Anthropic Console overcharged my card 100x due to internationalization input bug
A user reports a critical UX failure in the Anthropic API payment portal where a decimal input error led to a 100x overcharge. The user criticizes the lack of input sanitization and confirmation screens for financial transactions.
Why it matters
This highlights significant security and UX risks in financial payment pipelines for AI platforms, particularly regarding internationalization and user error protection.
I am a LegalTech Attorney leading a developer team from Costa Rica. While trying to load credits onto my Anthropic API account (claude.com), I experienced a critical internationalization (i18n) and UX failure that has placed an unfair financial burden on me due to a severe oversight in their payment pipeline. The platform prompted me for a payment. Since I am in a Spanish-speaking region where localized systems and keyboards handle dots and commas differently, I typed 5.04. Anthropic’s input system completely failed to sanitize or validate the data. Instead of throwing a formatting error or converting it properly, it silently stripped the decimal internally and instantly charged my credit card $504.00 USD instead of $5.04 USD. To make matters worse, there was no confirmation modal or review screen summarizing the final amount before processing the transaction. It was a single-click, instantaneous overcharge.
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