Consumer complaint received 2020-11-18
Company: Square Inc
State: FL
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Mobile or digital wallet
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
Sunday XX/XX/XXXX : I downloaded a program from the XXXX app store called Cash App. I followed the instructions to link a debit card and bank checking account. It appeared everything was configured correctly but I could not add funds to the Cash App. I tried repeatedly to get the program to work without success. I googled the issue of " cash app transfer fail '' and immediately found a link to support that appeared to be Cash App. There was a phone number listed and I clicked the phone number to call support. Upon retracing my steps after I realized a scam had occurred I found that the phone number changes when clicked on. When I called the number a person answered and said they were the Cash App customer service. I explained my issue and the person began troubleshooting the problem. After 29 minutes of trying to solve the problem one transaction was completed for {$20.00} and many had failed. They told me to copy and paste a link into Cash App and click send. The funds were being transferred to a test server to further diagnose the issue. The amount was pending in my checking account but they assured me it would be returned. The scammer also had me download a screen viewer so they could help me navigate the Cash App in real time and see my phone screen. The call concluded with the scammer saying he would call back later with more information. 

Monday XX/XX/XXXX : The scammer called in the morning claiming to have resolved the issue. We tried to transfer money several times and most failed again but one transaction did go through. Once that transaction went through they asked me to try and purchase XXXX  XXXX, which is one of the reasons I was interested in the Cash App, so I did and the transaction failed several times but then went through. They then had me copy and paste the " test link '' and transfer the XXXX  XXXX to their server. The transfer functions failed many times during the process so they were going to keep working on it and call me back in the morning. 

Tuesday XX/XX/XXXX : I spoke with the scammer in the morning and did not have any success transferring any funds. They were going to keep testing and call me back later. I spoke them again early evening and we tried transferring funds and again many failed but one went through. They had me repeat the process of buying and transferring  XXXX  XXXX. At this point my bank sent a fraud alert and I started to realize this may not be legitimate. I told the person I receive an alert and they immediately transferred me to the accounting department who assured me that everything was fine and that the would be transferring the total amount of cash back into my Cash App with an extra $ XXXX {$500.00} dollars as gift for all the inconvenience. The accounting person was a woman named XXXX. She also stated that they were having serious issue with their servers and the issue was widespread. I hung up with her and immediately called my bank as the realization of a fraud set in. I have since secured my accounts and closed the Cash App bank accounts. One of my biggest issues with this situation is how easy it was to reach the scammers and how challenging it was to contact Cash App. 

These links and phone numbers are active and live as of this writing XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX. I hope they can be shut down and removed because I know someone if getting scammed as I am writing this letter. 

https : XXXX https : //cashapptransferfail.com/ ( XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX I also have screen shots of the website. 

This is one of the most embarrassing and unpleasant experiences I have known.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation