A scam cost me $31k and a pool

Main Topic: The podcast episode discusses a personal experience of the host, Devin Friedman, who was scammed out of $31,500 through the peer-to-peer payment app Zelle while trying to hire a contractor, Gary Kruglitz, to build a pool.

Key Points:

1. Devin Friedman and his wife hired Gary Kruglitz to build a pool, but he disappeared and asked for payments through Zelle, which they sent to him.
2. However, it was later discovered that someone had hacked into Gary's email account and was sending fake emails to Devin, asking for payments to be sent to other people's accounts.
3. Devin and his wife sent a total of $31,500 to these fake accounts, thinking they were paying Gary.
4. They reported the incident to the FBI, local law enforcement, and their bank, but no one was able to recover the stolen money.
5. Devin discovered that Zelle is not a safe way to send money, as there are no consumer protections in place, and banks are not obligated to disclose the amount of fraud that occurs on the platform.
6. Devin's story highlights the risks of using peer-to-peer payment apps and the need for better consumer protections.

Participants:

1. Devin Friedman: The host of the podcast and the person who was scammed.