Wells Fargo involved in this massive probe along with others. Seems to me that the brain surgeons at the big banks should have the technology to prevent this from happening on the platform they themselves created and then turned loose on their customers.
Off the top of my head:
- Money going to Nigeria? Stop.
- Account being cleaned out? Slow it down and confirm with Sender.
- Transaction different from a customer’s transactional history? Slow it down and confirm with Sender.
- Large transaction being sent to a newly established account? Slow it down and confirm with Sender.
- Identify and monitor accounts with questionable activities (money mule accounts)
- Business accounts should be confirmed as a real business before allowing access to Zelle to prevent scam/fake business accounts. (fake Ticketmaster accounts etc)
- Slow it all down. People will have to adjust. New money received to an account should not be allowed to be immediately moved out for 24 hours and the account should also not be allowed to close or disappear for 24 hours after receiving money.
- Any combination of above? Stop.
If the banks have to start eating the fraud their platforms currently allow, instead of their customers, they’ll figure out how to build the appropriate guardrails quickly.
If the criminals are smarter and faster than Brian, Charlie, Jamie and the rest, then these CEOs are fling down on the job.