Greg's Corner

Tagged: US Bank Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

• 

  Geebo 9:00 am on November 28, 2022 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: customer service ( 50 ), Early Warning Systems, impersonation scam ( 141 ), Scams ( 1,328 ), US Bank, Zelle ( 65 )   

  Why do Zelle scam victims only get repaid after talking to the media? 

  

  By Greg Collier

  It’s been more than a year now since the Zelle scam started garnering headlines. In that time, it doesn’t seem like Zelle’s parent company has done much in the way of protecting its users. If you’ll recall, Zelle is owned by a company ironically called Early Warning Systems. In turn, EWS is owned by Bank of America, Truist, Capital One, JPMorgan Chase, PNC Bank, U.S. Bank, and Wells Fargo. You’d think between these banking heavy hitters, they’d be able to come up with a way to discourage scammers, yet here we are.

  While there are many scams that have plagued Zelle in the past year or so, we’re referring to the one where scammers pose as your bank. In this scam, victims receive a text message that asks them if they’ve made a large purchase or transfer recently. The victim is asked to respond with either a yes or no. Once the victim responds, the text message is followed up with a phone call. Posing as the victim’s bank’s fraud department, the scammers will direct the victim to either move their money or ‘pay themselves’ through Zelle to protect their bank account. What’s really happening is the scammers are walking the victim through the process of sending money to the scammers through Zelle.

  The banks, such as the ones listed above, have not been consumer-friendly when it comes to helping customers who have been scammed. Typically, these banks throw up their hands and say there’s nothing they can do. Instead, they claim since the victim authorized the transfer, even under false pretenses, the bank is under no obligation to refund the victim’s money.

  However, as we have shown, some victims have gotten their money back, but only after going to their local media. That’s exactly what happened to a family from Northern California when they fell victim to the Zelle scam. They were saving money for their daughter, who is disabled and training to be a para-equestrian. Initially, US Bank said there was no fraud, and there was nothing they could do. Then, after sharing their story with a local news station, US Bank mysteriously issued a refund. This begs the question of why do banks seem to only offer refunds when bad PR is involved? Also, what is it going to take for them to put in more safeguards to help prevent these scams?

  Please keep in mind, Zelle is only supposed to be used between friends and family, people you know personally. Any business or stranger that asks you to pay through Zelle could be trying to scam you. Your bank is also never going to ask you to move your money using Zelle.

  If you find yourself becoming a victim to this scam, the first thing you should do is file a police report immediately. While it’s not a guarantee of a refund, it does go a long way in helping. And if you’re not receiving the fair treatment you think you deserve from your bank, don’t be afraid to contact the consumer advocate reporter in your local area.

   

  Leave a ReplyCancel reply
• 

  Geebo 8:00 am on August 24, 2022 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: bank fraud ( 22 ), bank scam ( 70 ), customer support ( 23 ), Scams ( 1,328 ), US Bank, Zelle ( 65 )   

  Zelle says they’re just the messenger when it comes to scams 

  

  By Greg Collier

  As you may know, Zelle is the personal payment app that’s consistently been used in various scams for the past year. Zelle’s parent company is also co-owned by the nation’s leading banks, who consistently look for reasons to deny assistance to scam victims. Although it’s entirely within their right to do so, it’s also bad PR. At what point will the platform itself need to step in since its customers are constantly being taken advantage of?

  For example, a man from the Kansas City area recently fell victim to the classic Zelle scam. It’s a shame we can call it the classic Zelle scam, but here’s how it works. A victim will receive a text message that appears to come from their bank. The text asks if a large purchase or transaction has been made lately and asks the recipient to respond yes or no. Once the recipient of the text responds no, the scam really begins.

  The victim will then receive a phone call that spoofs their bank’s phone number. The scammer, posing as the bank’s fraud department, will tell the victim their bank account has been compromised. Under the guise of protecting the victim’s account, they’ll be walked through a Zelle transaction that’s actually sending the money to the scammer’s bank account.

  The Kansas City man lost $2500 to the scammers. He attempted to contact his bank, in this case U.S. Bank, to try to get his money back. So far, the bank has refused. Even after going to his local media, the bank has still refused a refund. When the local media contacted Zelle about it, they were told that Zelle is essentially a messaging service when it comes to these transactions and scam victims will have to work through their banks. U.S. Bank is one of the banks that co-owns Zelle’s parent company.

  Reactions like this should get bank customers to uninstall the Zelle app, but too many banks have Zelle baked in to their own app. This, in turn, makes a large number of bank customers vulnerable to scams just so the banks can push Zelle on them, since the banks are tired of losing business to other payment apps like Venmo and Cash App. Essentially, if you want to use your bank’s regular app, you’re forced to deal withe vulnerabilities of Zelle. It’s almost like the banks are holding their customers hostage.

  To better protect your bank account, keep in mind that Zelle is only supposed to be used between friends and family. Your bank will never ask you to use Zelle if your account has been compromised. If you receive one of these phone calls, hang up and contact your bank directly at the phone number on the back of your debit card.

   
• 

  Geebo 8:00 am on August 3, 2022 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: bank fraud ( 22 ), bank scam ( 70 ), PNC Bank ( 3 ), Scams ( 1,328 ), US Bank, Zelle ( 65 )   

  How Zelle scammers wear down their victims 

  

  By Greg Collier

  As expected, the Zelle scam is still ongoing. For a brief recap, scammers are calling their victims pretending to be a bank fraud department. The scammers tell their victim that there’s been fraudulent activity on their account. The victim is instructed to move their money through the Zelle app to protect it. But what’s really going on is the scammers are directing the victims to transfer their money to the scammers.

  Just today, we found two reports of bank customers falling for the Zelle scam. However, both of these reports give us a good look into how scammers convince their victims to give up their money.

  A woman from New Jersey is a customer of PNC Bank, one of the banks that co-owns the Zelle app. She received a call from scammers posing as PNC Bank’s fraud department. The caller was said to sound professional and told the woman there had been a $1000 Zelle, transfer to a man in Texas she didn’t know. The caller even knew the woman’s name, address and phone number. She was told to use the Zelle app to perform a $1000 reversal.

  The woman started to think the call was suspicious and started asking for additional identifying information from the caller, such as her date of birth or account number. The caller insisted the call was legitimate and time was running out on stopping the phony transaction. The caller refused when she asked to speak with a supervisor. She even said she was going to call PNC directly, but was told she would just be directed back to the fraud department. Then the caller tried to say there was another $5000 charge that just came through. When she started asking more questions, the caller said PNV would call her back tomorrow and hung up.

  A man from Colorado fell victim to a similar scam when he received a call that appeared to come from U.S. Bank’s fraud department. U.S. Bank is also a co-owner of Zelle. That caller had a large amount of the man’s information, including his name, address, and the last four digits of his bank account. Again, that caller sounded professional, and the man heard computer typing in the background like they were really handling a fraudulent activity on his account. He was also instructed to move his money through Zelle, where he lost $1000. These scammers also tried to get more money out of the man, That’s when he hung up and called U.S. Bank directly to find out he’d been scammed.

  In both cases, neither bank would refund the victims their money, with both claiming they can’t do anything since this wasn’t the result of a banking mistake.

  Please keep in mind that scammers aren’t just some guy calling from a run down basement using a burner phone. Often, they’re run exactly like a legitimate business would be run. Don’t fall for phony professionalism.

  And remember, Zelle is only supposed to be used between friends. It’s not for bill paying or ‘protecting your money’. If you get a call like this, hang up and call your bank directly at the phone number on your debit card or from the bank’s website.