Cash Card App Scams

[carouselsilver]

Apparently it is all the rage now; Bitcoin, Cash App, etc. I have never been so confused about all of these new ways to perform cash transactions!

Yesterday I received what looked like a credit card in the mail. The company name on it was "Albert." Even more confusing, the card professed that Albert was not a bank. Nevertheless, I had not ordered this card. So I had to go through contacting the company and asking them to cancel the fraudulent card. It seems that the card is designed to load cash on it if desired. And apparently due to that huge data breach, someone has gotten hold of my private credentials and is opening accounts left and right. No sooner than I close one, another one is opened.

Has anyone else been the victim of a cash app?

 

[OneEyedDiva]

I'm so sorry that happened to you! It must be frustrating and scary! I've been using Cash App for about 5 years. My husband turned me on to it after his daughter told him about how easy it is to use. He was pleased that he sent her the money (she's in another state) and she had access to it immediately. Beats the hell out of Western Union. Since then my son, my late DIL, one of my grandsons, my granddaughter and her mother have all used it to send each other funds. I just Cash App-ed my granddaughter today. The thing is nothing should be done outside of the app (eg: no clicking on email links or responding to calls) and your account should be secured with a pin, just like a bank debit card. The 4 digit pin should not be something that is easily guessed like part of your birthday or zip code. So far none of us have had any problems. As added protection I only use Cash App with a checking account that I keep no more than $200 in, not my main accounts.

Any financial institution or even hospital records can be hacked and personal information stolen. It happened at a hospital I was scheduled to have a minor surgery at...one I'd never been to before. I was asked to come in a pre-register. Since it's a distance, I decided not to. Turns out I wound up not needing the surgery and shortly after I was supposed to go in, it was reported that their records had been hacked. That's the way of the world these days. Data breaches are happening all the time. I've gotten messages from a couple of reputable companies advising me of the breaches in the past couple of years.

I'd advise you to freeze your credit with all three major credit reporting agencies...TransUnion, Experian and Equifax. You can easily unfreeze if you are planning to open another credit account. There's another step that even goes further but I can't remember what it is and have never used it. Some card companies, like Discover and Chase advise you if any accounts have been opened in your name as part of their cardmember perks. Also request a copy of your credit report from each agency...you're entitled to a free one each year from each. More information here: https://www.thebalance.com/who-are-the-three-major-credit-bureaus-960416

 

[carouselsilver]

Thanks for the helpful tips, Diva! I am working on them. It seems that even with a freeze on all three credit accounts, someone was still able to open bank accounts. I have closed down two and now there is this one. I am not going to make it easy on whomever it is, I can tell you that! But it is exhausting.