Consumer complaint received 2024-12-23 00:00:00
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — Mobile or digital wallet
Issue: Unauthorized transactions or other transaction problem — 
Company: Block, Inc.
State: TX

Complaint narrative:
I have had a CashApp account since XXXX. Sometime between the night of XX/XX/XXXX and shortly after the early morning of XX/XX/XXXX, someone gained access to my CashApp account. I did not know this at the time, but when I woke up on the morning of XX/XX/XXXX, my CashApp account was logged out and I could not sign back in on the XXXX devices that I am typically signed in on. I entered my credentials but was not able to get back into my account. So, I followed the prompts to reset my login. I have XXXX recovery methods for my account : my email address and my phone number. As I was trying to reset my login, I realized both of these had been changed to someone else 's info. I looked up my CashApp from my wife 's account ( since we frequently send money to XXXX another ) and discovered that the XXXX I've had since XXXX when I first opened the account had also been changed. At this point, it was clear that someone hacked my account. I called CashApp immediately to work on regaining access to my account because I was expecting a direct deposit ( from my employer ). I explained my situation to CashApp support via phone that same day, the morning of XX/XX/XXXX, and XXXX of their agents became frustrated with me and ended the call in my face. At that point, I had not been rude or even upset, just confused about what was going on with my account. I called back and spoke with a third agent who explained to me that he could see someone accessed my account and changed all the information on my account, but they were not able to help me get back into it. At that point, I immediately contacted my employer to see if they could stop or reverse my direct deposit and give me a paper paycheck, so the scammer/ hacker would not get access to my funds. On XX/XX/XXXX, I was informed by my employer that the direct deposit was already processed and they would have to wait for CashApp to send the funds back, so my employer can give me a paper check. I still possess the original CashApp debit card issued for the account, so I thought that might be the only way for me to access my account and prove to CashApp that I was the account holder. I went to the ATM with my CashApp debit card on XX/XX/XXXX, to do a balance inquiry to see if there was any unusual activity on the account and I intended to withdraw my direct deposit if it was available. At the ATM, the PIN that I have always used for the account was not working. So, at this point, I realized that someone had managed to access my CashApp account and change my recovery phone number and email, my username, and the PIN on my account, without CashApp ever alerting me of these changes. I was receiving emails about activity on the account ( because I have notifications set up to email me each time a purchase or transaction is made ) up until XX/XX/XXXX, just 4 days prior. So, I don't understand how I was not notified by the same email when someone gained access to my account and began to change all my information, a clear sign of fraudulent activity. I continued to reach out to CashApp daily to regain access to my account. At that point, I was advised to make a new account to communicate with CashApp support, so I did so ( using the same email and phone number I always use ). On XX/XX/XXXX, after reaching out to CashApp support daily to explain my circumstances, an agent finally helped me regain access to my old account by resetting the recovery accounts ( email and phone ) back to my accounts. Because of this action, the new account they directed me to make was deleted. Once I got access to my account, I was finally able to see all the unauthorized activity that took place on my account. I will provide screenshots of the account activity. I have included my account activity for the entire month of XXXX to show the difference in the activity when I had access to the account compared to the type and frequency of activities from XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX. This and other facts are clear signs of fraud, but in my interactions with CashApp and their support team, they have stated these transactions were authorized by me with no reasoning or proof. Once I regained access to the account, the account history showed that my employer deposited {$1200.00} into my CashApp account on XX/XX/XXXX, at XXXX pm. On XX/XX/XXXX, {$22.00} of that was applied to an overdraft balance I had with CashApp ( this was expected and it was an automatic transaction from CashApp ). I have my direct deposits set up so that they will disburse evenly between my CashApp checking and savings account, so you will also see that in the account history. Then, you will see that whoever had access to my account transferred the money that disbursed into my savings account to my checking account, connected their own external bank account, and withdrew the remainder of my entire paycheck ( XX/XX/XXXX, at XXXX am very shortly after it was deposited ). I continued to work with my employer as well, you will notice that they attempted to request or " direct debit '' the direct deposit on XX/XX/XXXX, at XXXX pm to help me get my money back, but that attempt failed. Further down the line, my employer informed me that they received a call from Cash App stating they would not return the funds due to " insufficient balance '' on the account. Focusing back on the activity that took place on the account, after they managed to connect their bank account to my CashApp and withdraw all my funds, there is a series of peer-to-peer transactions ( sending and receiving ). The majority of these transactions failed for some reason, but there were some successful transactions sent and received from my account. There are approximately XXXX peer-to-peer transactions, even bitcoin transfers that I did not authorize on my account. The fraudulent activity on my account continued