CHARLOTTE — Action 9 investigator Jason Stoogenke warns consumers often about scammers pretending to be with the popular money app, Zelle.
However, Stoogenke says to also beware of imposters saying they’re with other money apps.
“I feel like if I just wouldn’t have panicked. I would have been able to read the situation,” said a Chime user who asked not to share her identity.
She says she fell victim and -- get this -- she says she works for a bank, Stoogenke said.
“I never thought it could happen [to me] because we see it so often,” she said.
The woman says she got a text which looked like it was from Chime, and it asked if she tried to withdraw $300 recently. It instructed her to reply “Yes” to confirm.
She typed “No” and that’s all it took. The scammer probably knew she fell for it, at that point.
She says he followed up with a call and said he was with Chime.
“[They said] they’re going to help me out and everything, and that wasn’t the case,” she said.
She says it seemed believable because the caller had some of her personal information.
“So that was another reason why I just felt comfortable enough to go through with everything they walked me through,” she said. “They took about $600 of my money and that was all I had left.”
She says the imposter had her transfer money to another account to shield it from criminals.
It’s the familiar “me to me” scam Action 9 has warned about -- this time, not just with Zelle.
This time it was a Chime imposter using the same con.
She says she told Chime -- the real one -- about the scam but didn’t get any money back.
Stoogenke asked Chime for its thoughts on her case.
The company referred him to the Financial Technology Association.
The FTA emailed Stoogenke this: “Every year, the Financial Technology Association (FTA) runs a consumer education campaign called ‘Smarter Than Scams,’ which empowers consumers with tips to recognize and avoid common payment scams, particularly during the holiday season. FTA is a trade association representing leading fintech and payment companies. We urge consumers to ‘pause before you pay’ and only send money to people you know and trust. If you think you might be the target of an imposter scam, contact customer support directly through verified channels in the company’s app or website. Common scams include impersonation scams, gift card scams, fake invoices, charity scams, romance scams, and pet deposit scams."
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