967-yuan loan skyrockets to 19,000 yuan in 6 yrs

A man in Sichuan province was surprised to find that an overdraft fee of 967 yuan ($160) charged to his credit card six years ago had grown to 19,000 yuan.

According to the West China Metropolis Daily, Chen realized his problem recently when he decided to apply for a bank loan to buy an apartment in the provincial capital Chengdu. The bank said he had a poor credit record and it could not lend money to him.

The bank had tried 103 times to find him before his application. Chen said that he had worked at different places and changed his mobile phone number. Chen said he had lost the credit card and had forgotten about the loan.

The sum increased because of a penalty and interest, according to the bank.