HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — An Alabama woman says she had thousands of dollars stolen after a scammer in the guise of a bank employee used the Zelle app to siphon money from her account.
The Better Business Bureau of North Alabama is advising everyone to watch out for the scam involving the popular mobile wallet Zelle. Scammers pretend to be with your bank, then trick you into transferring your hard-earned money to them.
The money transfer app is used by some of the nation’s largest banks, such as Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo. However, Zelle is fast becoming a tool for scammers and, because many of the large financial institutions liken Zelle transfers to cash exchanges, the transactions don’t get the same protection that credit and debit cards do.
Huntsville resident Katherine Bucy said she received a phone call from a scammer just minutes after she walked out of the bank.
“Suddenly my phone rang,” Bucy said. “It said it was from Wells Fargo customer service, so I answered it.”
The person on the other end said that someone was trying to send themselves thousands of dollars from her account. Bucy, a single mother with a full-time job and attending school, gave them the information they needed to protect the account.
“I put in my…
