A "hacker" exploited a bank loophole to steal over $50,000 from PayPal, Google Checkout, and other online payment companies, stealing only a few cents at a time. The loophole he exploited was that banks usually send small amounts of money to accounts after opening them to verify if the account is valid, with amounts generally ranging from a few cents to a few dollars. Google Checkout and PayPal also use the same method to verify the credit card and debit card accounts linked to online accounts. According to court documents, Michael Largent of California used an automated script to open 58,000 accounts, collecting thousands of ultra-small fees, which were then transferred into several personal bank accounts.