarism — a dam-breaking inflection point, as I've reported, that's inspired copycats and endless discourse while beguiling stakeholders ranging from tech giants to purveyors of spam around the web. My work at Futurism has been cited by publications including CBS News, the Los Angeles Times, Vice, Gizmodo, Engadget, the Verge, and Vanity Fair. I grew up in locales ranging from India to China, and now live in the exotic suburbs of Virginia. In my free time, I'm an avid reader of weird sci-fi literature, an aficionado of East Asian cinema, and, regrettably, a relapsed gamer. Allegedly, I’m working on a debut novel, currently untitled. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()