Security News > 2022 > November > Wells Fargo, Zelle slammed by Liz Warren over rampant online banking fraud

Wells Fargo customers who use Zelle to send and request payments suffer more than twice the rate of fraud and other online scams as people using other big banks, according to US Senator Elizabeth Warren.

Warren chastised both financial firms in letters to their CEOs this week: she said Wells Fargo had sent her an "Evasive and misleading reply," and Zelle parent company Early Warning Services had made "Inaccurate" claims, in response to an investigation she led into banking fraud that stems from Zelle's payment system.

In a November 7 letter to Wells Fargo CEO Charles Scharf, Warren cited her October "Analysis of the limited data you provided in response to my information request" about fraud affecting the bank's customers who use Zelle.

"First, the frequency of Zelle fraud and scams reported by Wells Fargo customers was more than twice as high as it was for comparable banks for which we had data," Warren wrote [PDF] this week.

This includes how many reports of fraud from Zelle customers has EWS and participating banks - the fin-tech firm claims 1,700 financial institutions are on the Zelle Network - received for the past five years as well as the total dollar value of said fraud.

"If Wells Fargo and EWS really want to set the record straight about fraud and scams on Zelle, then they should change course and provide the American people with complete data," Warren said in a statement.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2022/11/09/warren_wells_fargo_zelle_fraud/