Dear Liz: You’ve recently written about Zelle and other payment apps. I had a neighbor pay an amount to the wrong phone number. Uh-oh. When I needed to pay someone recently, I asked them to request the amount using my phone number on Zelle. In this way, granting their request would assure that my payment would go to the correct person.
Answer: That’s excellent practice. People new to the apps often don’t realize there are options for users to request payment as well as send money. A user request can help ensure the money gets to the right place — as long as the sender knows the person and is expecting the request.
Requests for money out of the blue should always be regarded with suspicion. If you don’t know the person, report the potentially fraudulent request to your bank. If the request seems to be coming from someone you know, pick up the phone and confirm they made the request before sending any money.
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