Scammers used payment networks like Cash App, QuickPay, Venmo and Zelle to bilk families and businesses out of more than $27,000 in January 2022
CHICAGO, February 24, 2022–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The popularity of mobile payment apps like Cash App and Venmo is giving rise to incidents of scammers using these digital networks to bilk ComEd customers out of their hard-earned money. ComEd urges customers to be aware of these new scam attempts so they identify and avoid them.
In January 2022, ComEd received more than 240 reports of scams from customers, a more than 150-percent increase from January 2021. Even worse, the amount of money reported lost to successful scams rose dramatically to more than $27,000 in January 2022, 20 times more than January 2021.
Scammers are contacting ComEd customers by phone, although some contacts can be made by text or email, demanding payment to a particular account under the threat of immediate service disconnection. The imposter will instruct the customer to use a mobile payment app, which often have higher transaction limits than pre-paid cash cards.
“The ease of using mobile pay apps has made the process of scamming customers more efficient for imposters,” said Melissa Washington, ComEd’s chief customer officer and senior vice president of customer operations. “As scammers alter their schemes, ComEd will be there to alert customers of the latest attempts to con them out of money and personal information.”
“Scammers keep adding new tools like…
