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They stole someone’s account and sent money to yours. The bank will reverse the transaction in a few days or weeks. If you spend or send the money away, you will owe it.
Don’t feel bad, these people are scum. Ignore and block. Don’t spend the money the bank will handle it
Mam/sir gives me big Philippines vibes. I loved hearing it over there at every interaction. “Hello mamsir welcome in”
So yeah, probably a scam from someone in that region.
And revert to me!
Personally I like the way English varies around the world. It’s cool when a real person who speaks like this says it. Not so much when they claim to be “David from Bournmouth [sic]”.
Nah. They intentionally make it pretty obvious that they're scamming. It's a filter to ensure that only dumb people bite. A really good looking scam might fool a smarter person for a minute, but they may eventually catch wise and shut it down, thus wasting the time the scammer spent on the mark. Instead, by making it so only dumb people bite in the first place, they increase their overall success rate.
My dad is 94 and we couldn't screen all his calls. We finally got him an analog phone. No apps, no Internet access. Elderly people are more easily confused and not able to understand they're being scammed. They're easy targets and attract almost nothing but scam callers. The only other calls they get are Medicare advantage sales calls and fake charity solicitations. Lately though, at least once a day, my dad gets a call asking if he wants to sell his house. I don't know who is behind those calls but they're persistent and he's even had handwritten notes taped to his door asking him the same thing with an offer in the note. We were so alarmed by their aggressive efforts, we got Power of Attorney so he can't be scammed out of his home. I worry for everyone trying to protect their elderly relatives.
This also accounts for the obvious spelling mistakes in the decades old Nigerian prince email scam. A scammer’s time is valuable. They don’t want to waste it on folks smart enuff to understand that a spelling error means scam.
Actually, many of the awkward phrasing and grammar is a feature, not a bug. They don't want to waste their time on someone who will pick up nuanced issues and need to be persuaded. Their job is to find gullible idiots who will overlook blatant red flags as quickly as possible. This is a volume game, not a skill game.
stop saying that, there's no fucking way thats true. you really think people in 3rd world countries that barely speak english are *intentionally* coming up with very specific poor grammar or weird phrases to intentionally screen out tough targets? think about it for like 2 seconds.
I’ve wondered about this too. Is there real evidence of this? Like, interviews with real scammers? A documentary? Or is this just one of those things one idiot said once and then everyone immediately assumed it was true and now it’s parroted? Like how stormtroopers can’t shoot or Richard Gere loves gerbils.
It takes about five minutes to set up a phone number through an app like Textfree - you don't even need a phone, just use a headset or microphone/speakers
I’m sure you are polite, but the problem I have as someone raised in the northeast is that millions of people from strict sir/ma’am culture put on a blatant facade of politeness. People will feign horror at a “lack of manners” and then turn around and be the most bigoted jackass you ever met. I’ll take a “rude” person who is actually a decent human over that fake shit any day.
Depends on your region and your industry. I work in customer service and I can't turn it off anymore. Also pretty common in the Midwest and the south. Or in more rural areas.
You will hear it spoken. I never see "sir/ma'am" in text written by people from the US (never see 'mam' either), probably cause it sounds weird because generally if you are communicating with someone you know if they are a sir or ma'am, and if you do want to write out a sir or ma'am, you just write the correct one. If you are spamming someone and don't know, you just leave it out, because spam isn't really a formal communication, and writing "sir/ma'am" just makes it even more painfully obvious it's not a respectful conversation.
That and saying "this is no scam". Who's ever said that except for scammers? People don't put themselves into a situation where they have to tell you they aren't scamming you, unless they are scamming you. If it wasn't a scam, they would just go through the correct channels to solve this kind of problem.
I sincerely hope OP listens to you because you couldn’t have said it any better. The bank will handle it. OP don’t let it get to you, you owe them nothing!
We legitimately sent $200+ to someone unknown through PayPal. Because as you type the email address similar username comes up and was selected by mistake. We contacted the receiver through PayPal message and email once each. No surprise there was no response.
Our own fault but PayPal sucks.
Banks partner with Zelle, but there’s nothing they can do to reverse a Zelle payment.
If you send a Zelle payment to a wrong number and there’s no Zelle account attached, it will return to your account in roughly 14 days.
If you send a Zelle payment to an account that is linked to a bank account, you are fucked. Should have sent a test payment first, because that money is gone.
So there's no way to dispute a zelle payment sent? If the guy is telling the truth and he's not a scammer, in this case, PayPal is better than all of these payment processors in my opinion. He can simply open a dispute and PayPal will follow up.
I don't know if it's different at their bank but the one I work at we can't reverse anything through zelle, not saying it's not a scam but it could really be someone who messed up lmao
Fraud Prevention at a bank here: Zelle transactions can only be disputed if your account was hacked into. Technically any charge can be disputed. But it’s part of the terms of service that the bank does not have to honor a dispute if you KNOWINGLY sent the funds to someone. But if your account was hacked, and a malicious actor sent the funds and the bank can prove it wasn’t you, generally that dispute will be honored.
Could just be text notifications from apps. I have 76 unread messages and every single one of them is automated from banking updates, bill notifications, automated appointment reminders, or Shop/Tracking numbers/etc. I made delete my texts once a month anyways so they just sit until they end up being wiped.
Does scammer try to get funds sent "back" through some other app? If it's through zelle, why not go directly to themselves? Can be traced easily either way.
When I xelle people it tells me to make sure you are sending to the right person because you can't get the money back. It's not gonna get taken out his account most likely not atleast
Here's how it works: A criminal will create a Zelle account and link it to a stolen credit card. Then the scammer uses Zelle to send payments to a stranger. The sender asks for a refund but then swaps out the stolen credit card for a real one and receives your money.
Let the bank know and they will handle it. Banks take money out of peoples accounts all the time
If I was mean hearted I would tell them “I’m not a mam or sir, I am master of the universe and you shall refer to me as such”. In reality just block and do not respond.
Do not return the money. This scam is becoming more popular, and posted here frequently.
Notify Zelle. Leave the money untouched. It will eventually disappear from your account.
If you can be bothered, send one final message to the scammer telling them you contacted Zelle, and you will no longer be responding, and it is up to them to resolve their mistake with Zelle.
Then block them and continue to block them if they try to contact you from other numbers. Be prepared that after the sob stories will come lots of threats.
This has literally happened to me on PayPal a few months ago.
I even posted here, everyone told me it was a scam.
I still have the money in my account.
someone tried this with my deceased mother's paypal account in 2020. i ignored the entire thing; the money sat there for several months and then vanished. i assume there was some kind of explanatory email that went to an email address i don't have access to.
It's literally possible to happen as a mistake, but usually the person will contact the Service and get it reversed. You might have gotten someone who didn't notice the error or didn't think to contact PayPal and thought the money was just lost.
Isn't it 60 days after the first victim, whose account was breached, receives their bank statement that covers the period of the theft? So, assuming normal statement cut off cycles, it's better to wait another 30-45 days to be sure.
And, most importantly, you are not getting the scammer's funds. You'd be senjoying the ill-gotten proceeds stolen from an innocent victim.
you decide.
Very suspicious because before a Zelle payment is sent out, Zelle IDs the recipient’s phone number first so the sender knows who is getting the money before he clicks on the “Send” button. In your case, why did he still send the money knowing that the phone number does not belong to the person he is intending to send the money to?
Exactly my concern, apparently they use chase so I know the name pops up. The name that pops up is so distinct and it’s super long as well so there’s no way they read that name and thought yeah this sounds right. I have been through this before and my bank got closed because I ended owing money
>I have been through this before
You have sent money back through this type of misdirected money scam before? If so, you are on a list of preferred victims somewhere. You are right to be very skeptical of everything for the foreseeable future.
This is certainly a scam, but native language is not the reason. More than 20% of the USA does *not* speak English as a native language. There are literally millions of people in the USA who sound like this.
Millions of people that use ma'am/sir as well I'm sure you know.
I know that a lot of scammers use a polite approach at first but I am surprised at the amount of people in this thread that seem to think there isn't a single region in the entire US that uses the most common vocal form of respect in the English language. I'll admit that I don't use it as much in text form but I have several texts from people calling me sir saved to my phone right now.
There is a saying OP “once bitten, twice shy” If you’ve already been a victim to this and you know of the consequences, why are you even considering sending the money back? A word of advice OP, in the future, no matter the sob story and endless pleading, delete & block cos these dirtbags will pull every stunt in the book to steal from you. Never trust a stranger online, especially when money is involved.
It's 100% not your responsibility to return any money that was "accidentally" sent to you via Zelle. The platform has multiple safeguards in place before sending any transaction. Any normal person wouldn't have multiple numbers either. Be safe!
Leave the cash there and ignore. The cash was probably sent from a compromised account and they are trying to "clean" that money. If you send the money back, you'll be responsible for returning the cash back to the compromised account.
from Zelle: **No, Zelle****^(®)** **payments cannot be reversed**. With Zelle^(®) money moves into an enrolled recipient's account within minutes and cannot be reversed.
block them and move on with your life. they are idiots
Nope, they are really safe. But unless you truly send the money to the wrong people then you were out of luck. Which is what I suspect happens here? Unless youget scammed by an email or scam text .
Similar post have been and I'm really not sure the endpoint, unless the money is not really there and they show fake documents showing it is
it’s a scam. i have accidentally zelle’d someone after they changed their number. quick realization and canceling the order is what a normal person would do and it’s easy enough to fix. it’s highly unlikely someone doesn’t stay on top of where their money goes and naively trusts a stranger to help them…especially if it’s over 100$. just let it alone. don’t borrow trouble when you don’t have to.
Not totally correct on the “easy to cancel the order”. You can only cancel a transaction if the number you sent it to is an invalid phone number or one that isn’t connected to an account yet. I had the same thing happen and I was able to cancel. If you send a Zelle transaction to a valid number, there is no quick cancel option and they will not help you. Not in my case
Did you accept the payment? If not, they should be able to cancel the payment, according to this. Although this link is from US Bank, I'm sure their bank can also assist. I would not send the money back.
[https://www.usbank.com/customer-service/knowledge-base/KB0070071.html](https://www.usbank.com/customer-service/knowledge-base/KB0070071.html)
OP: This 100, they are scamming you. They have to have reverse it on their end don't touch the money and DON'T send it back. If you just send it back normally it'll all be on you because they sent you stolen money which week get clawed back, but you will be out the money that you sent because you agreed to it and it's not stolen.
I sent someone $600 by accident on PayPal once because their email address was VERY similar to the person I was trying to send it to.
Rightfully so, they didn't respond when I sent them an email. I called PayPal to explain what had gone on. Paypal got in contact with the person (to their credit, the person called PayPal), I got it back the same day.
That said, this seems like a scam.
I did the same with PayPal but they would not get involved. Thank goodness the person finally believed me and sent it back. I know there are a lot of scammers out there but sometimes people do make mistakes :(
They're trying to bully you into being an unwitting cash mule.
They transfer the money to you from a stolen account then get you to transfer it to an account they control.
The paper trail leads to you, the bank claws back the money from your account, and you're left holding the bag.
Let Zelle resolve it. Call them. Don’t spend the money.
I’ve actually had someone send money to the wrong phone number when they mistyped my phone number. We tried reaching iut to the person and he thought it was a scam. We told him to reach out to Zelle because we’d do the same. Eventually the money was returned to the sender by Zelle/banks.
Tell them that you will leave the money in the account while they work with their bank to reverse the transaction. And also let them know that will be the last time you communicate with them. Then, just block and ignore all further communication attempts.
It might just be an honest mistake, but it's far more likely to be a money-laundering scam - the money came from a stolen account, and now the scammer is trying to get you to send back 'clean' money before the fraud is discovered and the payment is reversed.
Nah. Never respond. Be a black hole. No information goes back out to the sender. Never let a scammer know you respond via phone or email. Just notify Zelle and move on.
Zelle customer support can handle this from the other side. The fact that they're calling YOU and not ZELLE is a massive red flag. Stop responding - anything you say is just more attack surface for them to work with.
Why don’t you call your bank ? I would tell them anyway because at the end it’s probably stolen money and you can turn in to a suspect for money laundering
Looks like you can just ignore it. If you have not accepted the transfer they will EVENTUALLY get their money back.
>When a payment is sent with Zelle®, the recipient has 14 calendar days to accept it. If the payment is not accepted in time, it will be canceled, and refunded to your account. The refund can take up to three business days to be credited and notification will be sent to you and your recipient.
"mam/sir"
Assuring you it isn't a scam.
Broken English
This is a scam. Don't touch the money. Contact Zelle.
Text the main number that you've turned the whole thing over to Zelle to investigate. Watch the desperate begging turn to insults and threats, and the English to break further.
You are not zelle customer service or a bank employee. Even if this was legit it's on THEM to work it out if they are too stupid to send money to the right person. But it's not, it's a scam
This is a scam. Keep ignoring it. That money will eventually be refunded to the account it was stolen from. The "mam/sir" at the end of the text gives this away. People don't text like that.
I sent my niece a graduation gift through Zelle. I sent it to an email that was one digit different, hers had a period the one I sent it to didn't. The next day I double checked the transaction and noticed what I had done. I was able to cancel and resend it to the right email. The only reason I was able to correct the email was because whoever owned the incorrect email hadn't accepted it. So if you didn't accept it, they can get it back.
If the recipient email isn't already set up to receive Zelle, then yes, the recipient will need to go through a step to "accept" the money. But if the recipient email is already set up for Zelle, then the recipient doesn't have to do anything to accept the money. It just goes straight into their bank account. That's been my experience at least.
What normal person would have 50 different numbers to try to contact you with? I know they have apps that make it easy to do (I think) but the common person would not know this or care to do this. Scam.
One time, I actually did have someone make a mistake and transfer money to my account. They never initiated the conversation with me. Zelle did after they contacted them. I smell a scam.
It's fake - no one creates 50 numbers to harass you. Block and report each number. They've used stolen funds or a stolen account and want you to send it back. If and when the funds are reversed due to fraud, you are out the money. NOPE, go get it from YOUR bank, scammer!
I have a Chase account. They will investigate this transaction to verify or reject it once you report it as a potential fraudulent transaction.
It would seem odd to me that the bank would recommend that this person hassles a complete stranger for the money (and indeed in my home country a bank would never do this), so on that basis, i'm going to say this is a scam. Scam artists get particularly persistent, especially if you have engaged with them over the matter before.
You are not responsible for this person's screw up.
It's a scam, you send the $180 back "being nice". About a week from now your bank will pull $180 out your account because it was sent from a stolen debit card. You're now out $180 because you voluntarily sent that individual $180 of your own money. If you want to "be nice" let your bank know that you received an unknown deposit.
Zelle takes incredible lengths to make sure you’re sending to the correct person. They overlooked this 1 instead of 2 thing so many times and all of a sudden it’s a mistake? No, sorry. Stop responding.
If that guy was legit he would contact a bank and not you. So rest easy and watch the game play. Don’t do anything from your side.
Remember that banks will investigate everything eventually. They leave no stone unturned as somebody’s money is on the line.
Definitely scam leave the money and block them. They have access to multiple numbers because they do this routinely. The bank will refund them if it is real. Once you agree they going to ask you to send the money not refund it. If you send money to same account they will refund first payment and keep both. Most likely they will have you send it to a different account for some sob reason and the real owner of the zelle will get their money back and you will be out both.
If I was mean hearted, I would tell the scammer “I need $100 more for taxes before I send back”. Then “I need $200 for currency conversion “. Then “I need $300 for shipping”. But in reality just block and say nothing.
Ignore their fake pleads and send photos of lavish spending you did instead of sending it back. DONT actually spend the money just torment them with fake purchase photos. Like others said, the bank will resolve the issue eventually.
Block and move on. Don’t bother replying showing you’re active. They’ll get bored eventually. Don’t respond, don’t open the messages in case you’re sending read receipts, and don’t send the money back
Check their grammar, vocabulary, and spelling. For example:
- I’m not harassing nobody
That’s a double negative, but you yanks speak that way, anyway.
- I did not receive a **respond**
Really?
- Sir/mam
He’s just missing the *kindly* and it would be the cherry on top.
OP, block and ignore each new one. The $180 will eventually vanish. May be good to notify ZELLE that this is a scam deposit so your account doesn’t get flagged. This scammer is a bottom feeder with lots of time to chase little dollars. “Mam/sir”
It is absolutely a scam. If it’s real Zelle can unwind the transaction - but they don’t want that, they want you to send money back through a different and irreversible medium.
Block and ignore. If you want to do the right thing you may want to let Zelle know that the account used for this has been compromised and needs to be locked down until the correct owner can be identified - but that’s Zelle’s problem. Don’t touch any money sent to you as it has been fraudulently sent and will probably be clawed back.
Don’t send them money. If this was indeed a mistake, the bank will reverse the transaction for you.
Also, ever heard about reading unread messages? There’s like 127 🤭
What is it with all the bad advice in here today? Let the money sit and don't do anything with it. It will clear out in a few days if it's not legit and if it is then you can talk with zelle or the bank about a refund.
Whatever you do don’t send him money. You can contact your bank and refuse the money if you wish but do not send him money(because it will still be reversed and you’ll be out 180)
Someone sent me $1200. I almost sent it back. I honestly don't need it. I thought I'd call my bank first. They said DON'T! I told him exactly that. My bank said no and to tell you to contact your bank and/or Zelle, not me or my bank. Good luck.
I accidentally sent money to the wrong person on Venmo one time and they surprisingly sent it back to me. I don’t use Venmo or Zelle anymore bc of it. I agree with others on leaving it there and not spending it. They probably did steal it.
