‘Had to stick it out,’ says Cash App user who saw her account emptied after ‘errant charge’ – she was a ‘ripe target’

A MOTHER has described how she watched all the money in her Cash App account disappear after she noticed an odd charge.

The middle school teacher said she was down to her last $166 when she got an alert about an online shopping charge that she didn’t authorize.

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That led Charee Mobley to try and call Cash App to alert them of the issue but the person on the line set the stage to steal everything from her in 2020.

But at the time, Cash App only had a customer service email, leaving users vulnerable to spoof numbers set up by scammers.

The person Mobley was speaking to asked her to download software to her phone so they could help, according to the Denver Post.

The scammer ended up gaining control of her phone and taking everything out of her account.

“I didn’t have gas money and I couldn’t pay my daughter’s senior dues,” Mobley said.

The 37-year-old had used Cash App to pay her bills during the coronavirus pandemic and after getting hacked, she was left in a bad situation.

“We basically just had to stick it out until I got paid the following week,”she said of her and her 17-year-old daughter.

Frank McKenna, the chief fraud strategist for the security firm PointPredictive, explained that peer-to-peer payment services “are super convenient for customers but that also makes them ripe targets.”

Around that time, customers reporting fraud and scams in app reviews increased by 165%.

It was also reported that the Better Business Bureau received twice as many complaints for Cash App as its competitor Venmo, despite Venmo having significantly more users.

Lena Anderson, a spokeswoman for Square, which owns Cash App, spoke out about the rise in theft to the Denver Post.

She explained that the company was “aware that there has been a recent rise in scammers trying to take advantage of customers using financial products, including Cash App.

“We’ve taken a number of proactive steps and made it our top priority.”

The Denver Post article also noted that Cash App rolled out a customer service phone number the prior month, but it was too late for Mobley and other customers who unknowingly called a fake helpline.

The newspaper also pointed out the company’s “Cash App Fridays,” a promotion that awarded money to Twitter users who shared their username or $Cashtag online, led scammers to create fake copycat campaigns.

One Twitter account that was live at the time used @CashappG as their handle.

The bio on the page read, “Hi welcome to Cash App give away! Send money and we will send you double back!”

The U.S. Sun has reached out to Cash App for comment.

HOW TO RECOGNIZE SCAMS

With the rise of money scams, Cash App has provided tips to keep customers safe.

Top tips on avoiding scams from a bank

As scams become more sophisticated with the use of artificial intelligence, it is important you know how to spot a scam:

• Be skeptical of online deals that seem too good to be true, especially on social media.
• Scammers will often use tactics to make you panicked so you make quick decisions – be cautious if you are told to take immediate action and verify who has contacted you.
• Chase Bank warns customers to “never return any unexpected funds without calling Chase first.”
• Never send money to someone you have only spoken to online or by phone as this is likely a romance scam.
• Unless you 100% know who you are talking to, never give someone remote access to your device.
• Never accept help from strangers at an ATM and always be vigilant when making withdrawals.
• Do not send money or click any links indicating that you have won a prize.

Source: Chase.com

The app tells customers to never provide sensitive information to people under any circumstances.

“This includes your full debit card number, PIN, bank account information, or your social security number,” the app’s website explained.

The company also urged users to avoid providing detailed personal information to anyone claiming to work for Cash App via phone, email, social media, text messages, or any other contact channel.

Even if you feel like you are sending money to someone you know, it’s important to verify the other person’s information to make sure they are the right person.

The company also recommends avoiding sending money to a love interest that you only spoke to online, or someone who promised you anything in the future.