NEW HAVEN, Conn. — A Miami man pleaded guilty on Tuesday in New Haven federal court to defrauding people using Zelle, an electronic payments system, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut.
Kader Gahmaal Biwaki Edmond, 24, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud, an offense that carries a maximum prison sentence of 30 years, according to prosecutors.
Between approximately February 2021 and August 2023, Edmond and others defrauded multiple victims, including those in Connecticut, of more than $250,000 through the Zelle scheme and other fraud schemes, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said law enforcement has been investigating crimes against users of apps such as Zelle. The fraud occurs when a victim receives a fake text message, claiming to be from their bank, asking them to confirm if a Zelle transaction was authorized.
According to prosecutors, when the victim denies the transaction, that individual receives a response that the bank will be in contact and then receives a phone call from someone impersonating a bank representative, who informs them that an unauthorized transaction has occurred and that they need to work together to reverse the transaction.
Prosecutors said that, by this point, the victim is unaware that the fraudsters have linked the victim’s actual phone number or email address via Zelle to a bank account that does not belong to the victim, and the victim is then instructed to “reverse” the fictional, fraudulent transaction by making a Zelle payment to what they think is their own account. In fact, it is an account controlled by the fraudsters.
Edmond was arrested on Aug. 31, 2023, and is released on a $100,000 bond pending sentencing, which will occur on Aug. 14 in Hartford, prosecutors said.
In addition to notifying fraud to their bank or credit union, one can click here to report Zelle fraud to the Internet Crime Complaint Center, or IC3. IC3 serves as the country’s hub for reporting cybercrime and is run by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which investigated this case.
Additional information about digital payment application schemes is available here.
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Dalton Zbierski is a digital content producer and writer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dzbierski@FOX61.com.
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