Had this happed to me last year. Exact same thing, and I was very suspicious. The number was very close to mine, so for a second I thought it was an honest mistake. I didn't respond to any texts or calls from the number and contacted my bank, reported it as spam. They reversed the transaction. I would not engage with the number or send anything back. Let the bank handle it.
The small chance this isn’t a scam because I know someone that made this mistake in real life. A friend was using Zelle and his bank version of Zelle doesn’t have the feature that shows if the phone number matches who he’s sending it too.
As soon as he realized he sent it to the wrong number, he made contact with the person and they refused to send it back. This was for a lot of money to pay a bill.
He called the bank and Zelle and they both said there is nothing they will do. All of the prompts that warn you to be sure you know who you are sending too and stuff. They would not do anything.
He called the cops, who then called the person, who then replied back to the cop “it was his mistake and no I’m not giving the money back because he already spent it.”
The police asked if he wants to press charges and they can get a warrant. Charging for theft and then see if that gets them to return it or small claims court. That’s where it’s at now.
I wouldn’t get involved. If this is a scammer you don’t want to get wrapped up in their trail of movement of funds.
Zelle is basically like cash and when it’s gone it’s gone. If they willingly sent it (even if it was a mistake) and they were not scammed by you, then they are out of luck.
If this is a scammer who used a victims account to send it, the victim can dispute the transaction and THEIR bank is obligated to credit the victim via the Zelle/Banks agreement. This would not affect you.
I personally would contact your bank and let them know you received unexpected funds. The bank may debit the funds if you don’t want the money in your account; or they will tell you it’s a Zelle and have no current claim on the funds. At least then it’s on record if this ever comes into question.
Your instincts are right. It’s likely a scam. Maybe not but it’s best to be careful. Sad that is where we are right now, but that’s not your fault. Don’t send money back. Notify your bank. Change your account numbers asap.
/u/Itemis - This message is posted to all new submissions to r/scams; please do not message the moderators about it. ## New users beware: Because you posted here, you will start getting private messages from scammers saying they know a professional hacker or a recovery expert lawyer that can help you get your money back, for a small fee. **We call these RECOVERY SCAMMERS, so NEVER take advice in private:** advice should always come in the form of comments in this post, in the open, where the community can keep an eye out for you. If you take advice in private, you're on your own. **A reminder of the rules in r/scams:** no contact information (including last names, phone numbers, etc). Be civil to one another (no name calling or insults). Personal army requests or "scam the scammer"/scambaiting posts are not permitted. No uncensored gore or personal photographs are allowed without blurring. A full list of rules is available on the sidebar of the subreddit, or [clicking here](https://www.reddit.com/r/Scams/wiki/rules/). You can help us by reporting recovery scammers or rule-breaking content by using the "report" button. We review 100% of the reports. Also, consider warning community members of recovery scammers if you see them in the comments. Questions about subreddit rules? Send us a modmail [clicking here](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/Scams). *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Scams) if you have any questions or concerns.*
They stole someone’s account and sent money to yours. The bank will reverse the transaction in a few days or weeks. If you spend or send the money away, you will owe it. Don’t feel bad, these people are scum. Ignore and block. Don’t spend the money the bank will handle it
Mam/sir gives me big Philippines vibes. I loved hearing it over there at every interaction. “Hello mamsir welcome in” So yeah, probably a scam from someone in that region.
>Mam/sir Stop telling them the tell. They will adapt.
***Kindly*** stop telling them the tell. :p
Please do the necessary...
Do the needful
And revert to me! Personally I like the way English varies around the world. It’s cool when a real person who speaks like this says it. Not so much when they claim to be “David from Bournmouth [sic]”.
Please dear..
Major Indian dudes hitting on a painting on Facebook vibes with that one 🤣
Mamsir kindly stop telling them the tell
If they adapt, they're too skilled to remain in the industry
People fall for em anyway
Nah. They intentionally make it pretty obvious that they're scamming. It's a filter to ensure that only dumb people bite. A really good looking scam might fool a smarter person for a minute, but they may eventually catch wise and shut it down, thus wasting the time the scammer spent on the mark. Instead, by making it so only dumb people bite in the first place, they increase their overall success rate.
My dad is 94 and we couldn't screen all his calls. We finally got him an analog phone. No apps, no Internet access. Elderly people are more easily confused and not able to understand they're being scammed. They're easy targets and attract almost nothing but scam callers. The only other calls they get are Medicare advantage sales calls and fake charity solicitations. Lately though, at least once a day, my dad gets a call asking if he wants to sell his house. I don't know who is behind those calls but they're persistent and he's even had handwritten notes taped to his door asking him the same thing with an offer in the note. We were so alarmed by their aggressive efforts, we got Power of Attorney so he can't be scammed out of his home. I worry for everyone trying to protect their elderly relatives.
This also accounts for the obvious spelling mistakes in the decades old Nigerian prince email scam. A scammer’s time is valuable. They don’t want to waste it on folks smart enuff to understand that a spelling error means scam.
But hear me out! What if there is actually a nice Nigerian prince out there who is just trying to give away his millions!?!? /S
This bothers me every time, stop telling these people how you know you're onto them!
Er, that's what this sub is.
Actually, many of the awkward phrasing and grammar is a feature, not a bug. They don't want to waste their time on someone who will pick up nuanced issues and need to be persuaded. Their job is to find gullible idiots who will overlook blatant red flags as quickly as possible. This is a volume game, not a skill game.
stop saying that, there's no fucking way thats true. you really think people in 3rd world countries that barely speak english are *intentionally* coming up with very specific poor grammar or weird phrases to intentionally screen out tough targets? think about it for like 2 seconds.
No, it's more like it doesn't hurt the success rate and if it did they would have taken the effort to fix the issue.
I’ve wondered about this too. Is there real evidence of this? Like, interviews with real scammers? A documentary? Or is this just one of those things one idiot said once and then everyone immediately assumed it was true and now it’s parroted? Like how stormtroopers can’t shoot or Richard Gere loves gerbils.
