Law Enforcement in Houston recently issued a warning about an insidious new scam involving  the electronic person-to-person payment services Venmo, Zelle and Cash App that starts with unexpected funds appearing in your account followed shortly by a message from someone telling you that they mistakenly sent the money to your account and ask for you to send it back to them.  Often the scammers tell their intended victim that they need the money to be returned right away because it is needed for rent, a medical bill or some emergency.  It is easy to see how convincing this scam can be.  The problem is that in many instances the original payment came from a compromised bank account, hacked Venmo, Zelle or Cash App account or stolen credit card and when the crime is discovered the payment will be reversed, however, if you make a  return payment from your own account, it is a voluntary authorized payment and you will lose the money you send.

In another version of the scam the scammers initially contact their victims with fake emails that appear to come from Zelle, Venmo or Cash App leading the targeted victim to believe they have received a payment to their account when they actually have received nothing.

Finally, in yet another version of the scam, you receive funds through a money laundering scheme making the scam victim a part of a criminal scheme.

TIPS

Fortunately, this is an easy scam to avoid.  Whenever you get what appears to be an unexpected payment and a request to refund the payment, you should never send anything to the person requesting the refund.  Instead merely contact your payment service, whether it be Zelle, Venmo or Cash App and let them sort it out at no risk to you.

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