Good afternoon everyone, I hope your Presidents’ Day Weekend is off to a great start. I just spent the last hour or so reading about horror stories where people were scammed on Craigslist when they paid with Zelle (Tech Crunch and Reddit). Since I wrote a post on how to send money to friends (or other bank accounts) with Zelle, I felt that it was my duty to inform my readers about this scam.
After reading the Tech Crunch and Reddit posts, here is how the scam works. The buyer sees tickets on Craigslist and reaches out to the seller. The seller says they can transfer the tickets to the buyer immediately after payment is received and recommends using Zelle, since that is their preferred way to be paid. Luckily, the buyer has used Zelle in the past and *thinks* that since the service is offered by their bank and other big banks, that all transactions are protected. After the buyer pays the seller via Zelle, the seller disappears and stops responding to calls, texts, and emails. The buyer complains to their bank, but since Zelle is set up to pay friends and family members, there is no purchase protection offered through Zelle, therefore, their bank cannot help them recover their money.
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