Owner of SF Chinatown's Wok Shop defrauded with unauthorized Zelle transactions

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- The Wok Shop is a San Francisco treasure. If you haven't shopped there, you still have probably heard about it. Lisa Chan's mother Tane has run the place for more than 50 years.

"My mother has been banking with Bank of America for decades," says Lisa Chan. "She has a store, or a small business, in Chinatown called The Wok Shop."

Tane's Zelle account seems to have been hacked and Lisa's been helping with the fallout. She contacted 7 On Your Side.

"So she called Bank of America and she filed a fraud claim," Lisa said. "It was four transactions on the same day that total $3,500 by a Waylon Marlin."

This was probably a fake name and the bank put a hold on Tane's checking account as they investigated. A few months earlier, Tane's phone had been stolen, which may or may not tie into this hack. Lisa and her mom were hopeful until they heard back from BofA.

"They were not going to refund her money," Lisa said. "They just couldn't prove that it wasn't my mother who facilitated the Zelle transactions."

That's when she contacted 7 On Your Side, and Lisa, Tane, and Michael Finney ended up on a Zoom call to discuss the case.

"Did you make those transactions?" asked Michael Finney.

She answered, "No Absolutely not. The person (name) is on my statement."

And that person's name isn't Tane.

7 On Your Side reached out to Bank of America and made a case that two San Francisco institutions, Bank of America and The Wok Shop, should be able to work this out... And BofA came through.

BofA said to 7 On Your Side: "Based on additional information provided by the client's daughter and further research on our part, we suspect that the client's device may have been compromised."

Bank of America returned the entire stolen amount, and 7 On Your Side now wants to thank Bank of America for its hard work investigating.

When Michael Finney heard the good news, he headed over to the Wok Shop to check in with Tane who said she was relieved.

If you have a problem with Zelle, let 7 On Your Side know about it. For more information about how to keep from being ripped off, Bank of America has posted advice here.

Take a look at more stories and videos by Michael Finney and 7 On Your Side.

7OYS' consumer hotline is a free consumer mediation service for those in the San Francisco Bay Area. We assist individuals with consumer-related issues; we cannot assist on cases between businesses, or cases involving family law, criminal matters, landlord/tenant disputes, labor issues, or medical issues. Please review our FAQ here. As a part of our process in assisting you, it is necessary that we contact the company / agency you are writing about. If you do not wish us to contact them, please let us know right away, as it will affect our ability to work on your case. Due to the high volume of emails we receive, please allow 3-5 business days for a response.

If you're on the ABC7 News app, click here to watch live