08/12/2025
PSA! Just a heads up to anyone who is on the lookout for the latest scam. Warning, this is a little long....
Yesterday I received a call on my personal cell phone from US Bank. This is the bank I have been with my entire married life. I don't usually get calls from the bank, so I answered. A young man said my name and (I've trained myself not to answer "yes", so I said that is who you have reached. You do not answer "yes" to any unfamiliar callers as they can record your voice and use it to commit further fraudulent acts.)
He proceeded to tell me that it looked like there were 2 fraudulent looking charges to my Zelle account. I asked, personal or business and he didn't answer (red flag #1). He then told me the amounts of those charges (just less than $1000). I again asked, which account and still no answer (red flag #2). He then said to get a pen and paper and call "Zelle" to get this fixed. That is when I stopped him. I said that I didn't believe he was actually from US Bank and that this sounded like a scam. He got very testy (red flag #3) and said, "I didn't ask for your account numbers". I said that is correct and I would go to my bank in person to handle this. He yelled something and hung up! (red flag #4).
I then got online, saw nothing through Zelle (he said I wouldn't) and locked my debit cards. I also compared the US Bank Customer Service number with the number that called: IT WAS ONE AND THE SAME! Needless to say, it was a sleepless night.
This morning after working with our team on our newest project, I went to my US Bank branch and asked to speak to a Banker. Shout out to Carmen Metoyer at the Geneva Branch for dealing with a freaked out old lady in the most professional and understanding manner! I explained exactly what happened, showed her the incoming call number and had her look at my accounts. Then she said something chilling "You are not the only one!"
She then looked at Zelle and said there was nothing to see there. She said that with Zelle, you need to initiate any money going out of your account (not debit). She also said that US Bank would never call about something that wasn't coming out of a credit card.
She said that they do not know how they are using the official customer service number but that it has been reported several times.
Long story short, my suspicious mind, probably prevented a scam.
Working with seniors over the last few years, you hear about this kind of thing all the time. Please be aware that these people are very convincing and you have every right to be suspicious of people calling you out of the blue.
Protect yourself by knowing the signs!
