Anthropic Console charged $504 for a $5.04 top-up due to i18n parsing bug
rsorto · hn · 2026-10-17
A LegalTech attorney from Costa Rica reports that while loading Anthropic API credits, typing 5.04 — a locale-sensitive format in Spanish-speaking regions — was silently stripped of its decimal and instantly charged $504.00 instead of $5.04.
His key points:
- No confirmation step: no review modal summarizing the final amount; a single-click charge.
- Systemic risk: the same pipeline could turn 50.00 into a $5,000 charge, a financial-grade vulnerability.
- Chargeback pain: he initiated a bank chargeback, but local resolution can take up to 120 days.
He argues users are not the QA team: ambiguous locale-dependent input should be rejected or clarified, never guessed and executed.
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