Watch out for a Scammer(s) on the Board!

[BobC]

Originally Posted by pcoz

Thanks Bob, I will ask them if they can find out and share the bank information. I have the name of the person and their email, but I'm not sure the bank account that my funds went into is the person who scammed me. Thanks for the suggestion.

That is the problem/issue, if the scammers can somehow dupe others into aiding their schemes, or they can somehow hack and take over accounts. Zelle is a little different from typical payment platforms like Paypal or Venmo. It is actually ultimately owned and operated by several major US banks, such as Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, and Wells Fargo, and involves transfer of money right from one person's bank account directly to another person's bank account, without having to go through any intermediary account, like with Paypal. That is also why payments made through Zelle are not subject to federal tax reporting via 1099 forms.

And since the transfers are directly to someone's actual bank account, you would think/hope the bank opening that account would have done at least a little work to properly vet the party that opened the account, and make sure they are a real person, and that they actually are who they said they are. I know the younger generations are all about ease, and doing things remotely and online, but cracking down to make people physically show up, at least initially, with proper and adequate photo IDs and such to open and start new accounts or commence business activity, would at least be a start to possibly reducing some of the illegal things being perpetrated by such criminals and scammers.