Zelle says it’s up to law enforcement to stop payment app scams

“PSI’s investigation of the three banks indicates that they provide their employees with discretion to determine whether a disputed transaction is unauthorized and, in turn, whether a consumer is entitled to a refund,” the letter said.

Meanwhile, Zelle’s chief fraud risk manager, Ben Chance, told Fortune that the app does everything it can to minimize the risk of scams. He also said the best way to prevent money-sharing app scams is better user education, strong policy and more funding for law enforcement.

“The real solution is to focus on the criminals who are committing these crimes via phone, text, email, digital markets and social media platforms… and of course partnering with those platforms, along with financial services and law enforcement in criminal proceedings. and removing these criminal actors,” Chance told the media.

But even for law enforcement, money lost in a scam can be hard to recover. On August 2, Democrats in Congress introduced a bill that would provide increased refund protection to people who lose money to peer-to-peer payment app scams.

The Consumer Protection Against Payment Fraud Act, proposed by Representative Maxine Waters, Senator Richard Blumenthal and Senator Elizabeth Warren, would increase the responsibility of financial institutions to help consumers resolve fraud disputes.

Consumers may be refunded for unauthorized transactions under existing terms federal law, such as purchases for a stolen Credit card. However, getting your money back after sending it through Zelle or other payment apps is much more difficult.

If you accidentally send money to a scammer, the Federal Trade Commission recommends asking the company you’re sending the money through if there’s a way to recover the funds. If you lose money through a money transfer app, the agency says to report the fraudulent transaction to the app’s parent company.

“If you linked the app to a credit or debit card, report the fraud to your credit card company or bank. Ask them to reverse the charge,” the FTC says.

Zelle did not immediately return a request for comment from Business Insider on Saturday.