There’s A Scam Affecting New York With Bank of America And Zelle Cash Transfers

Residents all across New York should be aware of a latest scam involving Bank of America and Zelle cash transfers. Here's everything we know so far.

The scam starts out with an innocent looking text message warning you about fraud in your bank account, then you receive a pretty convincing phone call.

"I was sick to my stomach," victim Barbara Zyhajlo said.

She was out for a walk when the scam struck, receiving a text message asking if she just authorized a Zelle transaction for $1,375.50.

"I wrote no, and so instantly, two minutes later, I get a phone call," she said. "It's a guy, he says his name is Shariff, he's here to help me."

According to ABC 7, it looks like nurses and teachers were also scammed in a similar way with Zelle to transfer money. If you feel you've been scammed, contact your bank and start a fraud investigation. Also, file a police report and submit it to your bank as part of the investigation.

Bank of America sent us the following statement:

In cases like this, scammers may spoof legitimate phone numbers and impersonate legitimate businesses and attempt to convince individuals to provide their personal information. We remind clients that they should not provide confidential account information to unidentified individuals. Bank of America and other legitimate companies would not ask a customer to transfer funds between accounts in order to help prevent fraud nor request sensitive account information. We alert clients during the transaction if they are sending money to a new recipient that they should only send to people they trust. Additionally, they see: "BEWARE: Bank of America will never ask you to transfer money to anyone, including yourself. Don't transfer money as a result of an unexpected text or call." To move forward with the transaction, they need to click OK. We also have a number of measures in place to proactively warn clients about scams, and we periodically reach out to customers with information about how to stay safe and avoid scams. In addition, we keep clients informed about new scam alerts through our Client Security Center on our website."

Have you seen a similar scam locally? Let us know on our station app.