Former Beauty Queen Explains How She Fell for Common Banking Scam
A former beauty queen based in New York City is sounding the alarm about a common scam using the Zelle banking service.
Briana Siaca, a former Miss New York USA who’s now a Corcoran real estate agent, posted a video to TikTok on Saturday discussing how just the day before she was swindled out of thousands while minding her own business in one of the city’s parks.
“Yesterday, I was sitting in Madison Square Park, in nature, minding my business, listening to a podcast, and these two boys came over and they were fundraising for their basketball team,” Siaca explained. “They allegedly play in South Bronx and can’t afford their uniforms—and they were giving me the whole spiel,” she continued.
“I agreed to give them some money but I didn’t have any cash on me so they accepted Venmo and Zelle,” Siaca said.
When she asked for their Venmo information, the boys reportedly said they preferred using Zelle. Siaca asked for their contact information, and one of the boys apparently offered to enter it himself and took her phone from her.
“He takes my phone, starts putting in his stuff,” Siaca recalled. “I’m talking to the other boy who’s telling me all about his team, how well they’ve been doing, and how much I would be helping and so on,” she went on.
Once she realized the young man entering the info was taking a long time, Siaca grabbed her phone back and the two made a hasty retreat, thanking the victim as they departed.
“I looked at my Zelle account, and they sent themselves $2,000,” Siaca said in astonishment. “I’m shocked. It feels kind of like a scary dream because these boys were so seemingly sweet and innocent and charming and I thought it was really brave they were going around raising money for their team.”
While many commenters were quick to jump on Siaca, lambasting her for handing over her phone and accusing her of being new to the city, her father told The New York Post that she was heavily medicated at the time of the incident, having just had her wisdom teeth removed.
“They had her on some pretty strong medication,” David Siaca told the outlet, “and she was sitting there very groggy trying to just take a moment after the surgery and they were watching her. They gave her some story, they said, ‘We need some help,’ some charity work, and she was all groggy and just handed her phone over,” he continued.
“These people, I mean, they’re like predators,” he added.
The victim reported that, while her bank wasn’t able to provide much assistance, the NYPD has been more than helpful in assisting Siaca.
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