Man 1, Bank 0
Patrick Combs is an average guy. An average guy who, in 1995, decided on a whim to deposit one of those fake checks so common in junk mail.

On May 19th, I was one of thousands of people around the country who received a ‘junk mail’ letter touting a get-rich quick method for making $95,093.35 in just three weeks. That letter also came with a for the same amount, $95,093.35. Everything about the check looked real except for the words ‘non-negotiable for cash’ typed on the top right hand corner. For very little reason at all I deposited this check into my ATM.

He did this as a joke — he was certain the bank would never honor the “check”. He was wrong. Soon he had nearly $100,000 sitting in his bank account. Man 1, Bank 0 tells the story of this unexpected windfall, and what happened once the bank learned of its error.

Patrick is a natural-born storyteller, and he’s able to wring a lot of laughs from this anecdote. (The story stretches for several pages — be sure to read them all.) He’s even turned the story into a stage show! Check the bottom of the page for flash-embedded video of Patrick at a live telling of this story.

[Man 1, Bank 0 — Don’t try this at home!]

OK… I started reading this hour or so ago.  And I keep going, I can’t stop (ok I took a break to post the link).  The site is getting hammered… but refresh, the page will come up.  And trust me the story is worth it.