LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Millions of people use apps on their phones to send and receive money, but they may not be as safe as some believe.
WDRB Investigates uncovered how people across Kentucky and Indiana are being scammed out of cash, and why it's not so easy to get it back.
Carrying cash isn't as common these days. Now, nearly everything is on an app, such as Venmo, Paypal, Zelle and Cash App.
"They're very common, and they're very useful," said Whitney Adkins, with the Better Business Bureau. "I use them myself. They can be very handy."
But they can also be handy for scammers. Just ask Debbie Key, who was scammed on Venmo.
"I was sent $400 via Venmo. It was sent as accident," Key said. "I was messaged ... 'It was an accident, send me the money back.' Within 8 minutes, I returned the funds."
Key said she didn't think it was a big deal. But two weeks later, she noticed something was wrong on Venmo.
"They're holding me accountable for $400," she said.
This scam involved someone she knows, an estranged family member. She said because she knows the person, her guard was down.
"Absolutely. If you want to be honest, I'm so daggone upset and mad about it. I'm not upset about the money. It's about somebody would do that to you," she said.
Ever since, Key has been fighting to get her money back from Venmo.
"I spent at least three days going with this person, that person, got nowhere, so I contacted the Attorney General's Office."
Then, she turned to WDRB News.
"Because the person who originally sent it fell under purchase protection, Venmo is strongly standing beside the fact, that I'm going to be debited for it, even though that's going to cost me $400," she said.
And Key isn't alone. A Louisville woman who didn't want to be identified said she bought tickets through Zelle for an Eric Church concert back in February.
She thought she was protected by her bank, but ended up losing $400 because the person she bought the tickets from never gave them to her. She did file a police report.
On it's website, Zelle says "Because you authorized the payment, you may not be able to get your money back. A few types of scams reported involve purchasing tickets, buying puppies and other financial scams like cash flips."
The Better Business Bureau said cases like these are all too familiar.
"We've seen different types of scams using all different kinds of payment platforms," said Adkins. "It's usually a scammer insisting you pay by Paypal, by Cash App, Venmo. The reason they do that is they know you are very unlikely to get that money back."
Some scammers target people who sell items online.
"I was selling a dining table with four chairs and I put it on (Facebook) Marketplace," said Merissa Shelburne.
Shelburne said the buyer insisted on paying through Zelle.
"It's $450, and she never negotiated the price," she said. "She said she sent it, and I hadn't gotten the notification yet."
Shelburne said the woman then sent a screen shot of the payment that she said went through, which looked real, but Shelburne realized it was a scam.
"She said 'Chase told me you have to send me $100, so my funds can be released to you.' I said that's weird. Why would I send money? I've had Zelle so many years. I've never sent money to anybody," Shelburne said.
The BBB advises that if someone sends you money by accident, don't respond.
"If you don't know the person. That's one red flag," Adkins said.
Scammers often use other people's faces and names, so it can be hard to tell who you are really dealing with.
"Whether it's Zelle, Venmo or what have you, the problems tend to come down to the other end of someone lying to you or trying to scam you and it's very hard to get that money back versus using a credit card or a bank card," Adkins said.
Financial apps to transfer money
For Key's case, WDRB Investigates contacted Venmo. The company returned her $400.
"I am very grateful for the persistence and attention to helping me resolve the issue with Venmo. After spending three months spinning my wheels with emails and generic responses, I am confident my situation wouldn’t have happened if it hadn’t been for Valerie (Chinn) and the WDRB team. Thank you, I am forever grateful," Key said.
Venmo released this statement to WDRB News:
"The security and privacy of all PayPal and Venmo users and their information has always been a top company priority. We proactively use sophisticated fraud detection tools and manual investigations, as well as work closely with law enforcement agencies to mitigate potential issues and help our customers. We encourage customers who suspect they are the target of a scam or have had an unauthorized transaction to contact Customer Service directly. We're also proud to offer our customers peace of mind through PayPal and Venmo purchase protections on eligible purchases, in addition to our industry leading 24/7 fraud monitoring and protection.”
Shelburne reported what happened to her to police.
"Help people instead of scamming everybody. It's just sad," she said.
"Pay it Safe. Whether you’re using Zelle directly through your banking app or the Zelle app, it's important that you know and trust those you send money to," Zelle said.
Zelle also provided some tips to avoid being scammed.
"Contact your bank or credit union immediately if you feel you’ve been the victim of fraud or have been scammed. In cases of unauthorized payments, consumers have legal rights and protections under the Electronic Funds Transfer Act (also known as "Reg E”)," the company said "It’s important to read the user service agreement and the account agreement with your financial institution to understand the terms of any payment service you intend to use."
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