up until XX/XX/XXXX, at XXXX am, shortly before I regained access to the account. This tells me that if CashApp had collaborated with me and worked diligently on my issue when I first contacted them, a lot of the fraudulent activity that took place on my account could have been prevented. The peer-to-peer transactions on my account all are from or to CashApp users that I have no prior history with on the app, another clear sign of fraud. You will notice in the account history I have attached that I send and receive money to the same few people and spend money at the same few convenience stores, gas stations, places, and fast food spots. These are also all places that are located near/ around my house and work which can be easily proven. Still, on XX/XX/XXXX, at XXXX XXXX, shortly after I regained access to the account, I was sent a conflicting email from CashApp support stating they closed their investigation into my issue. Part of the email claimed that the team found no evidence of fraud and that it was found all the transactions were authorized by me or someone I know. Another part of the email stated that it was found that my account was compromised. I was confused by the response, so I reached out to CashApp support via chat to get more info. XXXX chat, an agent told me that the investigation found there was no fraud. I was provided a link via chat and email a link where I can request documentation detailing their findings. I requested this info immediately. At the time of filing this complaint, that documentation still has not been provided. Again, I have continued to reach out via chat and email and responded to all the correspondence to me. After this, I individually disputed the fraudulent charges to my account and reached out daily for updates, more information on what happened with my account, etc. A new investigation was opened for these individual disputes. On XX/XX/XXXX. XXXX at XXXX am, I received an email from a Cash App agent stating that the investigation into the particular charges was closed and it was found that my account was compromised and they have secured the account for me. I responded to the email asking what the next steps were for returning my funds, but I received no response. So, I reached out to support via chat. The agent informed me that a refund would be issued for XXXX of the final transactions on the account for {$170.00} and {$49.00}. I inquired more about the withdrawal from my account to the external account on ( XX/XX/XXXX, at XXXX XXXX  for {$1100.00} to XXXX Bank ). The agent informed me that they checked their records and the transaction was successfully sent to the external bank account, so if I wanted that money back I would have to reach out to " my bank '' XXXX BANK and request the money back. I tried to explain that although the transaction itself was successful, the transaction was fraudulent because that was not a bank account owned by me. The agent even insinuated that the account did belong to me. I made sure to point out to the agent that their last investigation found that my account was compromised, so I didn't understand how this transaction was not also a part of the dispute. I also pointed out that CashApp is my primary bank, so I have never connected an external bank account or card to my CashApp account for withdrawals. I also inquired why an external bank account was allowed to be connected with my account and immediately make a large withdrawal, as I thought banks typically had a XXXX day period for verification or some type of verification process before that account should have even been allowed to make a withdrawal from my account. Throughout the past XXXX weeks, I've been reaching out to CashApp support, I have received plenty of responses that seem copied/pasted in nature, I have still not been provided documentation from the investigation that they claim I am entitled to, and they have not been able to answer questions or provide additional info on the person/ accounts that were connected to my CashApp. This leaves me in a very vulnerable place because I don't even have any info to provide to local authorities if I want to escalate my concerns and I have no additional information to help me prevent this from happening to me again. Each time I reach out to CashApp support, they request the same info from me that I have provided many times now. They are attempting to have me open more and more investigations/ claims for this matter before they properly resolve prior investigations on the same issue. Again, I can not be confident that they are even properly investigating these claims because they have not been transparent with their investigation. They say customers are entitled to request documentation, but I have XXXX email threads related to documentation where agents have started engaging with me and just stopped communicating. This has left me and my family in a very vulnerable situation as I am the sole provider for my family. It is close to the end of the month, so rent is due and now we are 2 days until XXXX and I can't even get my child anything for XXXX. I know that around this time of year, many scammers/ hackers are preying on vulnerable people. I was not even worried when this initially happened because I know banks have teams and support to protect their customers from things like this. I did my part as a customer by calling them as soon as the suspicious activity happened and even reached out to my employer to see what they could do. My employer also did their part by trying to request the funds back for me and collaborating with CashApp. This whole time, I have also been prepared to provide any unique or personal information that could possibly request in order to prove to them that the account is mine, fraudulent activity occurred on my account, and that the external withdrawal was not made by me. CashApp, in this situation, has not proved itself to have the protection and fraud prevention that I expected it to have, so that's why I'm reaching out here.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation