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Payment and banking apps have revolutionized how we send, save, and spend money. They’re the easiest way to manage and spend your money without having to constantly find your wallet for a credit card number. They can also be an excellent way to protect sensitive information by allowing you to use less vital account details as opposed to crucial financial information to log in.
But as helpful as things like Cash App can be, they also pose a new cybersecurity risk: Cash App scans. Protecting your account information isn’t just about taking precautions against a potential data breach. It’s also about understanding common scams to ensure you aren’t your own worst enemy.
If you’re a Cash App customer, it’s time to familiarize yourself with common tactics used by fraudsters and learn how a custom phone number protects you from it all.
1. Cash Flipping
Cash flipping scams or money flip scams are nothing new. In fact, they’re older than the entire concept of a phone. In essence, a scammer promises you that they’re going to take the money you give them and multiply it with some genius investment.
It’s free money! All you have to do is transfer them money you’d otherwise just leave sitting around, and they’ll make you rich at some future point when their brilliant investment pays off. These scams can come via text messages, phone calls, emails, and even social media posts.
If you notice someone using hashtags like #quickprofits and #guaranteedreturns under photos of flashy cars and wads of cash, do not slide into those DMs. This isn’t an opportunity. It’s a scam. They’ll take your Cash App payment, and you’ll never hear from them again.
2. Catfishing
It’s a tale as old as time. You meet someone online. They’re unbelievably good-looking and super interested in you. You spend some time talking to them, bonding with them, falling for them. And then they tug at your heartstrings — a sick family member, an expensive medical treatment, a missed mortgage payment, a craving for takeaway pizza they can’t afford.
You like this super hot stranger and want them to like you, so you send them a few bucks here and there, And when that happens again and again, you become suspicious. Eventually, you find out that you’ve been catfished — the foxy stranger is really a scammer in a dark basement somewhere, collecting your money and rolling their eyes at your love poems.
Catfishing is often used as a punchline, but it’s a pervasive romance scam. And with online dating more and more the norm, it’s easier than ever to fall for it.
3. Cryptocurrency
One of the reasons cryptocurrency exists is that it functions outside of government agency control. Because it’s not regulated by any official body or backed by a specific asset, currencies like Bitcoin are thought to be more private.
This may be true, but it also makes them more vulnerable to scammers. While you can report identity theft or fraud from a stolen credit card to the Federal Trade Commission, the FTC can’t help you if someone scams you for cryptocurrency in the same way.
Ultimately, most cryptocurrency scams are a new variation on the cash flipping scams. You’ll see posts on social media platforms promising to maximize your cryptocurrency investment if you transfer your bitcoin first. You can take a guess how that’ll end up.
4. Giveaways
Giveaway scams are one of the most straightforward scams, but they’re also one of the easiest to fall for because they seem so innocent. You’ll get a message from a Cash App Giveaway that says you’ve won some incredibly exciting prize. You probably won’t remember entering into any type of giveaway.
Most likely, the fine print will say you entered automatically with your social media accounts or were entered by default thanks to using your Cash App account on some made-up holiday like #cashappfriday. To claim your prize, you’ll be asked to pay some kind of processing or shipping fee. It’s also possible that they’ll ask you to verify your login information.
If you pay the fee, they’ll take your money and never see any reward. If you give them your login information, you’re opening yourself up to identity theft. Either way, if you get a message that you’ve won a giveaway you don’t remember entering, hit that block button.
5. Fake Notifications
Everything from that game you play during commercials to your go-to mobile payment app is likely to send you text notifications at some point. It’s not uncommon for customer support to reach out via automated text or for you to receive security alerts over text.
For this reason, customer support scammers and fake notifications are some of the trickiest traps to spot. Often, these alerts will look like they’re legitimately from something like Cash App support. They’ll warn you that your account is vulnerable or has been breached and sometimes send you to realistic websites to help reset your passcode.
Of course, all you’re doing by resetting your passcode through scams like this is providing some fraudster with remote access to your accounts so they can transfer money at will.
6. Surveys
Surveys are one of the oldest phishing scams in the book. They’ll seem innocent enough, offering a coupon, gift card, or cash in exchange for you answering some simple questions. The survey can appear to come from a legitimate, recognizable company, making these scams even harder to spot.
At some point in the survey, you might be asked to provide additional personal details, like your social security number. Alternatively, the survey might prompt you to buy something or provide mobile payment information so you can receive the payout from participating.
