# Scam with Zelle?



## New Mexico Brant (Feb 10, 2022)

I have heard to scams with people requesting you pay with Zelle but the item never arrives.  Or scammers fish for your account info and password and drain your account.  Yesterday I had someone want to buy a $2,500 saddle; they were going to pay with Zelle.  The immediate red flag was that they wanted it overnighted and were offering an additional $200 ($2,700 total) for the overnight shipping.  Once you receive a Zelle payment can it be withdrawn?  Anyone else encounter a similar situation with this payment method?


----------



## rustystone2112 (Feb 10, 2022)

I use Zelle all the time never had any negative issues


----------



## catfish (Feb 10, 2022)




----------



## Ricker (Feb 10, 2022)

I haven't used it much but I do know that there is a few days of "float" when it comes from certain types of accounts- I don't remember which was which but a savings account transfer will be different than a checking account transfer. One of the transfers is instant and the other takes a few days. I wonder if there is the stolen credit card zelle transfer also, which would be similar to any stolen credit card, where the seller is out and the victim of the stolen card does not need to pay.

Just my thoughts- quite possibly wrong. I will only use it with someone I trust.


----------



## catfish (Feb 10, 2022)




----------



## Freqman1 (Feb 10, 2022)

Brant I’ve never dealt with Zelle but I go with my gut. V/r Shawn


----------



## Junkman Bob (Feb 10, 2022)

Easy Solution !!!! Use Cash … Easy and simple


----------



## WetDogGraphix (Feb 10, 2022)

Here you go...









						The Risks Associated with Using Zelle Payment Service & How to Avoid Being a Victim | Alexander's Blog
					

People have been using PayPal and other services for quite some time to send money to not just friends and family members, but also to purchase products online. The service, however, is not free. PayPal charges a fee for its service, which is a set percentage of the amount that's transferred...



					www.zubairalexander.com


----------



## Junkman Bob (Feb 10, 2022)

I don’t know much about it tho ….


----------



## dogdart (Feb 10, 2022)




----------



## bikewhorder (Feb 10, 2022)

IDk. It makes sense that someone would need their antique bicycle saddle shipped next day air. Ya gotta get it before it gets any older!


----------



## fordmike65 (Feb 10, 2022)

I only use Zelle with people I know well. Same goes with PP FF.

With that said... @New Mexico Brant Where the Hell is my $2500 saddle?!?!? 😂


----------



## New Mexico Brant (Feb 10, 2022)

fordmike65 said:


> I only use Zelle with people I know well. Same goes with PP FF.
> 
> With that said... @New Mexico Brant Where the Hell is my saddle?!?!?😂



😱🥺 Wait, you expect people to ship to you in a timely manner!? What is your normal turnaround time…3 months +/-?  I usually ship within 3 days unless I cant get a proper box or something goes astray.


----------



## catfish (Feb 10, 2022)




----------



## rustjunkie (Feb 10, 2022)

New Mexico Brant said:


> I have heard to scams with people requesting you pay with Zelle but the item never arrives.  Or scammers fish for your account info and password and drain your account.  Yesterday I had someone want to buy a $2,500 saddle; they were going to pay with Zelle.  The immediate red flag was that they wanted it overnighted and were offering an additional $200 ($2,700 total) for the overnight shipping.  Once you receive a Zelle payment can it be withdrawn?  Anyone else encounter a similar situation with this payment method?




sounds like the same scam that's popular on craigslist, only the scammer sends a fake money order for x-amt over the asking price.
you cash it and a week or so later your bank pulls the funds and fees back.
dunno how it works with zelle.


----------



## Billythekid (Feb 10, 2022)

How about some pictures of a $2500 saddle


----------



## New Mexico Brant (Feb 10, 2022)

Billythekid said:


> How about some pictures of a $2500 saddle



It is posted on Facebook.  Motorcycle


----------



## Billythekid (Feb 10, 2022)

I looked on your Facebook and didn’t see a post about it? Am I doing something wrong


----------



## 49autocycledeluxe (Feb 10, 2022)

the seller sets the payment terms, not the buyer.


