New York City police department (NYPD) stated that last year in the streets of New York, criminals carried out a scam through mobile money transfers, resulting in victims losing a total of over $76,000.
The authorities mentioned that the modus operandi of the scammers usually involves soliciting donations from victims for various reasons such as sponsoring sports teams, school activities, or non-profit organizations. Subsequently, they request the victims to transfer donations through mobile payment methods like Venmo, Cash App, or Zelle, and then claim they “did not receive the funds,” or present other excuses to offer “assistance,” eventually requiring the victims to hand over their phones. After obtaining the victims’ phones, the scammers seize the opportunity to swiftly transfer substantial sums of money from the victims’ accounts.
An incident that took place at Madison Square Park in Manhattan in May last year was particularly illustrative.
In this case, a former beauty pageant contestant, Briana Siaca, was resting in the park when suddenly two teenagers approached her, asking for donations for their South Bronx basketball team.
Since the suspects only asked for a $5 donation and Siaca did not have cash on her, she agreed to use Venmo or Zelle for the transfer. Subsequently, one of the suspects took the initiative to input their account information on Siaca’s phone, while the other teenager engaged Siaca in conversation to distract her.
After the suspects departed, Siaca checked her account and realized that the criminals had transferred $2,000 out of it.
The NYPD disclosed that last year in Manhattan and Brooklyn, several dozen victims handed over their phones to strangers in similar situations, resulting in a total loss exceeding $76,000.
Between January 11th and November 19th last year, the NYPD received 39 reports, with victims being scammed out of sums ranging from $928 to $3,500. The victims’ ages ranged from 19 to 39, with the majority being female.
Jane Khodos, a spokesperson for Zelle, informed Gothamist that in 2023, 99.5% of transfers conducted via Zelle were legitimate transactions, meaning the remaining 0.5% were deemed suspicious.