Fraudsters Instruct Victims to Zelle Them Money, Banks Say: Not their Responsibility

By Yehudit Garmaise

Consumers love payment apps like Zelle because they’re free, fast, and convenient, however, the apps’ immediate and irreversible money transfers have made them a favorite of scammers, as well.

Some bankers call the now common fraud: the “me-to-me” scam, which starts with a text message that appears to come from the fraud department of the victim’s bank. In the text message, victims are asked to verify recent Zelle payments.  

When victims text back, “no,” moments later, they are called from number whose caller IDs also identify the numbers as coming from victims' banks.

Then, the callers, who identifies themselves as employees of victims' banks, says that “thieves are trying to empty their bank accounts using Zelle.” The only way to stop the transactions, callers say, is for the victims to send money back to themselves.

The thieves, however, have already linked their bank accounts, often at the same bank as the victims, to the phone numbers or email addresses of the victims: whichever of the two victims do not have linked to their accounts.

When scammers instruct victims to send hundreds or thousands of dollars into their “own accounts,” victims are actually sending money that cannot be returned directly into to scammers’ accounts.

To get around banks’ two-factor authentication process, scammers simply ask their victims to read out the verification codes the bank sends to their phones. 

In contrast to other fraudulent charges and withdrawals, banks say that returning money to defrauded customers is not their responsibility because the victims authorized and sent the money themselves. 

“We encourage customers to be alert to suspicious messages that appear to come from Citibank [and other banks],” said Drew Benson, a spokesman for Citi. “If a customer does receive such a message, we urge them not to respond, click on links, open attachments, or sign on to their account from a link. They should immediately delete the message and contact us.”

Peter Tapling, a payments consultant, suggested that customers treat Zelle as they would cash. 

“Don’t hit the button to send this money unless you would hand [the recipient] $100 and walk away, because the moment you send it: it’s gone,” Tapling said.