A MOM had the remaining $166 stolen from her money app account – leaving her with nothing.
Charee Mobley, a middle school teacher from Fort Worth, Texas, was left with less than $200 to get herself and her 17-year-old daughter through the last two weeks of August.
But that remaining cash vanished when Charee, 37, seemingly encountered an issue with Square’s Cash App, a money transfer service she uses to pay her bills and check her banking, New York Times reported.
After seeing an errant online shopping charge on her Cash App, Charee dialled what she thought was a customer service helpline.
The mom was then asked to download software, which subsequently surrounded her control of the app and drained her remaining funds.
“I didn’t have gas money and I couldn’t pay my daughter’s senior dues,” Mobley said. “We basically just had to stick it out until I got paid the following week.”
During the Covid-19 pandemic, popularity for money transfer apps like Cash App, PayPal’s Venmo and Zelle soared.
Many companies added services like debit cards and routing numbers so that they work more like traditional banks to incentivize consumers to get on board.
Payment apps have also become notorious for spiralling rates of fraud.
At Venmo, daily users have grown by 26% since last year, while the number of customer reviews mentioning the words fraud or scam has risen nearly four times as fast, according to a New York Times analysis of data from Apptopia, a firm that tracks mobile services.
And on Square’s Cash App, the number of reviews which include the words ‘fraud’ or ‘scam’ has increased by 165%, according to Apptopia.
Lena Anderson, a spokeswoman for Square, said 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.
She added: “We’ve taken a number of proactive steps and made it our top priority.”
Alex Mitchell is your go-to expert for all things mobile. With a passion for the latest smartphones, apps, and mobile innovations, Alex provides in-depth reviews, insightful analyses, and breaking news about the ever-evolving world of mobile technology. Stay connected with Alex to navigate the fast-paced realm of mobile devices.
