Consumer complaint received 2022-08-31
Company: Early Warning Services, LLC
State: GA
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Virtual currency
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
What I expect from this investigation : 1. Reaching out to Police regarding the attached police report 2. Review the email chain attached which show evidence of hacking and a scam 3. Taking action against the XXXX XXXX, XXXX who scammed me who was a member on Zelle to get my money back. 
4. Touching base with XXXX to make sure the details of my claim are discussed 5. A detailed statement confirming that a proper investigation took place on my claim and not a generic response from the company This is claim for a scam that was committed through Zelle via XXXX. Originally, they declined to reimburse me, however, this warrants a dispute. Zelle did not reach out to confirm the details of my legitimate claim. They also took no accountability for having a scammer on Zelle which makes me concerned about using Zelle. The response sent in the previous claim indicates that the user send money to those who they trust, which is what I did so I used Zelle in the manner it was intended. The scammer hacked the email address of my verified friend ( XXXX XXXX ) and had me send the money to their supposed Zelle account, which was an unauthorized transaction because I later found out that this was a scammer and not the original intended owner who had taken over my friends email. This type of scam is covered by the EFTA regulation 13 for the consumer. A legitimate police report was submitted to verify the situation as valid, however, this is not mentioned at all in their response. This all makes me question whether Zelle actually looked into my case at all. I urge Zelle to take a closer look at my case and touch base with the actual customer to ensure they are making an informed decision. I will be disputing the claim with my bank and Zelle again. 

Original details of the claim Date of transaction XX/XX/XXXX amount of money lost in scam : {$3000.00} I reached out to my local XXXX  branch @ XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX Ga XXXX to ask them for assistance in how to get my money back as I was scammed out of {$3000.00} by using Zelle through XXXX. Someone hacked my trusted friends email account and asked if I could send Zelle for a purchase I had made on furniture we had agreed to. I sent it on XX/XX/XXXX and found out on XX/XX/XXXX that his email had been hacked and that never received the money. After several phone conversations with XXXX after hours line, an in person appointment at this local XXXX Bank, a phone conversation with Zelle where they refused to even let me discuss my case because they would only talk to XXXX, everyone came to the consensus to tell me that there was nothing they could really do and there was a slim chance of getting my money back. My local branch did nothing to advocate on my behalf when I went in for an appointment. When I inquired about my consumer rights according to EFTA regulation 13, they said that I had no consumer rights in this manner. They could not even call Zelle to speak to them on my behalf. Zelle is deemed safe through XXXX advertising, yet, when I called the after hours number with XXXX they said " they didn't even recommend customers use it. '' When I signed with XXXX I was not notified of this stipulation or cautioned about using Zelle. I have submitted a police report and was told XXXX would not submit it to Zelle as evidence. I have a police report and a witness that I wanted to submit with my inquire number XXXX filed with Zelle, however, they refused to add it to my inquiry to increase my chances of getting my money back with Zelle. I am submitting this claim so that they can fully review the case and see the complaint against their company.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation