JPMorgan Chase To Crack Down On Zelle Social Media Scams

If you're a JPMorgan Chase customer and you use Zelle to transfer funds, there's a big policy change coming your way. In one week, beginning March 23, 2025, Chase will enforce a restriction on Zelle payments that it deems a social media scam.

If Zelle is an app you use frequently, read on to learn more about Chase's crackdown plans and how they may affect how you send or receive money from family and friends.

Read more: Scamming the Scammers: Meet the Deepfake Granny, Digital Bots and YouTubers Fighting AI Fraud

Why Chase will be blocking Zelle social media charges

Zelle and other digital payment apps, such as Venmo and Cash App, make it easy for scammers to get your money, and many scammers target people on social media. According to Chase, nearly 50% of fraud reports it received from June 1, 2024, to Dec. 31, 2024, came from social media.

A December 2024 lawsuit by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau alleged that customers at JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo lost more than $870 million through Zelle payments since the app launched in 2017. While the CFPB recently dropped the suit, it still raised alarms that customers are at risk using the digital payment app. And since Zelle offers no purchase protection, once you've sent your money on the app, you're unlikely to get it back.

With its new policy, Chase hopes to stop fraud before it happens. Its updated Zelle Service Agreement will allow it to decline or block payments it believes originated on social media. The bank may also delay or hold payments so it can request information from you to authenticate the transaction, such as verifying your identity, the sender or recipient's identity and payment details.

Other ways Chase customers can send money safely

If you want to send or receive money through your Chase account, there are plenty of secure ways to do so. Chase partners with several other digital payment services, such as PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay and Paze.

You should never send money through a payment app to someone you don't know and trust. It also helps to know the signs of a scam so you can avoid falling into fraudsters' traps.

The Zelle mobile app lets you send money from one bank account to another.  Zellle