A 24-year-old man from Miami pleaded guilty on Tuesday in Connecticut federal court for his involvement in a fraudulent scheme targeting Zelle users.
According to court documents, Kader Gahmaal Biwaki Edmond confessed that he and his accomplices exploited Zelle users by sending fake text messages, pretending to be from their bank, to trick them into transferring money into the fraudsters' account.
In these common scams, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) states, the victim is contacted through a deceptive text message appearing to be from their bank, they are asked if they authorized a Zelle transaction.
When the victim denies it, they are told a bank representative will contact them. Then someone pretending to be from the bank informs the victim of an unauthorized transaction and asks for their help to fix it, authorities state.
The fraudsters then link their phone number or email to a bank account via Zelle that isn't theirs. The victim is then told to 'reverse' the fake transaction by sending a Zelle payment thinking it's going to their account when in reality, the payment goes to the fraudsters' account.