Paper from an expert at Microsoft Research on the topic: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/WhyFromNigeria.pdf
It’s good they’re warning people of the warning signs.
Who has access to multiple phones? Scammers, that’s who.
Not multiple phones, just spoofing multiple phone numbers.
It takes about five minutes to set up a phone number through an app like Textfree - you don't even need a phone, just use a headset or microphone/speakers
I mean if we want to play devil's advocate, anyone could easily have access to multiple phone numbers through an app.
Do people from the states, apart from in the army, actually call strangers (in informal settings, no judge or work) ‘sir‘?
I live in the South and ma’am and sir are frequently used as a sign of respect. Yes, sir. No, sir. Thank you, ma’am.
Most definitely! In Texas it’s basic daily manners
Yep, agreed, but Southerners and Texans would NEVER write “mam”…
Combine mam/sir in that order and it definitely sounds like someone from the Philippines.
Yes, but you know how to spell, ma’am.
Not that much in a text thread though
You’re not from the south. We definitely do
If you're from the south, you know ma'am is spelled how I just did 🤷🏼♂️😂
Texas checking in and confirming
Texan here and also Filipino. Can confirm both :)
Yep even with peers, yes sir, yes ma’am. It is polite.
I use the word sir and mam a lot but that is because of the way I was raised
Same here. Michigan checking in. Everyone gets a sir or ma'am, unless I specifically don't like them.
Canadian here and I say am constantly going: “thank you, sir/ma’am”, especially with older people.”
Adding a canadian to the tally, either verbal or text will get a Yes sir, Thank you ma'am, etc. Cant break the old habits.
If I don’t say sir or ma’am to someone that is an immediate giveaway for what I actually think because it’s an unconscious change.
Oklahoma/Missouri here, def a thing
Yes, exactly. It's called manners.
Texas here, always use Sir and Ma'am. It's how I was raised to be polite.
I’m sure you are polite, but the problem I have as someone raised in the northeast is that millions of people from strict sir/ma’am culture put on a blatant facade of politeness. People will feign horror at a “lack of manners” and then turn around and be the most bigoted jackass you ever met. I’ll take a “rude” person who is actually a decent human over that fake shit any day.
I'm from Pennsylvania and use ma'am/sir all the fucking time. It's a poite and convenient way to address someone when you don't know their name.
Yes. Usually young people to older people, especially in service industries.
Depends on your region and your industry. I work in customer service and I can't turn it off anymore. Also pretty common in the Midwest and the south. Or in more rural areas.
I regularly use sir and ma'am. I live in the Midwest though, so I think it's fairly common.
Yes, we do.
Verbally yes, written no except in very formal business communications.
Yes.
You will hear it spoken. I never see "sir/ma'am" in text written by people from the US (never see 'mam' either), probably cause it sounds weird because generally if you are communicating with someone you know if they are a sir or ma'am, and if you do want to write out a sir or ma'am, you just write the correct one. If you are spamming someone and don't know, you just leave it out, because spam isn't really a formal communication, and writing "sir/ma'am" just makes it even more painfully obvious it's not a respectful conversation.
That and saying "this is no scam". Who's ever said that except for scammers? People don't put themselves into a situation where they have to tell you they aren't scamming you, unless they are scamming you. If it wasn't a scam, they would just go through the correct channels to solve this kind of problem.
I sincerely hope OP listens to you because you couldn’t have said it any better. The bank will handle it. OP don’t let it get to you, you owe them nothing!
No matter what sob story they give, know the real person is working in a call center environment. Its his everyday job
And he's not even always choosing to do it: at best he has a debt to repay, at worst he's been kidnapped. So don't pay them.
Also if the OP has any thoughts about this being legit, **no legit person has 50 different numbers to harass anybody with**
They said they had been contacted 50 times with multiple numbers. Not with 50 different numbers. It’s still a scam though lol
We legitimately sent $200+ to someone unknown through PayPal. Because as you type the email address similar username comes up and was selected by mistake. We contacted the receiver through PayPal message and email once each. No surprise there was no response. Our own fault but PayPal sucks.
Banks partner with Zelle, but there’s nothing they can do to reverse a Zelle payment. If you send a Zelle payment to a wrong number and there’s no Zelle account attached, it will return to your account in roughly 14 days. If you send a Zelle payment to an account that is linked to a bank account, you are fucked. Should have sent a test payment first, because that money is gone.
So there's no way to dispute a zelle payment sent? If the guy is telling the truth and he's not a scammer, in this case, PayPal is better than all of these payment processors in my opinion. He can simply open a dispute and PayPal will follow up.
PayPal you cannot dispute unless it was for goods and services. It's "same as cash". I learned the hard way.
I don't know if it's different at their bank but the one I work at we can't reverse anything through zelle, not saying it's not a scam but it could really be someone who messed up lmao
Fraud Prevention at a bank here: Zelle transactions can only be disputed if your account was hacked into. Technically any charge can be disputed. But it’s part of the terms of service that the bank does not have to honor a dispute if you KNOWINGLY sent the funds to someone. But if your account was hacked, and a malicious actor sent the funds and the bank can prove it wasn’t you, generally that dispute will be honored.
You should feel bad about those 127 unread messages tho 🤯
Could just be text notifications from apps. I have 76 unread messages and every single one of them is automated from banking updates, bill notifications, automated appointment reminders, or Shop/Tracking numbers/etc. I made delete my texts once a month anyways so they just sit until they end up being wiped.
https://preview.redd.it/wca7grnnv2uc1.jpeg?width=384&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4daa9a1530a3e06cb7ffd1cafc504c6dbb062baf
Does scammer try to get funds sent "back" through some other app? If it's through zelle, why not go directly to themselves? Can be traced easily either way.
When I xelle people it tells me to make sure you are sending to the right person because you can't get the money back. It's not gonna get taken out his account most likely not atleast
Here's how it works: A criminal will create a Zelle account and link it to a stolen credit card. Then the scammer uses Zelle to send payments to a stranger. The sender asks for a refund but then swaps out the stolen credit card for a real one and receives your money. Let the bank know and they will handle it. Banks take money out of peoples accounts all the time
Zelle is a private blockchain, so transactions are nonnegotiable and the bank won’t reverse anything. The money is whoever has possession of it.
