#Do no harm but take no bull how to

'You fell for that?' - Gary Cohen 🤣 /uyPfDVESMj- Awful Announcing ApHow can I protect myself from Zelle scams? Keith Hernandez tells a harrowing tale of almost falling for a phishing scam. A woman in Lorain, Ohio, faced threats of service disconnection from someone posing as her electric company, who then asked her for Zelle payments to keep the power on. If you respond, the fraudsters follow up with a phone call, pretending to be your bank and guiding you through the process of transferring money.Īlong with masquerading as your bank, scammers might also pose as institutions such as utility companies.

#Do no harm but take no bull how to

They walk the caller through bogus instructions on how to reverse the unauthorized claims that instead actually transfer money to the criminals.Īnother popular scam starts with a message claiming that your bank account has been compromised and that you need to take action immediately to resolve the problem. When the user replies that they didn't authorize the transfer, the scammer follows up with a phone call pretending to represent the bank and spoofing the financial institution's phone number. Scammers use false claims and representations to get people to unknowingly authorize money transfers.Ī common scam involves an email or text message asking a user to confirm a large, fake Zelle payment. Most of the reported Zelle scams consist of pure social engineering: manipulating people with fraudulent information and scare tactics. Transactions are instant and irreversible once complete, making Zelle very attractive to criminals. Zelle allows users to send money electronically to anyone: All you need is a recipient's email address or US phone number to transfer funds. Customers whose banks don't support Zelle can connect a debit card with the Zelle app. In 2021, people sent $490 billion through Zelle.Ĭreated to compete with other electronic payment services like PayPal, Venmo and Cash App, Zelle lets banks handle casual electronic transfers without paying any fees to third parties. Zelle charges no fees and works with about 1,700 banks and credit unions. Zelle is available to 100 million banking customers (whether they know it or not).

Launched in June 2017, Zelle is a peer-to-peer, or P2P, payment service owned by Early Warning Services - a consortium of major US banks, including Bank of America, Chase, Capital One and Wells Fargo.