Totally off topic but I had my bank card “scanned” while dining in a small local restaurant (I had my pocketbook hanging on the back of my chair). Within 24 hours they had duplicated my card; attempted to use it but not having the “chip” the merchant wouldn’t let them swipe. They went down the road to a convenience store and the clerk let them swipe and get $200 cash. I had my money back within a few hours but that was the turning point of not being complacent and too comfortable in your surroundings.
Yes! My husband can track me by several means. I always notify him when I arrive and when I am leaving. I will never go where I don’t feel safe.
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jdeliseo
I see what you are saying now. I’m curious as well. I would think a check would be easier to collect on non-pay than anything electronic.
@cryman.notary Thank you for sharing. 
When manufacturer’s initially began producing RFID Blocking Wallets to protect credit cards I invested in a good (albeit expensive) one.
They’re much more reasonably priced now and many choices are available via an internet search. While shopping be sure to check for the effectiveness of the RFID Blocking Wallets by investigating impartial (if there is such a thing any more) reviews; i.e., CNet, Popular Mechanics, Good Housekeeping, etc.
Just one more way to ensure protection of your valuable data . . .
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P.S. Here are some informational details about RFID from a reliable source (Identity Stronghold):
"What does RFID Stand for?
RFID Stands for Radio Frequency Identification, this is the technology that lets you simply wave your contactless credit, debit, transit, identification card, passport or license in front of a nearby scanner instead of having to slide the magnetic stripe through it. It’s a fairly simple concept. The electronic scanner sends a signal that an antenna in the card receives and uses to activate the RFID chip. Unfortunately, criminals with minimal technical skills can construct their own RFID readers with a few simple supplies. These devices can steal your private financial information quickly and silently—all the perpetrator needs to do is come near your wallet with the hidden card reader. And the worst part is RFID enabled credit cards don’t have an off switch.
How RFID Blocking Works?
RFID blocking works by creating a shield around the card that blocks the ability to power and communicate with the RFID chip, by doing this our products protect personal information stored on these cards. In other words, our product work as an off switch for your contactless cards.
What Cards use RFID Technology?
RFID technology ( Radio Frequency Identification ) is already being used in numerous consumer products and is constantly expanding. The following are just a few examples.
- Contactless Payment Cards (Credit and Debit Cards)
- Hotel keys
- US Passports Since Oct 2006
- Work IDs
- Transit cards (Easy Card, TAP, OMNY, PayPass, etc.)
- Enhanced Drivers Licenses (EDL)
These Enhanced Drivers License chips contain first page passport information including your photo. The special driver’s licenses from New York, Michigan, Washington, Vermont are “enhanced” with long-range RFID chips. Overall, enough data that identity theft is an ongoing threat for owners of RFID enabled products.
Are All RFID Chips the Same?
There are Three basic types of cards:
13.56 Megahertz frequency chips:
• New debit and credit cards
• Passports
• Public Transportation cards
• Hotel keys
• New ID and access cards
• US Government Employee ID Cards
• Military CAC Cards
• TWIC Cards
860-960 Mhz frequency chips:
• Enhanced Drivers Licences
• E-Passports
• Passport Cards
125 Kilohertz frequency chips:
• ID cards
• Building Access cards
• Gate Access cards"
NOTE: Source quoted information from => ID Stronghold | What is RFID? | FAQ
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I believe keyless entry and push button start on vehicle’s use this technology as well. My old car would unlock when I walked up with the key and it had push button start. The key must be nearby. The sad part…you leave your car running even without the key, it can be driven. Once turned off it will not restart without the key in close proximity. Vote is still out on new technology!
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I always hope my GNW will use Zelle if they don’t have cash, because it’s in my account within 10 seconds. I accept cash, Zelle, Venmo and personal checks. I’ve never had a check bounce yet. 
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Zelle is perfectly legit, but none of my title and/or signing companies use it.
The bank tell you that because they see the worst of money transfer scams that people fall for.
For business to business transactions I’ll take checks or PayPal. I no longer take email checks from any vendor as there’s been too many fraudulent transactions. For GNW it’s always paid up front in cash.before I begin the signing.
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Hello,
Greg Lirette here, I’m a notary and an IT person who is deeply familiar with fraud, scams, and the banks knowledge of them.
There are a few issues here:
The payee really shouldn’t require Zelle. Many people don’t have Zelle either because they never signed up for it or their bank doesn’t support it.
Having said that using Zelle to get paid is great! The person can deposit into your account directly with little info about you, they don’t need to know your account number or who you bank with.
Banks generally have a very low knowledge level of how these things work. What they see is the bad side of it.
I’m going to go into a good amount of depth here on the typical situation, it’s good info.