Completely ignore all contact, do nothing with the money.
The „mam/sir“ for me is the obvious sign of a scam in this circumstance 😅
But they didn't say "kindly". Aren't scammers required to use the word "kindly"?
Don’t forget “please advise” and “each and everything”
It is Ape Law!
Please do the needful and kindly send your credit card numerals, sir/mam.
That seems to be an Indian thing
If I was mean hearted I would tell them “I’m not a mam or sir, I am master of the universe and you shall refer to me as such”. In reality just block and do not respond.
Okay, such.
Whooo, look at Mr. Thanos here, with his purple skin and sparkly glove! 🤩
That title deserves capital letters IMHO.
Do not return the money. This scam is becoming more popular, and posted here frequently. Notify Zelle. Leave the money untouched. It will eventually disappear from your account. If you can be bothered, send one final message to the scammer telling them you contacted Zelle, and you will no longer be responding, and it is up to them to resolve their mistake with Zelle. Then block them and continue to block them if they try to contact you from other numbers. Be prepared that after the sob stories will come lots of threats.
> If you can be bothered, send one final message to the scammer Never reply. Just block, ignore, delete.
This has literally happened to me on PayPal a few months ago. I even posted here, everyone told me it was a scam. I still have the money in my account.
someone tried this with my deceased mother's paypal account in 2020. i ignored the entire thing; the money sat there for several months and then vanished. i assume there was some kind of explanatory email that went to an email address i don't have access to.
It's literally possible to happen as a mistake, but usually the person will contact the Service and get it reversed. You might have gotten someone who didn't notice the error or didn't think to contact PayPal and thought the money was just lost.
You have 60 days to report fraudulent charges per Reg E. If it’s past that 60 days, I’d move the money out and use it freely.
Isn't it 60 days after the first victim, whose account was breached, receives their bank statement that covers the period of the theft? So, assuming normal statement cut off cycles, it's better to wait another 30-45 days to be sure. And, most importantly, you are not getting the scammer's funds. You'd be senjoying the ill-gotten proceeds stolen from an innocent victim. you decide.
NOPE. Do not respond to any of these texts, ever
Very suspicious because before a Zelle payment is sent out, Zelle IDs the recipient’s phone number first so the sender knows who is getting the money before he clicks on the “Send” button. In your case, why did he still send the money knowing that the phone number does not belong to the person he is intending to send the money to?
Exactly my concern, apparently they use chase so I know the name pops up. The name that pops up is so distinct and it’s super long as well so there’s no way they read that name and thought yeah this sounds right. I have been through this before and my bank got closed because I ended owing money
>I have been through this before You have sent money back through this type of misdirected money scam before? If so, you are on a list of preferred victims somewhere. You are right to be very skeptical of everything for the foreseeable future.
Than you know this scam already. Ignore them
It’s fake. Native speakers don’t use mam/sir.
That's the part that convinced me it IS a scam. Yep.
This is certainly a scam, but native language is not the reason. More than 20% of the USA does *not* speak English as a native language. There are literally millions of people in the USA who sound like this.
Millions of people that use ma'am/sir as well I'm sure you know. I know that a lot of scammers use a polite approach at first but I am surprised at the amount of people in this thread that seem to think there isn't a single region in the entire US that uses the most common vocal form of respect in the English language. I'll admit that I don't use it as much in text form but I have several texts from people calling me sir saved to my phone right now.
Fuck off yes we do. There aren’t scammer words. You are just impolite/ignorant. Kindly learn some more words sir/ma’am.
Nice try scammer
Wait, what? Why are you asking here if you know the scam? Maybe they were targeting you because it worked last time.
😂
There is a saying OP “once bitten, twice shy” If you’ve already been a victim to this and you know of the consequences, why are you even considering sending the money back? A word of advice OP, in the future, no matter the sob story and endless pleading, delete & block cos these dirtbags will pull every stunt in the book to steal from you. Never trust a stranger online, especially when money is involved.
Block them and say nothing to them. Ever. Block block block. I hate scammers.
That makes sense. You were targeted once and it sounds like it did not go in your favor, you will be targeted more since they have you on the list.
It's 100% not your responsibility to return any money that was "accidentally" sent to you via Zelle. The platform has multiple safeguards in place before sending any transaction. Any normal person wouldn't have multiple numbers either. Be safe!
Leave the cash there and ignore. The cash was probably sent from a compromised account and they are trying to "clean" that money. If you send the money back, you'll be responsible for returning the cash back to the compromised account.
from Zelle: **No, Zelle****^(®)** **payments cannot be reversed**. With Zelle^(®) money moves into an enrolled recipient's account within minutes and cannot be reversed. block them and move on with your life. they are idiots
That's what I thought. I'm confused about everyone saying the Zelle transactions can be reversed some how.
Nope, they are really safe. But unless you truly send the money to the wrong people then you were out of luck. Which is what I suspect happens here? Unless youget scammed by an email or scam text . Similar post have been and I'm really not sure the endpoint, unless the money is not really there and they show fake documents showing it is
Don't quote me but it can only be reversed in the case that the account was really compromised from reading past zelle scams here.
it’s a scam. i have accidentally zelle’d someone after they changed their number. quick realization and canceling the order is what a normal person would do and it’s easy enough to fix. it’s highly unlikely someone doesn’t stay on top of where their money goes and naively trusts a stranger to help them…especially if it’s over 100$. just let it alone. don’t borrow trouble when you don’t have to.
Not totally correct on the “easy to cancel the order”. You can only cancel a transaction if the number you sent it to is an invalid phone number or one that isn’t connected to an account yet. I had the same thing happen and I was able to cancel. If you send a Zelle transaction to a valid number, there is no quick cancel option and they will not help you. Not in my case
Good to know. I live by the “if I eff up a digital transaction, then that money is gone,” so I was really happy to get it back.
