Complaints against Cash App skyrocket during COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic is forcing many people to go cashless and instead use apps to pay like Venmo, Zelle or Cash App. That increase in use has come with an increase in complaints--with complaints against one app in particular skyrocketing.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, complaints against Cash App are up 472% in a year, increasing from 735 complaints in 2019 to 4,204 in 2020.

So far this year, Cash App has 2,431 complaints against it. Compare that to 845 Venmo complaints in 2021 and 191 complaints against Zelle.

ABC11 viewers have filed several complaints with Troubleshooter Diane Wilson. The customer complaints range from their Cash App accounts were hacked or somehow scammers got control of their accounts and got access to thousands of dollars.

We showed you how one man, Wade Hankins lost $24,000 to scammers. Other Cash App users tell Wilson they called what they thought was Cash App support, only to get scammers and lose money that way.

Cash App said preventing fraud is important. The company continues to invest in and bolster fraud-fighting resources by increasing staff and adopting new technology. To prevent scams, Cash App says it not only educates customers about known scams, but also created a feature where they can flag potential scams and block a given send or recipient. The company also says it has started deploying SMS text messages with links to customers when a login attempt looks unusual.

When it comes to scammers impersonating Cash App, the company says it monitors major platforms (like Google, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc), and reports scams and fraud to those platforms. It also works with those platforms to deactivate those scam accounts.

The best way to reach Cash App

If you believe you have fallen victim to a scam, you should contact Cash App Support through the app or website immediately.

As a reminder, the Cash App team will never ask customers to send them money, nor will they solicit a customer's PIN or sign-in code outside of the app.

Here is the correct link to Cash App's support contact information. Cash App's phone number is 1-800-969-1940.