Town of Davidson Police Department issued the following announcement on July 21.
Our area continues to experience an epidemic of online and phone scams. Recently, several local police agencies, including Davidson, have reported the following scams related to Facebook Marketplace and the payment app Zelle. If you suspect a scam, hang up, block the caller, and/or remove access to your computer internet connection. Residents should never pay any bill, fine, or demand for money with gift cards, wire transfer, payment applications, or any other payment form without verifying the debt and company information independent of the caller. Here is a summary of the most recent scam and advice from Zelle.
The company that runs Zelle, Early Warning Services, says:
“When selling an item on Facebook Marketplace, consumers should be on the lookout for scammers. The exact mechanics of the scam vary, but in each case, the buyer (aka scammer) convinces the seller to send money via Zelle in order to ‘upgrade’ their Zelle account to release a pending payment.
It’s important to note that it is not possible to ‘upgrade’ your Zelle account. This is often followed by an official-looking email purporting to be from Zelle and may even contain the Zelle logo. Consumers should know that Zelle will never send you an email regarding Facebook Marketplace or other online sales platform transactions. Any email appearing to be from Zelle related to online buying/selling is fake.”
Here are a few other tips:
Be wary of quick responses and fast payment promises. If you post an item and you immediately get contacted with an offer to pay full price (or higher), consider giving it at least 24 hours to get other offers. Most people will ask for more information about the item or to see it in person first before offering to pay on the spot.
Just because it looks professionally written, doesn’t mean it is. Scammers are more sophisticated than ever, so never rely on just grammatical errors to spot a scam.
Urgency is almost always a red flag. If a potential buyer is urging you for your personal information and to pay you ASAP, take a second to evaluate the situation. If they push to get your phone number or email to make a digital payment, this usually means it’s a scam.
Zelle will never send you an email regarding Facebook Marketplace. Zelle will never send an email from gmail.com or other free email services.
Original source can be found here.
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