P2P payment scams.

In plain English

P2P payment scams are schemes that pressure or trick you into sending money through a peer-to-peer app such as Zelle, Venmo, or Cash App. Because these transfers are designed to be instant and final, scammers prefer them. Common versions include a fake message claiming to be your bank's fraud team telling you to send money to yourself to cancel a charge, a fake buyer or seller in a marketplace deal, or someone posing as a landlord or utility. The key warning sign is anyone you do not know urging you to pay through P2P right now.

01Why it matters

Money you authorize through a P2P app is often gone for good, so falling for one of these scams can cost you hundreds or thousands of dollars you may never recover.

02The math, step by step

You get a text that looks like your bank: "Did you authorize a $750 Zelle payment? Reply NO." You reply NO, someone calls posing as fraud staff, and they tell you to "reverse" it by sending $750 to yourself, which actually routes the money to them. That $750 is gone. First step if this happens: stop sending money, call your bank using the number on the back of your card, and report the unauthorized activity. Under Regulation E, banks must investigate genuinely unauthorized electronic transfers, though scams where you sent the money yourself are harder to recover.

03What this is NOT

04Receipts

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