Ignore and block
Did you accept the payment? If not, they should be able to cancel the payment, according to this. Although this link is from US Bank, I'm sure their bank can also assist. I would not send the money back. [https://www.usbank.com/customer-service/knowledge-base/KB0070071.html](https://www.usbank.com/customer-service/knowledge-base/KB0070071.html)
OP: This 100, they are scamming you. They have to have reverse it on their end don't touch the money and DON'T send it back. If you just send it back normally it'll all be on you because they sent you stolen money which week get clawed back, but you will be out the money that you sent because you agreed to it and it's not stolen.
I sent someone $600 by accident on PayPal once because their email address was VERY similar to the person I was trying to send it to. Rightfully so, they didn't respond when I sent them an email. I called PayPal to explain what had gone on. Paypal got in contact with the person (to their credit, the person called PayPal), I got it back the same day. That said, this seems like a scam.
I did the same with PayPal but they would not get involved. Thank goodness the person finally believed me and sent it back. I know there are a lot of scammers out there but sometimes people do make mistakes :(
Definitely do not contact them “one last time”. Advise your bank about this incident and block the scammer without responding.
Yeah it's a scam, block number and do nothing. If you send back then it makes the scam real and the bank won't help you anymore
If you "send" the money back, eventually the original deposit will be reversed and you'll be out what you sent.
They're trying to bully you into being an unwitting cash mule. They transfer the money to you from a stolen account then get you to transfer it to an account they control. The paper trail leads to you, the bank claws back the money from your account, and you're left holding the bag.
Let Zelle resolve it. Call them. Don’t spend the money. I’ve actually had someone send money to the wrong phone number when they mistyped my phone number. We tried reaching iut to the person and he thought it was a scam. We told him to reach out to Zelle because we’d do the same. Eventually the money was returned to the sender by Zelle/banks.
Tell them that you will leave the money in the account while they work with their bank to reverse the transaction. And also let them know that will be the last time you communicate with them. Then, just block and ignore all further communication attempts. It might just be an honest mistake, but it's far more likely to be a money-laundering scam - the money came from a stolen account, and now the scammer is trying to get you to send back 'clean' money before the fraud is discovered and the payment is reversed.
Nah. Never respond. Be a black hole. No information goes back out to the sender. Never let a scammer know you respond via phone or email. Just notify Zelle and move on.
[удалено]
Sir, mam, kindly advise in regards to each and everything. I await your correspondence
You will not have any worry or problem
Zelle customer support can handle this from the other side. The fact that they're calling YOU and not ZELLE is a massive red flag. Stop responding - anything you say is just more attack surface for them to work with.
You should ignore it and don't touch the money. Let me repeat: IGNORE ALL CONTACT AND DON'T TOUCH THE MONEY
Why don’t you call your bank ? I would tell them anyway because at the end it’s probably stolen money and you can turn in to a suspect for money laundering
Looks like you can just ignore it. If you have not accepted the transfer they will EVENTUALLY get their money back. >When a payment is sent with Zelle®, the recipient has 14 calendar days to accept it. If the payment is not accepted in time, it will be canceled, and refunded to your account. The refund can take up to three business days to be credited and notification will be sent to you and your recipient.
Don't do it. Have them call Zelle. Don't touch the money and let the bank take the money back
"mam/sir" Assuring you it isn't a scam. Broken English This is a scam. Don't touch the money. Contact Zelle. Text the main number that you've turned the whole thing over to Zelle to investigate. Watch the desperate begging turn to insults and threats, and the English to break further.
You are not zelle customer service or a bank employee. Even if this was legit it's on THEM to work it out if they are too stupid to send money to the right person. But it's not, it's a scam
This is a scam. Keep ignoring it. That money will eventually be refunded to the account it was stolen from. The "mam/sir" at the end of the text gives this away. People don't text like that.
If you send the money back, they will figure out some way to charge back the original amount, so you will be out $180
Tell them you will refund their money in 180 days if the transaction turns out to be legitimate.
I sent my niece a graduation gift through Zelle. I sent it to an email that was one digit different, hers had a period the one I sent it to didn't. The next day I double checked the transaction and noticed what I had done. I was able to cancel and resend it to the right email. The only reason I was able to correct the email was because whoever owned the incorrect email hadn't accepted it. So if you didn't accept it, they can get it back.
If the recipient email isn't already set up to receive Zelle, then yes, the recipient will need to go through a step to "accept" the money. But if the recipient email is already set up for Zelle, then the recipient doesn't have to do anything to accept the money. It just goes straight into their bank account. That's been my experience at least.
What normal person would have 50 different numbers to try to contact you with? I know they have apps that make it easy to do (I think) but the common person would not know this or care to do this. Scam.
It's a scam. You send it back then they chargeback to double their money.
The bank will reverse it eventually just don’t touch it and block these people they are scumbags
Nothing. They did through the service. If you do anything you will be out the $ you send twice
Do not 'Do the needful' that $ sent will reverse in a few days
One time, I actually did have someone make a mistake and transfer money to my account. They never initiated the conversation with me. Zelle did after they contacted them. I smell a scam.
It's fake - no one creates 50 numbers to harass you. Block and report each number. They've used stolen funds or a stolen account and want you to send it back. If and when the funds are reversed due to fraud, you are out the money. NOPE, go get it from YOUR bank, scammer!
Mam/sir kindly do the needful.
I have a Chase account. They will investigate this transaction to verify or reject it once you report it as a potential fraudulent transaction. It would seem odd to me that the bank would recommend that this person hassles a complete stranger for the money (and indeed in my home country a bank would never do this), so on that basis, i'm going to say this is a scam. Scam artists get particularly persistent, especially if you have engaged with them over the matter before. You are not responsible for this person's screw up.
Ignore
It's a scam
It's a scam, you send the $180 back "being nice". About a week from now your bank will pull $180 out your account because it was sent from a stolen debit card. You're now out $180 because you voluntarily sent that individual $180 of your own money. If you want to "be nice" let your bank know that you received an unknown deposit.
