Two Cash App Scams You Need To Avoid Today
Cash App is a popular platform that now has surpassed 25 million monthly active users. It's a mobile payment system developed by Square, Inc., which allows users to make financial transfers from one mobile phone to another. It can also be referred to as a peer-to-peer payment app, which can be used to send, pay, and receive money at your convenience. Some people even link individual debit cards to the app's back end and spend their balance directly from it.
Users of the app are also able to receive direct deposits such as paychecks. For a consumer, it is a great product, but it has its flaws – from customer support to various Cash App scams.
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Despite the convenience and functionality that Cash App provides, it is also being exploited by scammers on social media to rip people of their hard-earned money. In this article, we will take a look at how the fraudulent practices work, check out some videos, learn how to avoid the phishing scams (and the ones that target your credit card), and we will show you how to report if you got scammed on Cash App.
Feel free to talk about your experience in the Comments section. Let's take a look at how criminals are using one of the most popular payment apps to their advantage.
There are two variations of this scam that have been making rounds on the internet. Let's dive in.
1. Cash App Money Flipping: Payment Reversed
The first and most common variation of the fraud is referred to as Money Flipping, promoted by cybercriminals on social media. It comes through various Instagram scams, bogus Facebook freebies, fake Twitter accounts, unsolicited Whatsapp messages, risky Viber calls, and even TikTok scams. It could also be perpetrated via email and turned into a phishing attack.
The money flipping scam is a new technique used by scammers, and a lot of people are still not aware of it. Usually, it all starts when someone contacts you on your social media profile after adding you as a friend or following your account.
This person would have no previous contact or relationship with you and would message you out of the blue. If you go ahead to check their profile, you'll find a lot of sketchy posts about earning money online through unverified means (see image below). That would seem like the first warning sign. The whole profile talks only about making money, and you can already expect what the person is going to be talking to you about.
Give some thought to it and wonder why the person would have no pictures but only such financial-related posts. When this person gets in contact with you, she will try to establish some small talk and may even seem like a friend for a few moments.
The scammer asks if you have Cash App installed on your phone. If you respond affirmatively, she would continue with her requests and would introduce a payment scheme that would earn you some money. They could even send a picture to explain things further.
See a screenshot of the CashApp proposed payment deal below:
The picture states that if you give the stranger a certain amount, she will end up sending you back multiple times the amount you sent. For instance, $25 for $250, $45 for $450 and so on. They aim to build trust with you until you send in something more valuable. They will encourage you to send in the lowest amount, and they would even send back double or triple the amount which you initially sent. The crazy thing is, they will pay you back! Let's see why.
Once they got your trust, you will feel that their claim is legit.
The stranger will ask you to indulge more and give a multiplied amount back. You may think that she's legitimate, but it's only a plot to get as much money as possible. As soon as they gain your trust, they'll shoot the price up. If you think that you are just going to keep getting more money back, you will fall for it.
Usually, the scammer will wait until you start dealing in over a thousand dollars before they make away with your money (as you will see in the video below). The scam is the modern version of the Jam Auction Scam.
The best bet for you is to avoid speaking about making money to strangers online so that you don't get scammed on Cash App.
Watch the video below to see how the Cash App Scam works:
2. Cash App Customer Service Number
The second variation of the scam is referred to as Cash App Customer Service Number Ad. This scam is perpetrated through fake online customer support for the application. It occurs when a person in need of help ends up contacting fake Cash App personnel.
The scam works because the Cash App doesn't have telephone support. Users can only get help through the app itself where they could use an email/message/contact form. Because of that, scammers put up fake Cash App Customer Support pages online and pose as staff for the mobile payment platform. They would promote these pages with paid ads so the search results would show their ad first, if you decide to do a Google or Bing search.
A simple mistake by believing these promos could lead any consumer out there to a lot of problems.
What could possibly happen when you get in contact with a fake customer service number?
Watch the video below to see how a victim lost $3,000 after contacting a bogus Cash App admin:
The fake number will be on a third-party site, which may look like Cash App, but there will be significant differences from the real deal. The customer service personnel that you are speaking to will pretend to be a professional that can help you. They may even startup with some professional questions.
However, they will later move on to details that you're not to share with anyone such as your phone number, Cash App PIN, and more important a debit card number if you have one. As soon as you hand over these details to the scammer, you would begin to receive strange notifications about the app. This would go on until a certain amount of money will be withdrawn from the account without your consent.
This money can rarely be recovered and even if you report it, there's little that can be done about it. You should confirm the details of anyone before speaking to them. Because as soon as you give out your account information, everything is compromised. The app is convenient for you to use, and heading over information to the wrong person would make it easier to steal your money.
Cash App Frauds: How To Avoid
As users of the Cash App, it's essential to understand that not every information you find on the internet is real. The payment apps specifically are targeted more than ever these days by criminals, so do not give any detail that's not there already. Create a two-factor authentication (although multi-factor authentication is best) for your password and email, too, in case your credentials may be compromised.
The phishing scams are meant to do that, and many app users fall for the simplest tricks. Here is how criminals hack social media accounts easily. The scams are typically the same for all the mobile payment apps, whether it is about Cash App, Apple Pay, or Venmo transactions. Do not send money to anyone who promises cash giveaways.
You can only contact Cash App admin through the app itself, so remember that they do not have a phone line support team available – at least at the time of this writing. Beware of many other online scams that are related to this and involved sending money and potentially lead to identity theft. Some examples would be phishing schemes like the Free Gift Card, Survey Card, Fake Check Trick, Prepaid Card Request, or the Fake Buyer – all requiring to transfer money through a suspicious transaction or payment service. Guard your funds and your checking account.
Connect your card to the platform but communicate with the app team only through the means they announce as official. As a consumer, there is nothing worse than being taken advantage of, whether it is about a phishing attempt via email or extra pay on a card.
Scammed on Cash App? How To Report It
Warn your family and friends about these two Cash App scams by sharing it on social media using the buttons provided. You can also officially report the scammers or any other suspicious activity on mobile apps (e.g., cash card approaches) to the Federal Trade Commission using the link below:
How To Prevent Identity Theft and More
If you want to be the first to find out the most notorious scams every week, feel free to subscribe to the Scam Detector newsletter here. You'll receive periodic emails – we promise not to spam. Last but not least, use the Comments section below to expose other scammers (not necessarily Cash App card related).
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I keep getting an email from fb.me, which is through that Square company, trying to take different dollar amounts of my cash app card, which they haven’t gotten any because I locked my card a while back for a different thing, and glad I did because these people have been trying to take money out everyday for the last month. I am going to order a new card next week.
some lady off facebook said i won 6000 but i need to dep 200 into my own cashapt then she will teach me how to get the 6000 i know this is a scam but what is the scam i put 200 into my account
I was selling an item on Facebook Marketplace and a buyer wanted to pay with CashApp. Even though I gave them my Cashtag, they said they also needed my e-mail address. The reason was so they could send me a fake e-mail that looked just like a Cash App confirmation of payment. It said the money transfer was ‘Pending’ until I sent the item to them. I knew it was fake even though it looked authentic. They wanted me to send the item without getting paid because Cash App doesn’t have pending transactions, they are instant. Beware.
i have a transaction from me to my daughter, who i’ve sent money to before…however, i didn’t send it and she said she didn’t receive it. Is that possible?
someone just duped me by introduced a platform that gives money within 30 minutes.after I transfer #10000.into his account he later change from the first agreement that I have to add another #40000 before I can get alert,,pls try and save others by calling him to order.his number is 09039115306.name HENRIKIAGBO enterprise.below are some of the transection we did today.