Why You Shouldn’t Pay for Anything With Zelle
We tend to think that other people are being scammed and that we are too smart, informed, or cautious to fall for them. But we all have vulnerable moments when we can stumble – we just need the right message, subject or time. This has been happening a lot on Zelle lately.
How the Zelle scam works
A common tactic is to send you text in the format used by most banks:
FreeMsg: CAPITAL ONE BANK Fraud Protection Team: Have you tried to transfer $500 worth of Zelle on 07/10/2022? Answer YES or NO. To opt out of a fraud alert STOP text response
If you just sent money that day, this message may seem legitimate. And if you interact with the message ( which is also a trap, by the way ), they will contact you to verify your personal information. This is the part that fools a lot of people : if you verify your username or password with them, they will have what they need to merge your account.
Another trendy scam is selling an item on an online marketplace like OfferUp, Craigslist, or Facebook Marketplace, but the seller only accepts payment on Zelle. Because Zelle is designed to send money quickly to family and friends—that is, personal transfers instead of sales transactions—there’s none of the protection you might expect from credit cards or sites like PayPal. You cannot call Zelle or your bank and explain that you want your money back.
What to do if you receive a call or a message from “your bank”
If you receive a message/call from “your bank”:
- Be skeptical. Know that your bank will never call you to ask for your personal information. They already have it.
- Whatever they want, hang up or ignore the text and call the official number. Check with the bank if what they tell you is true.
And if you want to buy from the online marketplace:
- If the seller only accepts Zelle, there is a 99.99% chance of a scam. Let it go.
- Ask to use other services such as PayPal ‘s “goods and services”, where both your money and the seller’s item are protected by PayPal’s third-party money transfer service. The fee is small, but worth it.