“Sending money through Zelle is equivalent to sending cash,” Alexander added. As soon as the transfer went through, the seller assured the Zelle user the tickets would show up in a matter of minutes.īy the time the Zelle user realized he’d been duped, the scammer had disappeared, along with the money. In one account, a Zelle user transferred money for concert tickets to a seller who had given him a name, email address and phone number. Several Zelle users have complained that they lost hundreds, even thousands of dollars, when they used Zelle to buy concert tickets or other goods online (again, mainly via Craigslist), according to a report in Techcrunch. With money going straight from one bank to another, some people assumed their transactions were both fraud- and purchase-protected, as is often the case when using a credit card. What’s tricky with Zelle is that it’s backed by dozens of banks and is even included in some banks' mobile apps themselves. With Zelle, which partners with 60 financial institutions including major banks such as Wells Fargo and Bank of America, the scam went the opposite direction - it was mainly buyers who were duped.
Venmo, which is now owned by PayPal, says "we’ve taken steps to significantly strengthen our privacy and data security practices." What you need to know about Zelle Many victims filed police reports, to no avail. In other cases, sellers handed over just-released iPhone Xs or prized Hermès handbags. In some cases, buyers used stolen credit cards or hacked accounts - which the payments company then reversed - leaving sellers with neither their precious possession or any money for them. But shortly after, the buyer had Venmo reverse the charges, leaving the seller with no item, no payment and no recourse. The seller apparently waited to hand the precious kicks over until he saw the money transferred to his Venmo account. The Verge detailed one of the most notorious examples of a scam last November, when an L.A.-area man listed a set of limited-edition Yeezy Zebra sneakers, a collaboration between Adidas and Kanye West, on Craigslist for $13,550. According to the FTC report, one of the biggest complaints revolved around Venmo showing deposits made to accounts, which were later reversed. PayPal, Venmo’s parent company, recently settled a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission over issues related to the security and privacy of customer transactions.
It is not a payment platform for the purchase of goods and services,” says Lou Anne Alexander, group president for payments at Early Warning, the network behind Zelle. “Zelle is intended as a replacement for cash and checks and for sending money to individuals you know. Easy money, easy targetĪt the core of the issue? You’re not supposed to use these apps with anyone you don’t know personally.
#Zello app scam android
Most are free to use, work with iOS and Android devices and take less than five minutes to set up. To send cash, type in someone’s email or phone number - or pull it right from your contacts list - add the dollar amount, push submit and you’re done.
#Zello app scam download
The way most P2P apps work is similar: Download the free app onto your smartphone, sign up and connect to your bank account or credit-card number. It saves the hassle of stopping off at an ATM every time you go out, not to mention the risk of walking around with a wad of cash in your wallet. I’ve used these apps to split the bill at dinner, pay my mom back for an impromptu clothes shopping spree and divvy-up class project costs for kids.
use them, and that number rises close to 80% for young adults ages 18 to 34, according to a survey by Mercator Advisory Group. Thieves have stolen cash from users via both Venmo and Zelle in similar scams in the past few years. They are so quick and convenient, it likely comes as no surprise that scammers have homed in on ways to exploit the system. If you’re like more than half of Americans these days, you’re likely using a peer-to-peer payment platform such as Venmo, Zelle or Cash App to send someone Watch Video: Beware scammers on payment apps
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