A single mom from Spring Branch has fallen victim to a Zelle scam, losing a staggering $8,000 from her bank account. 😢 #CommunityAlert #OnlineSafety #StopScams
– Millions of people use Zelle, the money transfer service, to send money electronically instead of using cash or checks. Many individuals have Zelle accounts through major banks like Chase or Bank of America.
Cindy Little received an alert on Dec. 26, the day after Christmas, notifying her that an unknown recipient had been added to her Zelle account. Already, $1,000 had been withdrawn without her knowledge. Fortunately, Chase Bank acknowledged the fraud and returned the money promptly. Over the next three days, the scam artists continuously hacked Cindy’s Zelle account. They managed to withdraw $1,500, followed by $5,400, and then an additional $1,000, totaling $7,900. Shockingly, all of these transactions occurred after Cindy had already reported the fraudulent activity.
“Finally, at one point they said, ‘You probably should just admit that this was you that did this,’” Cindy said.