"And then I got scammed. In the middle of a very busy work day, I got a fraud alert text from my bank and then got called from a number that mimicked the first six digits of my bank's normal number. It sounded so official and normal-they knew my name!-and told me that a Zelle fraud had occurred and I had to transfer the Zelle money to my email address to get it out of processing."
"I did that and they told me it would take a couple hours to get back in my account. No money showed up in my account, so I called my bank, and they said it look like it was coming back to me by morning. At no point in this conversation did they think anything was amiss. Then, when I called back in the morning, they said the money had processed to a different bank."
The person considered themselves financially responsible, saving heavily, keeping minimal checking balances, and tracking a budget while feeling guilt about spending. During a busy workday, a convincing fraud alert text and a spoofed phone call prompted a Zelle transfer to an email address. The bank initially indicated the funds might return but later said they had processed to a different bank. The bank helped file a claim and a report and said recovery was likely but could take up to 90 days. The person has savings so the loss is not catastrophic but feels ashamed and seeks prevention and reassurance.
Read at Slate Magazine
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