Greg's Corner

Marketplace leads victim into two Zelle scams

By Greg Collier

Whenever you list something online for sale, no matter what platform you use, there is an inherent risk of being scammed. Some platforms, such as Facebook Marketplace, are riskier than others. When a Baltimore man tried to sell a couch on Marketplace, he ended up being targeted by two different Zelle scams.

For context, Zelle is a personal payment app co-owned by some of the largest banks in the U.S. Your bank’s app may already have Zelle included without you even knowing. The Zelle app is actually very convenient if you or a loved one are in a jam and need some quick money. Then again, that’s the point of Zelle. It’s supposed to used between friends and family. However, scammers have adopted Zelle as one of their ways of getting money out of their victims.

When the Baltimore man listed his couch on Marketplace for $100, the buyer wanted to pay through Zelle. The man received an email that appeared to come from Zelle. The email said the man needed a Zelle Business Account to accept the payment. To achieve that, the man would need to ask the buyer for $300 and then return $200 to the buyer. Not only is there no such thing as a Zelle business account, this is a known scam among online sellers. Any time a buyer or someone acting on behalf of the buyer asks you to return money, it’s a swindle. If the seller had gone through with this payment, he would have lost $200.

The man felt like he was being scammed, so he decided to call Zelle customer service to verify that. He is said to have googled the phone number for Zelle and called them. Except it wasn’t Zelle. The customer service number he found on Google, actually went to a scam call center. Scammers often take out ads or use shady search engine optimization (SEO) tactics to get their scam numbers list above the legitimate ones. This call center ended up emptying the man’s bank account of $6000.

When selling online, it’s best to avoid accepting payment on apps like Venmo, Cash App, or Zelle. While these apps are great when used normally, they’re too vulnerable to scams like this. More often than not, the companies or banks behind the app will not return money lost in a scam. It’s better to have a policy of only accepting cash.