ABC Owned Television Stations first reported on widespread Zelle schemes involving Bank of America customers, but scammers are taking advantage of the platform’s instantaneous, irreversible transactions — and the federal government’s ambiguous regulations — to get more creative in their ploys.
In the latest development, fraudsters are now posing as Wells Fargo bank employees to solicit money.
Our sister station KGO-TV reported that Cynthia Marin of Concord, California, received a text asking if she had approved a Zelle transaction to “TRAVIS” for $3,500. She replied, “No.”
Soon after, she received a call from a Wells Fargo number. This was likely an instance of spoofing, meaning the caller deliberately falsified the information transmitted to Marin’s caller ID display.
VIDEO: Chase customer loses total of $7,000 in Zelle scam: Here’s what you need to know
Marin said the woman on the other line told her that someone was withdrawing money in her name, and she needed to quickly send funds back into her account through Zelle to stop it.
The scammer then instructed Marin to begin the transfer by typing her first and last name in the “Add Recipient” field and leaving the field for her email or phone number blank.
Once the transfer was processed, Marin received a notification from Zelle that “Cynthia Marin” was…
