Pennsylvania State Police Warn Of New Zelle Scam
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- State police are reminding Pennsylvanians to be vigilant about scams involving peer-to-peer payment applications like Zelle, Venmo and Cash App.
State police said they're aware of a new scam going around the state involving Zelle. It's called the "Zelle Scam".
The app allows you to send money to and from each other through your bank. It's a convenient way to handle money, but it can also turn into a big headache if you fall victim to a fraudster.
It starts out as a text message claiming to be your bank's fraud department. The message claims you have a suspicious payment through Zelle and asks you to verify the transfer. If the victim responds to the text, the fraudster then calls the victim claiming to be from the fraud department and asks for your username to verify your identity.
"They may ask for additional information, including notifying the victim they'll be receiving a one-time code to their phone and a possible notification from Zelle about a transfer that just occurred or occurred in the past," said Trooper Cliff Greenfield with Troop A.
State police said these notifications are legit, but the key here is the fraudster knows about them. What the fraudster is doing is walking the victim through the process to reset the victim's account password. Once the password is reset, your bank account can be emptied in a matter of minutes.
State police are offering these recommendations:
State police said if you fall victim to a scam, report it to your local police department.
