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Michelle Couch-Friedman

Consumer reporter and ombudsman columnist

Michelle Couch-Friedman is the founder and CEO of Consumer Rescue. She is a journalist, consumer advocate, travel writer, mediator, and former psychotherapist. Michelle is also the travel ombudsman columnist for The Points Guy, contributing author at Fodor's Travel and previously served as the executive director of the nonprofit Elliott Advocacy. During her six years managing that organization, she resolved thousands of cases for troubled travelers and other consumers. You can read hundreds of 5-star reviews Michelle earned during her service to the nonprofit on Great Nonprofits. Michelle is a public speaker, and her expert guidance has been cited in the Washington Post, MarketWatch, Consumer Reports, Travel & Leisure, the Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Popular Science, CNN, CNBC, Boston Globe, CBS News, National Geographic, Travel Weekly, Reader's Digest and more. You might even catch Michelle on TV reporting on a situation. :) Professionally, Michelle is a member of the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW) and the American Society of Journalists and Authors (asja). Today, she continues to spend as much time as possible fiercely defending consumers and traveling the world. Contact her at Michelle Couch-Friedman or on Linkedin, Twitter or Facebook.
Consumer alert about the fake job scam on LinkedIn, Zelle job scam, scammers lurking on LinkedIn offering jobs that don't exist.

How a fake job scam on LinkedIn cost a college student $9,000

Could you fall for a fake job scam?

If you’re like Sam Erin, you probably answered “no!” She’s a college-educated young adult who was sure she knew how to spot a con game. That is until a phony employment crime ring preyed on her naivety and stole nearly $9,000 from her.

Now, after draining her bank account, the scammers have vanished, leaving Erin jobless and cashless. She’s hoping our advocacy team can help. But how?

If a stranger sends you money, should you keep it? This Zelle user wishes he had.

Surprise! A stranger just sent money to you through Zelle. Now what?

If a stranger sends you money by mistake, do you have any obligation to give it back? If so, how do you do it without exposing yourself to a scam? And if you transfer money to the wrong person using Zelle, is there any possible way to fix your mistake?

These are not uncommon dilemmas faced by users of cash apps like Zelle and Venmo in 2022. Along with the increasing popularity and convenience of instant money transfer services came a dramatic rise in pricey user errors. Unfortunately, our attempts to investigate and resolve many of these cases have exposed some disturbing flaws in the programs.

Minh Tran is just one of the many desperate Zelle users who’ve recently asked our team for help. In his case, a stranger’s mistake set off a frustrating and confusing chain of events that almost cost him $360.

Could a cash app mistake turn deadly? It appears so.

This is how a cash app mistake could easily turn deadly!

Could a cash app mistake eventually escalate to violence? Based on some of the emotionally charged pleas for help our team has received lately, it seems possible. And after you hear the details of Brian Yu’s recent money transfer fiasco, I think you’ll agree.

Zelle mistakes, Zelle errors. Sending money to the wrong person by mistake with the Zelle app. Fixing Zelle problems.

What can you do if you sent money to a stranger by mistake?

What if you sent $500 to the wrong person by mistake and that person refused to give back your money? That’s the shocking situation in which Rossin Asilo recently found herself.

Using the money transfer app Zelle for the first time, Asilo made a simple typo entering her friend’s phone number. That error dropped the cash intended for a memorial donation into the wrong person’s bank account. Unfortunately, that stranger appears to view the transaction as a $500 windfall and will not return the money.

Now Asilo is hoping that our advocacy team can find a way to get her money back. But that request might just prove to be an impossible task.

If someone steals money from your PayPal account, how can you get it back?

Someone took money from my PayPal account! How can I get it back?

Someone just took a lot of money from Isaac Benzadon’s PayPal account without his permission — and he wants it back.

Benzadon assumed that PayPal’s alert warning him of the giant unauthorized transaction meant his $1,200 was safe. Unfortunately, he was wrong.

Now he’s banking on our team to retrieve the money someone took from his PayPal account.

Don't fall for this vacation rental scam -- never use Zelle to pay.

How to easily lose $500 to a vacation rental scam? Pay with Zelle

Falling for a vacation rental scam surely is not at the top of your list of things to do this summer. It certainly wasn’t in Don Boyk’s plans. But that’s exactly what happened when a thief disguised as a Vrbo host persuaded him to send a $500 deposit via Zelle.

His cash was soon in the hands of the scammer and Vrbo informed him the listing was fraudulent. 

Now Don hopes we can find a way to save him from this vacation rental scam and retrieve his money.

But if a consumer uses Zelle to send cash to a stranger, is there any way to get it back? 

Buyer's remorse is not a valid reason to report a credit card charge as fraudulent. This is why

This is why you should never dispute a valid credit card charge

Warning: Buyer’s remorse is never a valid reason to report a credit card charge as fraudulent. But that’s exactly what Philip Paul did when he came down with the post-purchase blues after he bought a vacation club membership. Now he wants to know if our advocacy team can help unravel this mess.

Why Did Hertz put this customer on the Do Not Rent List?

How can I get off of the Do Not Rent list?! This isn’t my mistake

Heather Steele just landed on the Do Not Rent list of her favorite car rental company — Hertz. She says she’s been a great customer of Hertz for many years and the banishment has her flabbergasted. But a dispute over a prepaid car rental refund sent her account to collections and earned her a spot on the blacklist.

Now Steele is asking our advocacy team to step in and clear her name. She wants to be removed from the Do Not Rent list and have Hertz return her account to good standing.

Can we do it?