Two Chicago women defrauded via tap-to-pay scam using fake funeral donation paperwork, with $3,000 and $2,500 stolen by scammers using PayPal business accounts linked to inactive construction companies

Summary

Two women in Chicago were scammed in separate incidents where con artists claimed to be collecting donations for children's funerals and used tap-to-pay devices to steal thousands of dollars. Estelle Fisher was approached in the Ravenswood neighborhood and charged $3,000 after being shown what appeared to be legitimate donation paperwork. Kelly was targeted in Lincoln Park and charged $2,500 after being pressured to use her phone’s wallet for a tap-to-pay donation. Both victims were not given receipts and later discovered the fraudulent charges through bank alerts. Kelly’s bank, Wells Fargo, initially denied her fraud claim, but PayPal refunded her after media involvement. Estelle’s bank, Bank of America, initially denied her claim but later reversed the charge after she filed it as a billing dispute. The scammers used PayPal business accounts linked to construction businesses with no apparent active operations.