----------



## Chris1948 (Feb 10, 2022)

2500$ for a saddle? 🤔🤔🤔


----------



## fordmike65 (Feb 10, 2022)

Chris1948 said:


> 2500$ for a saddle? 🤔🤔🤔



Probably early motorcycle💰💰💰


----------



## kreika (Feb 10, 2022)

I’d tell the seller I will only ship once funds have cleared and securely in your bank.  Then ship next day air. If they don’t like it. Buy elsewhere!


----------



## Iankerby (Feb 10, 2022)

New Mexico Brant said:


> I have heard to scams with people requesting you pay with Zelle but the item never arrives.  Or scammers fish for your account info and password and drain your account.  Yesterday I had someone want to buy a $2,500 saddle; they were going to pay with Zelle.  The immediate red flag was that they wanted it overnighted and were offering an additional $200 ($2,700 total) for the overnight shipping.  Once you receive a Zelle payment can it be withdrawn?  Anyone else encounter a similar situation with this payment method?



That's a scam don't be a victim it happens to me Zelle and PayPal they hacked  my account.


----------



## GTs58 (Feb 10, 2022)

If a person is sending money with Zelle to a person that has a Zelle account there is no reversing the payment. The transaction is done by the bank so how could the sender get into your account? You use a phone number or email address that linked to your account so the one sending you the cash only has one or the other. If the one receiving the funds is not signed up with Zelle, the sender can reverse the payment soon after it's sent or until the recipient has established an account with Zelle. So if you don't have a Zelle account, don't deal with that person!


----------



## WetDogGraphix (Feb 11, 2022)

OK. It seems some people don't understand Zelle. I looked into it when I was buying a dog, the person wanted the deposit done with Zelle. Almost every bank & Credit Union has it. I posted an article earlier about it. As Zelle says, "It should only be used for friends and family".  
Read for yourself from Zelle..









						Zelle® | A fast and easy way to send and receive money
					

Zelle® is a fast, safe and easy way to send and receive money with friends, family and others you trust. Look for Zelle® in your banking app to get started.




					www.zellepay.com


----------



## vincev (Feb 11, 2022)

The buyer must be honest if he is on the Internet. Is he in Nigeria ?


----------



## indycycling (Feb 12, 2022)

Junkman Bob said:


> Easy Solution !!!! Use Cash … Easy and simple



Hard to use cash when you want to attract more than local buyers. Assume that would have to be the case with a $2.5K seat!


----------



## indycycling (Feb 12, 2022)

WetDogGraphix said:


> Here you go...
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Thanks for posting that article, was a very good read. With Zelle, I've been sending $1 to new people to make sure it went through OK, then sending the balance.  It's still taking a huge leap of faith using Zelle to purchase anything when you need it shipped - once they have the money, they can ship it, ship you something else, or ghost you and as buyer, you have zero recourse. As seller, you have the power and like the article says, it's basically same as cash once it's in your account. This increased use of alternatives like Zelle are a by product of the new 1099 tax laws and I'm seeing lots of people no longer willing to accept PayPal Goods which has buyers protection. Be careful out there people!


----------



## Jamhud (Feb 12, 2022)

The transaction described by the original poster is really suspicious.

that said, 
our bank only offers Zelle, as the tool for transferring money.

My first transaction was flagged by Zelle. Tried to send my sister money and what I was told is that “it was a large transaction request for the first one”.
Took two weeks to sort it all out.
I was not a fan.

PayPal does require competition…

$2500 saddle?
Dang..,


----------



## redline1968 (Feb 15, 2022)

Definitely follows the scam process.. I'd pass on selling it.


----------



## GTs58 (Feb 15, 2022)

redline1968 said:


> Definitely follows the scam process.. I'd pass on selling it.




There are newbie scammers popping up by the thousands everyday. And some are really stupid! I'd go thru with the deal and take the 2500 + if they send the $'s into my Zelle account. No way can they get it back. Then hold the seat until you feel comfortable with shipping it. Who needs a seat that bad and fast? All this looks like a dumb newbie scammer and I doubt he has $2500 to send.


