ZELLE users are being warned against ‘impersonation scams’ that can leave you penniless.
Scammers are using every trick in the book to rob Zelle users of their hard-earned cash, including pretending to be someone else.
This is known as an impersonation or imposter scam and there are many variations of it.
How does an imposter scam work?
In its most basic form, a scammer pretends to be someone you trust to convince you to send them money.
This can include a relative, a close friend, a boss or employee, and even an institution – like a bank or phone carrier.
In some cases, a scammer will pretend to be your credit card company or a government agency.
Once a scammer has chosen their fake identity, they will typically reach out to urgently ask for money.
And because the request comes from someone a person thinks they know, there is a good chance they will send the money immediately.
The request will likely come from social media or email – although it can show up as SMS – and ask you to pay through Zelle.
Portraying a sense of urgency is key for scammers because this prevents people from thinking twice or questioning the request.
Sometimes, scammers may even pretend to be from Zelle, sending an email with a subject line that says, “Your transaction has been refused,” per BeenVerified.
“This is a hoax since a Zelle transaction cannot fail because there is no…
