Cash cows. Gravy trains. Money growing on trees. The English language has countless idioms that paint a fantasy of easily earned money. But some folks really do hit the jackpot without trying. Or at least, they think they do. Then they realize it might just be too good to be true.
One such man took to the internet to tell his viewers about his recent stroke of financial luck. But can he really benefit from it?
‘Out of the clear blue sky, some random Zelle’
A Tiktok creator (@legendarycalvert) shared a bizarre experience he had regarding mystery money from a Zelle account. His video has since accumulated more than 1,700 views.
“So it’s Monday, I’m doing some work throughout the day, I take a break from work, I go grab some lunch,” the creator said. “I check my email when I get back from lunch, and I got an email from Zelle.”
The creator said the email was virtually identical to the standard “‘We’ve successfully deposited [x amount of dollars] into your account’” notifications that are typical of transactions when someone sends you money via Zelle.
“Instantly I got nervous cause I’m like, ‘Wait a minute, did I forget to send somebody something?’” the creator said. “Or, like, ‘Is this a deposit for a shoot that I agreed to that I just forgot about?’ … I don’t know what’s going on, so I’m kind of freaking out.”
Furthermore, the transaction in question had indeed hit his account. And it was “a pretty decent amount of money.”
“It’s not like you can pay your rent with it, but … you could definitely pay a bill with it,” the creator said. “Like, you can go to Steak44 and literally just eat whatever you want with … what they sent me.”
What did the creator find out about the Zelle transaction?
In order to “get to the bottom of this,” the creator said he examined the name on the account of whoever had Zelle’d him the money. Unfortunately, the name “[did] not look familiar, and [there was] no note with the Zelle.” So, he decided to do some research.
Searching the sender’s name on Facebook yielded one result: The name matched up with that of the creator’s former professor. However, it was “a pretty common name,” so the creator wracked his brains to determine whether the money was actually from his old teacher.
“Maybe he had my email address, but that wouldn’t make sense, ‘cause my email address has nothing to do with my NAU email,” the creator said. “And it’s my business email, so I don’t think he would have that … And then I’m like, okay, well, maybe he had my phone number from back when I was in school, and he meant to send some money to one of his contacts and accidentally sent it to me instead.”
But then, the creator remembered that he’d recently changed his phone number. So he was left “at a loss.”
Ultimately, he’s decided to “responsibly just put [the money] to the side” until he receives more information. But the creator is floored that he got “out of the clear blue sky, some random Zelle. [A] decent amount of money out of nowhere.”
@legendarycalvert #storytime #zelle #scam ♬ Beethoven's "Moonlight"(871109) – 平松誠
Is it just a Zelle scam?
Multiple viewers took to the creator’s comment section to warn him about possibly being scammed. Few believed he had just genuinely gotten lucky.
“Don’t do anything with it, because [if] you send it back to them, you will find out later it was from a stolen card and they will take that amount out again,” one viewer commented. “Call Zelle and let them know. It’s a [known] scam on Venmo PayPal.”
The creator replied to this comment, asking, “What would happen if I didn’t send it back?”
“To you? Nothing, just leave it there, do not touch it,” the viewer replied. “Because if it is from a stolen card l, it will be taken back without costing you anything!!! But I would definitely contact Zelle, because then they might take action against your account just for keeping it. This might happen, but I would definitely call.”
The creator’s account of events does align with those online who’ve reported being scammed. Reddit is chock-full of users reporting similar mystery transactions that have turned out to be scams.
In the comment section of one such post, a Redditor broke down how such “chargeback” scams operate.
“A lot of these scams are based off of fraud,” the Redditor wrote. “The money deposited is usually stolen. When you send that money back, you’re paying them the same amount. Then the banks realise that the money was stolen and they reverse the payment and debit your account. You can’t reverse yours because it was authorised by you, so now you’re left with -$120.”
What did Zelle say?
In an email to Buzz News, a representative from Zelle said they “can’t speak to the details of a specific customer situation, and Zelle does not hold users’ money or manage bank or credit union accounts.”
The creator’s experience could be one of a number of situations, including “a mistake by the sender or a scammer using a compromised account to send funds,” according to Zelle. When in doubt, it’s safest for Zelle users to “contact their banks directly.”
“Criminals often impersonate trusted people, businesses, employers or financial institutions to manipulate consumers into sending money,” Zelle told Buzz News. “These scams can appear through text messages, emails, social media platforms, online marketplaces, spoofed phone calls, phishing websites, and other channels.”
Zelle says it is always advisable for its users to keep an eye out for unusual email addresses, urgent language, and “suspicious links.” Zelle advises to “never provide personal or financial information in response to an unexpected request.”
Zelle offers “a consumer resource on how to spot scams” on its website, and “requires financial institutions to reimburse customers 100% for all instances of confirmed fraud, going above what is required by law under the EFTA and Regulation E.”
“Zelle also goes above and beyond what is required by law and requires reimbursement for certain qualifying imposter scams where the customer authorized the transaction,” Zelle told Buzz News. “If consumers believe they were a victim of fraud or a scam, they should contact their bank or credit union immediately.”
Buzz News has reached out to the creator via TikTok comment.
