Sometimes gut feelings can take you a long way!

This guy shares how he thought he was getting scammed but saved himself in a clever way.

Check out the full story.

Don’t participate in a scam and then expect us to take care of things after the fact.

I work as a rep for a financial institution and received a call recently from a customer who started off with, “if I send $6000 to my landlord, how will the bank cover me if it turns out to be fraud?”.

He instantly knew something was up!

Naturally, it piqued my interest so I start asking questions to rule out social engineering and get a feel for what is going on.

The customer starts to explain she and her husband find this property online, but the landlord lives out of town. The customer was able to go and see this property in person, and there wasn’t anyone living there.

The landlord has a property manager who was supposed to meet the customer in person to sign the leasing agreement, who cancels at the last minute but sends the customer the documents via a DocuSign-equivalent service online.

He wasn’t so sure about this whole situation!

At this point, I’m feeling real sketch about this situation. After signing the documents, the property manager advises the customer now needs to Zelle $6000 over to the landlord.

I asked the customer if the leasing agreement stipulated that the customer pays her rent via Zelle specifically moving forward as the preferred payment method, and the customer said she didn’t know but she assumed so (why didn’t you read the leasing agreement thoroughly and ask question??).

The customer states she was feeling really iffy about the lease now and wanted to call and ask about the best way for her to provide the security deposit and first month’s rent of $6000 total to the landlord in a way that would basically be disputable if it turned out to be a scam.

She wanted to be on the safe side but he knew what to do…

I told her bluntly multiple times that if she is unsure of the legitimacy of this deal, she should maybe consider eating the cost of some late fees and demand to meet the property manager in person if that would make her feel more secure about the lease, or put off paying anything until she gets the validation she needs that this is (or isn’t) a legitimate deal.

I gave her different options to make the payment, but she kept coming back around to the same question: what will we do to protect her if it does turn out to be a scam because she was feeling the time pressure of having to make this payment ASAP that day.

Again, I told her honestly that:

He gave her some very simple options to navigate the situation!

-she should NOT give any money to anyone she feels uncomfortable,

-she should vet the situation and do some more research, like speak to the neighbors of the property or again, demand to meet the property manager in person,

-she is always welcome to dispute any transactions on her account, HOWEVER, whether the dispute will end in her favor is a different story.

He knew how to tackle the situation!

I expressed very clearly that regardless of the method of payment, if she is willingly giving money to someone, she will carry the responsibility of the situation and she could be a victim of a scam.

Often times customers confuse being a victim of fraud in a broad sense to also mean that the bank will naturally be able to get their money back unconditionally.

There is a difference between someone stealing your money and you willingly giving out your money.

Ask more questions, trust your gut and do not just freely give out your money!

GEEZ! That was a close call!

Let’s find out how people on Reddit reacted to this one.

This user shares how they work their way around such scams!

This user knows how they trap animals the way this lady was trying to trap this guy.

This user shares a funny story!

This user knows the list of scammers is a long one!

This user has an important life advice!

Somebody was quick to listen to their heart!

If you liked that post, check out this story about a customer who insists that their credit card works, and finds out that isn’t the case.