----------



## redline1968 (Feb 15, 2022)

Ahhhh no  too much risk..rushing for a sale purchase and paying extra is a big no no.. you'll be Sorry..☢️☢️☢️☢️


----------



## GTs58 (Feb 15, 2022)

redline1968 said:


> Ahhhh no  too much risk..rushing for a sale purchase and paying extra is a big no no.. you'll be Sorry..☢️☢️☢️☢️




But Brant is the one selling and collecting the funds.   🤑


----------



## SMB (Mar 2, 2022)

For those of you who use Zelle, I just had a similar experience to the original poster, with my friend. Selling a horse saddle, the buyer sent more $ than the price of the saddle plus ground shipping quote. Friend (Seller) got e-mail from Zelle that she was required to ship saddle overnight, which is about $500 more than quoted for ground shipping, and provide confirmation of shipment with tracking number by e-mail to Zelle. The whole thing was “pending” by Zelle and did not show up in my friend’s Zelle account as “pending” or otherwise. Seller sent text to Buyer not agreeing to the terms, cancelled her Zelle account and deleted the app. Friend’s Zelle account is brand new, and her bank is not participating, so everything is connected to her debit card, which would actually delay things a day or so even after the shipping confirmation goes through Zelle. So, I’m thinking that the scam is about the refund to the Buyer after the terms are refused while the $ is “pending”. If my friend was talked into refunding the money, or “talked through” how to do it, the real money would come out of her account to the Buyer’s Zelle account, and then without confirmation of shipping the original transaction would bounce back to the Buyer (because it is hung up both from the debit card and the shipping confirmation) after 14 days. We think she dodged a bullet by not acting on the shipping and by removing her account, since Zelle has a default of returning funds if the recipient has no Zelle account registered. Thoughts?


----------



## New Mexico Brant (Mar 2, 2022)

Last week I had a second person on FB try to buy the saddle and want to pay using Zelle.

The first person trying to buy the saddle was English and had an aristocratic, fox hunting, horse vibe profile but not a huge numbers of friends.  Kind of easy to set up a fake profile and run with that image. Getting "friends" on Facebook as easy as shooting carp in a barrel.  His name comes up as an English postman when doing a general internet search; am not sure how many English postmen are showing $250,000+ horses?  Interestingly, the postman doesn't have a profile on FB and the name is a bit unique.

The person last week had a very similar FB page but with a redneck vibe, gritty vibe, again not many friends.  I Googled his name and it came up as an MD in Tennessee but this guy was clearly not him.  His partner name came up as a nurse from California, but again not the same person when comparing pictures.  Interestingly both the buyer and his partner/wife had very unique names; when you did an internet search it brought you to these other two professional folks internet footprints but no FB profiles for the actual medical professionals.  I would image other sellers performing a secondary search on this guy may say, well he is a doctor, this must be legit.  After this I said to the Arkansas guy that I have a friend that lives one town away.  I offered to ship the saddle to the said friend so the buyer could come by and inspect it in person and pay with cash; after that I did not hear anything back from Wally.

I gut feeling is this is a sophisticated scammer group who sets up false FB profiles using real people's names who are not FB users.  Likely the situation similar @SMB described is what is occurring.

Beware and be safe out there folks!


----------



## WetDogGraphix (Mar 2, 2022)

SMB said:


> For those of you who use Zelle, I just had a similar experience to the original poster, with my friend. Selling a horse saddle, the buyer sent more $ than the price of the saddle plus ground shipping quote. Friend (Seller) got e-mail from Zelle that she was required to ship saddle overnight, which is about $500 more than quoted for ground shipping, and provide confirmation of shipment with tracking number by e-mail to Zelle. The whole thing was “pending” by Zelle and did not show up in my friend’s Zelle account as “pending” or otherwise. Seller sent text to Buyer not agreeing to the terms, cancelled her Zelle account and deleted the app. Friend’s Zelle account is brand new, and her bank is not participating, so everything is connected to her debit card, which would actually delay things a day or so even after the shipping confirmation goes through Zelle. So, I’m thinking that the scam is about the refund to the Buyer after the terms are refused while the $ is “pending”. If my friend was talked into refunding the money, or “talked through” how to do it, the real money would come out of her account to the Buyer’s Zelle account, and then without confirmation of shipping the original transaction would bounce back to the Buyer (because it is hung up both from the debit card and the shipping confirmation) after 14 days. We think she dodged a bullet by not acting on the shipping and by removing her account, since Zelle has a default of returning funds if the recipient has no Zelle account registered. Thoughts?