The issue usually starts with a robo call or email to the person and is a phishing scam. The scam can take any number of routes but a common one is a refund scam. Where the person thinks they are getting a refund from a company for a product that they never purchased. In order to do this “refund” they connect to your computer. They only proceed with the scam if they see a decent balance in the account.
Sometimes if you have both a savings and checking or other accounts they will actually transfer money between the accounts but other times they will only black our your screen and modify the html in real time to change the account balance. This doesn’t actually change anything when they modify the html but it makes it appear that you have a lot of money in your account. A refresh or checking the balance from a different device will fix it.
Sure, if they have access to Zelle on your system they may just send themselves the money. So this is one situation where the bank doesn’t want you to use Zelle. But you shouldn’t be letting people on your computer like this and especially not into your bank account, don’t ever do this!
The people make you believe you’re getting a refund and let’s say you have $7,500 in your account they may give you a “refund” of $499 but instead modify your html or transfer funds to turn your balance into $12,499 where you now owe them $4,500, an amount they know you have. They are depending on you to be good natured and they are at risk of losing their job over a mistake that they blame you on but you made no mistake, it’s all a scam.
But this scam and others are all where you pay the payee money, not where you receive money.
Banks are simply uneducated on this and if you want me to jump on a call with your bank I would be happy to because they shouldn’t be telling people to not accept money via Zelle and they should be knowledgeable on how the scams work.
Thanks,
Greg Lirette
[advertising link redacted - NC admins] NotaryGeek
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If you look at the instructions on Zelle ( at least my bank…WellsFargo) says you can use it for small business transactions as well.
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When I was flipping houses prior to starting my notary business ended up with several credit cards for construction discounts. I have cancelled many of those cards but still have quite a few with zero balance. My credit cards have an option to be notified if over certain $ amount is charged. My notifications are for $5 and will receive message on my cell phone. Really like this feature.
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Some clients will use Deluxe Checks, if they do not mail hard copy ones. I have used venmo or paypal, but prefer not to when it is a business paying you. Did you vet the organization to ensure it is not spam, scam, phishing?
Hi Greg,
I was also told not to use Zelle, except for family and friends, so I have used Pay PayPal without a problem so far, and clients find it convenient. What do you think of PayPal?
For my general notary work, which is my primary business, I’ve been accepting “checks and cash only” since 2009 without a problem. In all that time I’ve had one check bounce and got the payment back from the client with fees right away.
I was also a victim of fraud but fortunately the bank caught it and called us before the big check was cashed! They made a check from a line of credit that was never used and only held as a back up. I never wrote a check or used a card on the account. This was all done online. And they changed our contact number on our credit report! Crazy. We have since locked all of our credit reports and don’t keep accounts not being used.
Live and learn!
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I’m not a huge fan of PayPal for several reasons, but I accept PayPal. In fact some that I work with I have no choice but to accept it.
Keep in mind PayPal charges you a fee like many other platforms do. The intent of PayPal was to pay friends and family but now is used for all types of things including payments from people you don’t know. There was a recent law change requiring payment processing companies like PayPal and others to report to IRS. This change was suppose to go into effect for the 2023 tax season but was delayed but surely will be done next year.
One of the biggest reasons I don’t like PayPal as the only form of e-payment is because I don’t think it’s professional. But offering it combined with many others I feel is very good.
Zelle is not subject to the IRS reporting. I’m not suggesting that you would use Zelle to hide anything, you still need to account for your funds. But Zelle does not fall into the same IRS catagory as PayPal and others because Zelle does not hold on to your money at all, it goes directly from bank to bank, they just facilitate that.
Most of my payments are via credit cards which works very well! I’ll take Zelle of course but I use Square and I can easily create an invoice with Square. Square isn’t the cheapest credit card processing option but without signing up for a larger scale one it’s pretty good. The rates are much better than QuickBooks online and others.
One thing that I recently discovered about Square and at first I wasn’t approved for it but now I have it is the debit card. Yesterday I did transfer money from my Square account to my bank but for a couple weeks now I have charged things directly to my Square debit card and that money is available as soon as the payer pays you. Very nice!
You can also instant transfer out of Square of less than 2% or just wait the couple to a few days. Either way. But I have used it for very large payments where I needed the funds right away and it worked well.
Here is my referral link [removed by NC admins]
Several of my clients use Stripe and pay me that way. I don’t know how that differs from Zelle as a payment processor.
May I ask why not? Thanks!
I refuse to use PayPal (bad experience). I have received multiple checks from Deluxe Payment Exchange. I’m in a very rural area and my bank was slightly confused with appearance the first time. I take them the entire sheet and its processed without a hitch now. I think their biggest problem was the check is not printed in color.
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