New York Attorney General Letitia James is suing the banks behind Zelle over claims that their payment platform enabled “massive amounts of fraud” that caused customers to lose more than $1 billion between 2017 and 2023. Additionally, James claims EWS did not ensure that banks reported customer complaints about fraud in a “timely” manner and falsely advertised the service as a “safe” money transfer tool. Zelle spokesperson Eric Blankenbaker pushed back on these claims in a statement to The Verge, saying Zelle “leads the fight to stop fraud and scams” in the US. That’s bad policy and puts consumers at greater risk.”Attorney General James claims EWS violated New York law and is asking for restitution and damages for all New Yorkers harmed by scams on Zelle. “I look forward to getting justice for the New Yorkers who suffered because of Zelle’s security failures,” James said in the press release.