Sending Money to “yourself” on Zelle Is a Scam
The essence of Zelle was to be able to make simple and fast transactions between friends and family who trust each other: you have no fraud protection (or any way to get your money back) once you send it through Zelle. So it didn’t take long for the scammers to recognize the opportunity and find a way to swindle money out of you, but get you to send it to yourself.
How does fraud work?
The scammer contacts you via SMS, phone or email. They usually say they’re from one of your banks, asking “Did you approve this $500 purchase?” technique. Since there is no actual transaction, people usually answer no (we’ve covered why you shouldn’t ). They then tell you that your money is being debited from your account and the solution is to transfer it by sending it to “yourself” via Zelle.
The trick here is that it will work on victims who are not very familiar with Zelle. The “banker” asks the victim to send money to an account that the scammer created in the name of the victim, but changed the phone number on the account to the scammer’s phone number. This way, when the victim sends money, it looks like they are sending their funds to themselves, but the money is actually going to the scammer’s number. It doesn’t matter what name is on the account – you can change your father’s contact name to “Barack Obama” if you like, but when you call the account it will always be your father. The phone number or email attached to the account is important.
How to avoid these scammers
If you’ve ever been contacted by a “bank” claiming funds are being debited from your account, never text back, call back, or respond to an email. Instead, call your financial institution’s official support number and ask if what you’re being told is true.
Also, never send money to Zelle to anyone you don’t know. Your bank cannot and most likely won’t help you if you sent money to someone via Zelle and it turned out to be a scam. This responsibility is yours, so be aware and keep learning about the latest tricks and scams to avoid being targeted.
What to do if you have been scammed
As we have said, there is nothing your bank can do to get your money back if you have given it through Zelle; however, some banks, such as Wells Fargo , have returned money to some victims. So it doesn’t hurt to tell your bank about it.
It is best to inform the officials about this. If the scam was committed online, file acomplaint with the Online Crime Complaint Center . If not, your best bet is to contact the Federal Trade Commission to report the scam.