A distraught Wells Fargo customer warned others not to fall for a Zelle fraudulent charge scam after she discovered a scammer drained her bank accounts.
Charlotte Stenz was in tears during a TikTok she posted last week because she fell for a scammer who called her from a bank number.
‘I got a call from a Wells Fargo number saying that I had fraudulent activity on my account and that a random person was being sent money from Zelle,’ Stenz said in her video.
The call was alarming for Stenz, who revealed she had never used Zelle before.
Despite her never using Zelle, the caller advised Stenz to secure it by sending money that someone would supposedly put back into her bank account.
Charlotte Stenz warned bank customers not to fall for a Zelle fraudulent charge scam after she discovered a scammer drained her bank accounts
‘I didn’t give them any of my bank information, numbers, or anything. They were just telling me I had to pay certain amounts through Zelle to the fraudulent department,’ a tearful Stenz said.
Stenz felt like something wasn’t right during the phone call, but she trusted it due to it supposedly being made from a bank.
‘Looking back on it, I literally feel like an old person who fell for a stupid scam.’
The scam victim went to a Connecticut Wells Fargo after she noticed her accounts were drained.
Through tears, she explained the situation to a desk worker.
The Wells Fargo employee took Stenz’s phone and called the scammer from that number.
As soon as the employee requested the number be verified, the scammer hung up.
The bank employee then referred Stenz to an advisor who called the ‘real’ fraudulent department.
Wells Fargo disputed all the charges later that day and told Stenz they would call her within 10 days to let her know if she would get the money back.
Stenz claimed she thought the call was ‘sketchy,’ but she trusted the caller due to them supposedly calling from a Wells Fargo
Phone scams have become more common over the years, and over 25,725 individuals reported mobile alert text scams from banks in 2022, according to City National Bank.
Ottawa resident Katya Feder was a victim who fell into a Bank of Montreal (BMO) scam in April 2023.
According to Feder, a scammer claiming to be a BMO employee called her to ask if a transaction to purchase cryptocurrency was real.
‘I said OK, great! They are keeping on top of things at the bank. Wonderful,’ Feder told CTV News earlier this year.
After Feder verified her identity and received and repeated a verification code, her account was compromised, and she lost $14,500.
Laurie Johnson described the events that occurred with her 81-year-old mother, who was also a BMO scam victim.
Johnson’s mother fell for the scam after she received a one-time passcode.
The scammer used this code to access the elderly woman’s account, and they sent $15,000 to an account in Bangladesh.
‘Would they not flag that and make a phone call or just stop it and try to find out if that was in fact made by the client? It just seems like it’s too easy for that to happen,’ Johnson told CTV News.
Stenz explained the situation to a Wells Fargo employee, who referred her to a bank advisor to discuss what the next steps would be to possibly get her money back
TikTok users advised Stenz to do things such as hang up right away or tell the caller they would see them at the bank in person
There are various things a bank customer can do to prevent what Stenz went through this month.
Wells Fargo advised its customers to do things like not rely on caller ID, ignore transaction requests, and not share private account information.
The bank also informed its customers to ignore payment requests when looking to solve a problem.
TikTok users who commented on Stenz’s video also suggested she hang up next time or tell the caller they will see them at the bank in person.
‘I have had that call twice. I tell them I am right across the parking lot from the bank so I will just stop in and talk to someone in person,’ wrote a TikToker.
Other commenters shared their own scamming stories, more than one of them being humiliated about the situation they found themselves in.
‘I got scammed last month. In my gut, I knew, but for some reason, I continued,’ a commenter wrote.
‘I’m only out 280, but I cried to every person I called, mostly due to embarrassment on my end.’
Another TikToker wrote: ‘I hope you get your money back. Don’t be embarrassed. It happens to the best of us.’