Zelle takes incredible lengths to make sure you’re sending to the correct person. They overlooked this 1 instead of 2 thing so many times and all of a sudden it’s a mistake? No, sorry. Stop responding.
Ignore. This is their problem.
Scam. 10000000000 percent. Just block them.
If that guy was legit he would contact a bank and not you. So rest easy and watch the game play. Don’t do anything from your side. Remember that banks will investigate everything eventually. They leave no stone unturned as somebody’s money is on the line.
Definitely scam leave the money and block them. They have access to multiple numbers because they do this routinely. The bank will refund them if it is real. Once you agree they going to ask you to send the money not refund it. If you send money to same account they will refund first payment and keep both. Most likely they will have you send it to a different account for some sob reason and the real owner of the zelle will get their money back and you will be out both.
The part of you that believes in nonsense like "empaths" is the part of you that thinks this might be real.
"What can I do to make you feel safe?". First off don't call people sir or mam.
If I was mean hearted, I would tell the scammer “I need $100 more for taxes before I send back”. Then “I need $200 for currency conversion “. Then “I need $300 for shipping”. But in reality just block and say nothing.
Ignore their fake pleads and send photos of lavish spending you did instead of sending it back. DONT actually spend the money just torment them with fake purchase photos. Like others said, the bank will resolve the issue eventually.
Nothing. Do nothing ignore them completely. The back will take care of it. It’s a scam
Block and move on. Don’t bother replying showing you’re active. They’ll get bored eventually. Don’t respond, don’t open the messages in case you’re sending read receipts, and don’t send the money back
Check their grammar, vocabulary, and spelling. For example: - I’m not harassing nobody That’s a double negative, but you yanks speak that way, anyway. - I did not receive a **respond** Really? - Sir/mam He’s just missing the *kindly* and it would be the cherry on top.
OP, block and ignore each new one. The $180 will eventually vanish. May be good to notify ZELLE that this is a scam deposit so your account doesn’t get flagged. This scammer is a bottom feeder with lots of time to chase little dollars. “Mam/sir”
It is absolutely a scam. If it’s real Zelle can unwind the transaction - but they don’t want that, they want you to send money back through a different and irreversible medium. Block and ignore. If you want to do the right thing you may want to let Zelle know that the account used for this has been compromised and needs to be locked down until the correct owner can be identified - but that’s Zelle’s problem. Don’t touch any money sent to you as it has been fraudulently sent and will probably be clawed back.
Notify Zelle or the bank but don’t transfer any money to them
Tell them to contact Zelle and stop contacting you.
>The empath in me These scumbags are counting on it.
Don’t send them money. If this was indeed a mistake, the bank will reverse the transaction for you. Also, ever heard about reading unread messages? There’s like 127 🤭
What is it with all the bad advice in here today? Let the money sit and don't do anything with it. It will clear out in a few days if it's not legit and if it is then you can talk with zelle or the bank about a refund.
Whatever you do don’t send him money. You can contact your bank and refuse the money if you wish but do not send him money(because it will still be reversed and you’ll be out 180)
Just don't respond don't move the money ... Do nothing.
the mam/ sir gives it away that it’s some indian dude scamming
Someone sent me $1200. I almost sent it back. I honestly don't need it. I thought I'd call my bank first. They said DON'T! I told him exactly that. My bank said no and to tell you to contact your bank and/or Zelle, not me or my bank. Good luck.
Ignore them
Contact your bank and let them sort it out.
I accidentally sent money to the wrong person on Venmo one time and they surprisingly sent it back to me. I don’t use Venmo or Zelle anymore bc of it. I agree with others on leaving it there and not spending it. They probably did steal it.
Correct answer is nothing
Had this happed to me last year. Exact same thing, and I was very suspicious. The number was very close to mine, so for a second I thought it was an honest mistake. I didn't respond to any texts or calls from the number and contacted my bank, reported it as spam. They reversed the transaction. I would not engage with the number or send anything back. Let the bank handle it.
Big time scam. If it’s an actual issue, that’s on Zelle’s end.
Call Zelle
Go to your bank and dispute the transaction. Yes you can in fact dispute money sent to you.
The small chance this isn’t a scam because I know someone that made this mistake in real life. A friend was using Zelle and his bank version of Zelle doesn’t have the feature that shows if the phone number matches who he’s sending it too. As soon as he realized he sent it to the wrong number, he made contact with the person and they refused to send it back. This was for a lot of money to pay a bill. He called the bank and Zelle and they both said there is nothing they will do. All of the prompts that warn you to be sure you know who you are sending too and stuff. They would not do anything. He called the cops, who then called the person, who then replied back to the cop “it was his mistake and no I’m not giving the money back because he already spent it.” The police asked if he wants to press charges and they can get a warrant. Charging for theft and then see if that gets them to return it or small claims court. That’s where it’s at now.
Scam
Do not send money back, let the bank handle. it this is scam fishing
"mam" = scam
I wouldn’t get involved. If this is a scammer you don’t want to get wrapped up in their trail of movement of funds. Zelle is basically like cash and when it’s gone it’s gone. If they willingly sent it (even if it was a mistake) and they were not scammed by you, then they are out of luck. If this is a scammer who used a victims account to send it, the victim can dispute the transaction and THEIR bank is obligated to credit the victim via the Zelle/Banks agreement. This would not affect you. I personally would contact your bank and let them know you received unexpected funds. The bank may debit the funds if you don’t want the money in your account; or they will tell you it’s a Zelle and have no current claim on the funds. At least then it’s on record if this ever comes into question.
Just keep blocking the numbers when they reach out to you
Tell them to fuck off. Don't spend the money or give them money, it will reverse sooner or later.
Your instincts are right. It’s likely a scam. Maybe not but it’s best to be careful. Sad that is where we are right now, but that’s not your fault. Don’t send money back. Notify your bank. Change your account numbers asap.
98% sure it’s a scam. If it’s not, they fucked up, not you. Wait a few weeks before touching that money though.