HOW TO USE ZELLE HOW TO

Watch for 'urgent' deadlines or requests from new recipients If you've given some personal info out because of the phishing attempt, you can work with your bank to protect your account. Instead, call your financial institution directly to inquire about your account and any potential security issues.Īssuming there are no problems with your account, you can also inform your bank that you've been phished. If you receive a message that says it's from your bank, but you didn't contact them first, don't respond.

This advice holds true for all suspected scams, not just ones involving Zelle.

Don't respond to unsolicited text messages or emails Since most Zelle scams are socially engineered, there are concrete steps you can take to avoid them. 'You fell for that?' - Gary Cohen 🤣 /uyPfDVESMj- Awful Announcing ApHow can I protect myself from Zelle scams? Keith Hernandez tells a harrowing tale of almost falling for a phishing scam. A woman in Lorain, Ohio, faced threats of service disconnection from someone posing as her electric company, who then asked her for Zelle payments to keep the power on. If you respond, the fraudsters follow up with a phone call, pretending to be your bank and guiding you through the process of transferring money.Īlong with masquerading as your bank, scammers might also pose as institutions such as utility companies.

HOW TO USE ZELLE HOW TO

They walk the caller through bogus instructions on how to reverse the unauthorized claims that instead actually transfer money to the criminals.Īnother popular scam starts with a message claiming that your bank account has been compromised and that you need to take action immediately to resolve the problem. When the user replies that they didn't authorize the transfer, the scammer follows up with a phone call pretending to represent the bank and spoofing the financial institution's phone number. Scammers use false claims and representations to get people to unknowingly authorize money transfers.Ī common scam involves an email or text message asking a user to confirm a large, fake Zelle payment. Most of the reported Zelle scams consist of pure social engineering: manipulating people with fraudulent information and scare tactics. Transactions are instant and irreversible once complete, making Zelle very attractive to criminals. Zelle allows users to send money electronically to anyone: All you need is a recipient's email address or US phone number to transfer funds. Customers whose banks don't support Zelle can connect a debit card with the Zelle app. In 2021, people sent $490 billion through Zelle.Ĭreated to compete with other electronic payment services like PayPal, Venmo and Cash App, Zelle lets banks handle casual electronic transfers without paying any fees to third parties. Zelle charges no fees and works with about 1,700 banks and credit unions. Zelle is available to 100 million banking customers (whether they know it or not). You can cancel a payment that is scheduled in advance if the money has not already been deducted from your account.Launched in June 2017, Zelle is a peer-to-peer, or P2P, payment service owned by Early Warning Services - a consortium of major US banks, including Bank of America, Chase, Capital One and Wells Fargo. Scheduled or recurring payments sent directly to your recipient’s account number (instead of an email address or mobile number) are made available by but are a separate service from Zelle ® and can take one to three business days to process. If you aren't able to get your money back, please call our customer service team at so we can help you. If you sent money to the wrong person, we recommend contacting the recipient and requesting the money back.

This is why it's important to only send money to people you trust, and always ensure you've used the correct email address or U.S. If the person you sent money to has already enrolled with Zelle ®, the money is sent directly to their bank account and cannot be canceled. To check whether the payment is still pending because the recipient hasn't yet enrolled, you can go to your activity page, choose the payment you want to cancel and then select 'Cancel This Payment.' You can only cancel a payment if the person you sent money to hasn't yet enrolled with Zelle ®.

How to use zelle