But when you enter your login credentials to receive your payment, the scammers will instead use that information to access your accounts and steal from you.
7. Pet Breeders
Looking for the perfect puppy? Have a specific breed in mind? You’ll probably start your search on Google. Sometimes, this scam runs through legitimate-seeming websites, and sometimes, it’s over social media. Maybe your search for the dog of your dreams takes you to an Instagram account full of incredibly sweet puppy pictures, and you fall in love.
The scammers will respond to your messages, often with more pictures and sometimes even specific details about the puppy you’re interested in. Then, they’ll request a deposit — just a portion of the price of your dream dog to hold the puppy for you until you can pick it up, or they can bring it to you.
You see where this is going. After paying, you’ll never hear from them again. If it’s any consolation, most likely, no cute animals were harmed in the making of this scam. They’re probably using pictures stolen from legitimate breeders.
8. Home Rentals
This is one of the more heartbreaking types of scams you may encounter on Cash App. Apartment hunting can be brutal, especially if you’re in a major city. So, it’s all too easy to get caught up in the relief of finding the perfect place and not asking the right questions.
Scammers will ask you to pay the deposit or even the first month’s rent on a new place, only for you to realize later that the apartment isn’t real, isn’t available, or is being rented by an entirely different agent than the one you dealt with.
These scams can be seriously convincing. You may even have spoken to someone on the phone and spent time verifying as many details as possible. Particularly with rental agents using lock boxes to allow potential tenants to do viewings on their own, it’s unfortunately all too easy for a scammer to get that information and send you on a seriously legitimate-seeming visit.
9. Accidental Payments
Another common Cash App scam is an accidental payment. A scammer will message you, saying they sent money to you accidentally. They’ll ask for the money back. They might send you a screencap of the confirmation on their end, showing you that they sent the money to your Cash App account.
If they did send you money, they likely used a stolen debit card or account which will later be cancelled when the fraud is processed by another victim. Then, they’ll keep the repayment you sent them and disappear.
10. Gift Cards
Last but not least, gift cards are the biggest red flag out there when it comes to Cash App scams. Whatever the explanation is, no matter how logical the reasoning seems, no matter how fool-proof you think your plan is — if someone asks you to send them a gift card, just say no.
What Do You Do When You Get Scammed?
First and foremost, you should cancel any pending transactions and stop communicating with the scammer immediately.
There are four bodies you’ll want to contact as soon as possible.
- If there was an outside company involved in the scam, contact that company’s support.
- You should also contact Cash App support. Make sure you get that contact information directly from an official Cash App webpage. Nothing would be more tragic than falling victim to a customer service scam while trying to report another scam.
- Reach out to each of the credit bureaus and freeze your credit. They’ll basically put a security lock on your social security number. No one will be able to open a new account or apply for a loan in your name.
- Contact the non-emergency line for your local police if you’re comfortable doing so and make a report. Keep copies of that report on hand. While the police may not be able to find or prosecute the scammer, the police report will help you prove that accounts opened by the scammer or transactions made aren’t your responsibility.
While you go through the official processes, turn on any notifications for financial apps, whether it’s your bank and credit card or other payment apps such as Venmo, Paypal, or Zelle. That way, you’ll see any new transactions immediately.
Change your logins for these accounts, too, and enable two-factor authentication. Even if the fraudster tries to log in again, two-factor authentication means they won’t be able to do so without a random verification code text.
You may or may not be able to recover lost money, but it’s important to cut the scammer off from your finances and create a paper trail around the incident as soon as possible.
How Can You Protect Yourself?
The best way to protect yourself from Cash App Scams is to double-check everything and exercise common sense. It sounds silly and basic, but most scams work because our online lives are so complicated now that they simply catch people unaware.
The next best way to protect your information is to avoid sharing it. Payment apps like Cash App require a phone number to sign up, but with Burner, it’s possible to create a separate phone number for logins. This creates a disconnect between your real information and your accounts, making it harder for scammers to get access to what matters.
More Money, More Problems
As technology gets better and continues to embed itself in our lives, we see all kinds of benefits in terms of convenience and even financial literacy. Your bank account doesn’t just exist in your local branch anymore — it’s often tied to your social media, text messages, and digital wallets you use constantly.
It benefits you, of course. But if you’re not aware of the risks, this interconnectivity benefits scammers, too. Get started with Burner today to protect your Cash App account; make your life easier and the lives of would-be fraudsters harder. It’s a win-win.
Sources:
Beware of These 3 Common Cash App Scams | Forbes