 I'm going to call BS on this one, sorry.


----------



## SMB (Mar 3, 2022)

WetDogGraphix said:


> I'm going to call BS on this one, sorry.



It’s not BS - I’m flabbergasted that it showed up as “pending” also. (Not at all what my banker told us to expect, nor what Zelle’s own info says will happen.) But there it is. We were wondering if it was a phishing scam and the e-mail was actually not from Zelle but that’s a pretty sophisticated scam, outside of Zelle’s app. I’ve been trying to find out if Zelle handles accounts launched from debit card enrollments differently than those tied directly to a bank account, but can’t find anything discussing that option. It makes sense that there would be a less-instant transaction if not connected to a bank account directly but I can’t find any confirmation of that theory. Neither her bank (nor my bank, which we tried to test transactions with) are supporting Zelle at the moment so we had to make accounts with debit cards instead of through our banking Zelle apps.


----------



## WetDogGraphix (Mar 3, 2022)

SMB said:


> It’s not BS - I’m flabbergasted that it showed up as “pending” also. (Not at all what my banker told us to expect, nor what Zelle’s own info says will happen.) But there it is. We were wondering if it was a phishing scam and the e-mail was actually not from Zelle but that’s a pretty sophisticated scam, outside of Zelle’s app. I’ve been trying to find out if Zelle handles accounts launched from debit card enrollments differently than those tied directly to a bank account, but can’t find anything discussing that option. It makes sense that there would be a less-instant transaction if not connected to a bank account directly but I can’t find any confirmation of that theory. Neither her bank (nor my bank, which we tried to test transactions with) are supporting Zelle at the moment so we had to make accounts with debit cards instead of through our banking Zelle apps.



Zelle will not contact you and tell you to ship, that's not what Zelle is. How would they know what the money was for? I think you were a victim of a Phishing scam. Go read my post #8 and it gives info about Zelle... Here's Zelle's own site.. where it says only use for close friends....








						Zelle® | A fast and easy way to send and receive money
					

Zelle® is a fast, safe and easy way to send and receive money with friends, family and others you trust. Look for Zelle® in your banking app to get started.




					www.zellepay.com
				



There is also a scam similar using Wallmart money orders. It sounds exactly what you say happened to your friend.
Just sayin..... 😎 🤔


----------



## New Mexico Brant (Mar 3, 2022)

WetDogGraphix said:


> Zelle will not contact you and tell you to ship, that's not what Zelle is. How would they know what the money was for? I think you were a victim of a Phishing scam. Go read my post #8 and it gives info about Zelle... Here's Zelle's own site.. where it says only use for close friends....
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I don't profess to know how this scam works but with both individuals my gut was saying something was off.  I forgot to mention a detail, with both, the said in their messages:  "you can trust I will pay you."  How many times have you said that when trying to buy something?  
I also told both I accept Paypal, Venmo, certified checks, money orders, and credit cards; cash in person for the last guy.  Both only wanted to pay with Zelle  🧐


----------



## WetDogGraphix (Mar 3, 2022)

I'd love to see the email you said came from Zelle....
I have an old email account that was sold on the dark web, Lifelock found it... I was getting 100's of phishing emails a day.
I got another email, but kept the old one. I still get scam email, but it's down to about 50 a week. Some are quite entertaining to say the least and I save those. 
Here's an official looking one from Costco.... seems legit🤓 except for the OG email address......






If you hover my mouse over the OK button, it shows a HTTP web address, and if you hover over the "here" area to remove yourself from the list, it shows that same address. Maybe I should click on those to be sure.😎 

My favorite ones are the ones from Africa..I have 1000's of these.  Get ready, I'm about to come into some real money and I will be buying up all the cool bikes. 😉





Be careful folks, they are out there trying to separate you from your money.....


----------



## SMB (Mar 3, 2022)

WetDogGraphix said:


> Zelle will not contact you and tell you to ship, that's not what Zelle is. How would they know what the money was for? I think you were a victim of a Phishing scam. Go read my post #8 and it gives info about Zelle... Here's Zelle's own site.. where it says only use for close friends....
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Thanks - I appreciate hearing from someone who's used Zelle. This was our first - and last, until/unless the bank has reactivated their Zelle partnership.


----------

