- Fake Fraud Alerts Texts Verifying Zelle®. Recently, some members have reported receiving fraud alert texts regarding Zelle® transactions. This alert is not from the credit union. It is coming from fraudsters impersonating us to acquire members’ online banking information. If successful, they may use Zelle® to begin sending money from the members’ accounts to their account.
- Depositing Checks from Unknown Sources. Fraudsters ask for a check to be deposited into your account and promise you can keep some of the money. The checks are often counterfeit and will be returned by the financial institution even after funds were made available.
- Requests for Personal Account Information: Scammers may mimic an account alert via email or text or call and pose as a First Entertainment employee so they can gain information like passwords or one-time passcodes and access your account.
- Offering an Item for Sale Online. Cyber criminals may offer something for sale and then ask for money to be sent as a deposit or for shipping and processing fees.
- Online Job Postings. Fraudsters may advertise false opportunities on job boards or social media. They will then send applicants a bad check to be deposited into their account. The fraudsters then request that a portion of the funds be immediately returned due to overpayment or for supplies, etc. The check is usually returned as fraudulent.
- Lottery Schemes. Fraudsters claim that they have won the lottery and offer to share a portion of the winnings if you to pay a processing fee or send a portion of funds back after using the same check deposit scheme above.
Zelle Emotional Scare Tactics
In these scenarios, scammers create fake stories to drive an emotional reaction, such as:
- Excitement: People often enter and win sweepstakes. Scammers will say you need to pay a fee before they can send your prize.
- Fear: Taxpayers sometimes owe money to the IRS, but the IRS doesn’t accept payments via Zelle®.
- Compassion: Friends and relatives sometimes ask for money. It’s a major red flag when someone pressures you to keep the transaction a secret.