Consumer complaint received 2022-12-20
Company: Early Warning Services, LLC
State: DC
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Mobile or digital wallet
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
I was at home Sunday afternoon ( XX/XX/22 ) at XXXX XXXX and got a call on my XXXX from my Dad ( his caller ID and photo on my phone came up the same way it always does ). When I answered I heard his voice and he was in distress and sounded like he was being beaten up. Then a man ( American accent ) came on the phone and told me Shorty, if you ever want to see your Dad again youre going to do what I say. Im going to XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. He told me he had a XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  unless I did what he told me to do. At this point I was terrified and thought my dad had been jumped by someone. I OF COURSE complied with everything they told me to do because I heard my Dads voice and it was coming from his cell phone and all I could picture was someone with a XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. The man was very angry and mean and pushy and kept telling me to pay him money via XXXX XXXX or Zelle immediately. He was demanding {$1000.00}. I couldnt think, I was shaking, I was so scared, and just kept pleading with him not to XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. He first asked me to pay him via XXXX XXXX, but I do not have this. I then said I have XXXX, but he did not want me to use that. He then asked me if I had Zelle and I remembered that Zelle was in my XXXX XXXX. I went in Zelle and he gave me phone number to send the money to ( XXXX ). I initially tried to send him {$1000.00}, but it told me my limit to send to a new recipient was {$500.00}, so that is what I sent. When I sent the payment it came up as someone named XXXX. He confirmed that that was the correct account to send it to and I " authorized '' the payment against my will under the direct threat of XXXX to my father. He started yelling and telling me it did not go through, so then he gave me another number to send another {$500.00} to ( XXXX ). This number was associated with the name XXXX and he confirmed that this was the correct name. I then once again " authorized '' the payment to go through against my will. It went through this time. During this whole time, every hesitation I had or pause he would scream and threaten my XXXX. [ Of note, the transaction numbers for the XXXX transactions on XXXX Zelle were XXXX -- the " XXXX '' transaction -- and XXXX -- the " XXXX '' transaction. Luckily somehow the XXXX one did not go through and was cancelled, so I only ended up losing {$500.00} instead of {$1000.00}. ] Luckily boyfriend was with me and when I first got the call he immediately called XXXX. He then called my Mom who was out of town, but had my XXXX 's location showing that he was at home where he lives in Ohio. My boyfriend then called my brother who he knew was also at home in Ohio ( while I was still on the phone with these criminals ) and was able to find out that my XXXX was home and safe and had his phone with him. I immediately hung up with the scammers, but the money was gone. I then found out that I was the victim of an advanced scam where they called me somehow from " my XXXX 's '' phone and likely used voice cloning to emulate his voice and make him sound in distress. Im so glad my XXXX was actually okay ( I broke down in tears when I found out ). I then immediately called XXXX, but they said they could not help me recover the money because I " authorized '' the payment -- despite the fact that it was stolen from me forcefully under direct threat of XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. XXXX told me that Zelle is a third-party company that has nothing to do with them, so they can not reimburse the money, and told me to call Zelle. I then called Zelle who a ) repeated that I " willingly authorized '' the payment ( despite the threat of someone shooting my Dad in the head if I did not send it ), and then also told me that they have no ability to see the transaction or figure out where it went and they could not help me recover the money. They also told me that XXXX 's Zelle is different from the Zelle app, and they can not help me with anything related to XXXX 's version of Zelle. They told me I had to call XXXX back and ask to speak to someone in the " Zelle Department. '' I then called XXXX back and they told me that no such thing exists, that their customer service dept is what deals with Zelle. I then had to call Zelle back again and I made them call XXXX with me on the line to realize that both were pointing fingers at each other. There is no responsibility for Zelle from the company itself or from the banks that use it. This allows criminals to get away with these heinous crimes. I then told them I did not even realize when I signed up for XXXX that I had Zelle -- it was not something I wanted to have, but I am forced to because it's on their app automatically. Therefore, I will be finding a bank with no affiliation with Zelle. This should be illegal!

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation