In 1872, one misplaced comma cost the U.S. Government $2 million. To put that in perspective,

today that comma would be worth over $50 million.

The tiny error was made in the US Tariff Act, instead of making tropical ‘fruit-plants’

[that’s fruit hyphen plants, meaning plants that bear fruit] exempt from tariffs, the

act used the wording ‘fruit, plants’ [that’s fruit comma plants]. That rogue comma mean

all tropical fruit and plants were free from charge.

The government did eventually correct the typo, but until after two years of lost revenue.

Source: Business Insider, International Business Times

09. Japanese Sock Exchange

The Japanese Mizuho [mitz-uh-ho] Securities Co, a division of the second largest bank

in Japan, lost millions in a typo related error in 2005.

While trying to sell shares of a recruiting agency on the Japanese Stock Exchange, the

bank accidentally listed 610,000 shares as costing 1 yen each, rather than each share

costing 610,000 yen. No one seemed to notice the fact that 610,000 shares was actually

41 times the number available, either.

In less than a day, the company lost a quarter of a billion dollars - equivalent to the entire

profit it had made that year.

The mistake was attributed to ‘fat-finger’ syndrome; a term in the stock market for a

huge accidental blunder.

Source: CBS News, Financial Times

08. Airline Rickets

In 2006 Alitalia Airlines accidentally listed business-class flights from Toronto to Cyprus

at $39, instead of $3,900. Two thousand quick-thinking travelers took advantage of the mistake, booking

tickets as fast as they could.

When the airline tried to cancel the tickets, they suffered a massive backlash from their

customers. Worried about their reputation Alitalia decided to cut its losses and allow

the budget ticket holders to fly; a move which improved public relations, but cost the company

somewhere in the region of $7.2 million.

Source: Daily Mirror, CBC, National Post

07. The Brutish Government

The British Government accidentally listed Taylor & Sons Ltd., rather than Taylor & Son

Ltd. as a failing business approaching liquidation.

This extra ‘S’ in the name of the report caused a confusion between the failing company

and a respected engineering firm, which saw it’s clients back out of deals, its suppliers

cancel contracts and creditors withdrawing their agreement.

Two months after the typo report the 134-year-old family business was bankrupt, with 250 people

losing their jobs. Seen as a direct consequence of the British Government’s mistake Taylor

& Sons were awarded nearly $14 million in compensation in 2015.

Source: Daily Mail, Metro

06. Buying and Soiling

Between 1993 and 1994, stockbroker Juan Pablo Davila lost $206 million on the stock market

because of a simple typo.

The trader accidentally entered the shares he wanted to sell into the buy column on his

computer and lost $30 million. After realizing his costly mistake, Davila went on a buying

and selling spree, making 5,000 transactions with 23 brokers in less than 6 months - risking

up to $1.8 billion but finally losing a total of $206 million.

He eventually served 3 years in prison for his dubious financial prowess.

Source: LA Times, NY Times, ISLA 1997

05. Everyone’s A Weiner

In 2007, a car dealership thought it would be a great idea to drum up some customers

by sending out lottery tickets to locals. The idea was to send out 50,000 tickets with

just one winner of a $1,000.

Unfortunately, the marketing company responsible for making the tickets made a huge mistake.

They printed all 50,000 tickets as grand prize winners - essentially giving away $50 million.

Rather than pay out the fortune, the dealership apologized and offered $5 Wal-Mart gift cards.

Source: UPI, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

04. Lockheed Martini

When Lockheed Martin agreed to produce a military transport aircraft for an unnamed air force,

thought to be UK, Italy or Australia, they signed a very specific contract.

As the deal would require several years of manufacturing, the agreement stated that the

cost the planes would increase alongside inflation.

Unfortunately the formula that worked out the cost of the aircraft had a typo in it;

a comma that was one decimal place in the wrong direction. This typo would cause Lockheed

Martin to lose $70 million, as they were locked into the contract, and the customer, whoever

it was, wouldn’t agree to adjust the error.

Source: The Indian Express, CNN

03. Googol

Typosquatting is a controversial practice where people register slightly misspelled

versions of popular websites to generate hits and revenue, and, according to a Harvard study

in 2010, it can be very lucrative.

Researchers found that whenever someone types in the wrong address to go to a website, which

is about 0.7% of the time, they are normally redirected to a site covered in advertisements.

Going to ‘typo’ websites happens over 70 million times a day, costing the correctly

spelled domain tons of cash. In fact, as Google supply more than half the ads on the typo

sites, its estimated the search giant earns a whopping $500 million from the practice.

Source: New Scientist, Benjamin Edelman - Harvard University, The Register

02. Yellow Mages

In 1988 a Californian travel agency posted an advert in the Yellow Pages for ‘Exotic

travel’, but unfortunately a typo led to it advertising ‘erotic travel’ instead.

The agency’s reputation was destroyed, losing 80% of its existing customers and gaining

next to no new business because of the advertisement - aside from prank calls and heavy breathing

perverts.

Yellow Pages allegedly refused to issue a correction so the travel agency sued, and

won $18 million on the grounds of gross negligence.

Source: AP Newswire, The Daily Mirror

01. NASA Rackets

On July 22, 1962 the Mariner 1 space probe exploded shortly after liftoff, in one of

the most expensive typo related incidents in history.

NASA investigators concluded that the omission of a single hyphen in the guidance software

had led to a series of false course correction signals. The rocket was then deliberately

detonated to prevent the rocket crashing down in a populated area.

Political pressure to get the rocket in space was blamed for the rushed preparations; leading

to the typo’s presence. The rocket was worth between $80 and $150 million.

Source: Wired, NASA, Reliability in Scientific Research by IR Walker