Criminals tricking users into sending them money
Roseville, Calif. – It happens daily. Someone somewhere has become victim of a scam. You may even know someone that has lost a lot of money to scammers, maybe it’s even a family member. You might be thinking, “I would never fall for a scam.” Criminals today, however, are sophisticated, relentless and conniving.
Recently, Zelle scams have been in the news. Zelle is a peer-to-peer (P2P) payment method. Zelle is an easy way of sending money from one person to another in just minutes. Let’s say you want to send money to your grandson for his graduation. All you need to transfer the money is his mobile phone number or email address.
Last year 1.8 billion payments were made using Zelle. With so many people using Zelle, it’s no wonder that criminals are targeting their users. Criminals are tricking users into sending them money. Once you send money using Zelle you have very little recourse in getting your money bank. Since scam victims willingly send money to the scammers, banks and credit unions are not responsible for money lost.
Take precautions when using Zelle and other peer-to-peer payment methods.
- Only send money to people you know and trust. Never Zelle yourself. Once you send money through Zelle you cannot cancel it. It’s like sending cash.
- Make sure you have the correct email address or mobile phone number for your recipient. Double check to make sure the recipient hasn’t changed their email or phone number…
