It’s hardly surprising that a straightforward math brainteaser has gone viral online in the digital era, where information spreads like wildfire. The $100 puzzle has received millions of views and generated a lot of discussion among puzzle fans. It asks users to determine how much money a store lost after a criminal stole a $100 cash and then made a purchase.

A seemingly simple scenario is presented in the brain teaser, which was shared on X (previously Twitter) by an account called Out of Context Human Race. After stealing a $100 money from the register of a store, a man uses it to purchase $70 worth of products and gets $30 in change. “How much money did the store lose?” is the next inquiry.

As the brain teaser gained traction online, a multitude of responses flooded the comments section. Some individuals confidently stated that the store lost $100, while others argued that the net loss was actually $130, taking into account the stolen $100 and the $30 in change. A few even suggested that the store’s overall loss depended on the profit margins of the individual transactions.