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Fiascos and Fixes
Money transfer services, including Zelle, Venmo, and Cash App, are an instant way to make a disastrous mistake if a user isn’t careful. The Consumer Rescue advocacy team receives hundreds of complaints from desperate consumers who have lost hundreds and even thousands of dollars as a result of their own errors using these apps. Our team is
College student Shlome Goldenberg made a shockingly expensive but not at all uncommon, Zelle mistake recently. While attempting to repay a loan to a friend, he sent $2,500 to a complete stranger by accident. Worse, when he asked Chase Bank to refund the payment, he learned for the first time that voluntary Zelle transactions aren’t reversible.
Zelle users, beware: Scammers are aiming their sights right at you. It’s true – the money transfer service has quickly become the preferred method of thieves everywhere looking for instant cash. In fact, I receive daily pleas for help from bewildered victims of these Zelle scams.
Here are seven of the latest Zelle scams that you should know about in 2024.
An elaborate PayPal scam led an iPad thief directly to eBay seller Steven Sanderson’s front door. The brazen predator came disguised as a friendly eBay buyer willing to purchase the digital device from Sanderson for $650. And it was weeks before the fraudulent nature of this transaction became clear.
Now Sanderson’s iPad is gone and so is the money he made by “selling” it. He blames PayPal for this fiasco and wants our help getting his $650 back. But who really is responsible here?
All types of Zelle scams are reported to the Consumer Rescue advocacy team every week. Blindsided victims reach out to us, minutes too late – after they’ve sent their cash to cunning thieves through the instant money transfer app.
And although Zelle scams are a common theme with consumers who fill out our help form, it’s rare to hear from the thieves themselves. In fact, it’s unheard of.
That is, until this week. That’s when a criminal called me posing as a Bank of America executive. He tried his best to scam me into using Zelle to fix a problem he said the bank had detected.
What’s the safest thing to do if you receive an unexpected Zelle payment and then an angry stranger asks you to send it back?
That’s something Erin Scheithe wants to know. She recently received a surprising text that an unknown person had made a $925 Zelle payment to her. Soon after that, a panicked woman emailed pleading for the return of the misguided funds. But when Erin asked her bank for guidance, things really started going wrong.
Erin’s frustrating tale is one you’ll want to read if you have a cash app like Zelle or Venmo installed on your phone. Although these services can be a great way to send money to friends and family, they’re also a great way to lose a ton of cash. Here’s what you need to know to help you decide if a money transfer app is right for you.
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 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 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.
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.
Maria Witbrod wanted to add a new puppy to her family during the pandemic. But instead, a well-organized criminal operation led her into a costly and increasingly common pet scam.
$4,000 later, and with no dog to show for it, she’s asking if our advocacy team can help her.
But how?