GA woman says bank account emptied through Cash App account, police warning of scammers

COLUMBUS, GA (WTVM) - Cash App customers are claiming they are getting scammed by thieves using fake numbers and fake accounts.

These scams are hitting closer to home after a Columbus woman, who was just trying to send money to her son, is now out thousands of dollars.

“I was attempting to send money to my son, who’s in the Navy,” said Mildrea Shorter.

Shorter says she was trying to send him money, using Cash App, a quick and easy, peer to peer money transferring app.

But Mildrea says the transaction would not go through.

That’s when she used Google to find what she believed to be the official Cash App customer service line.

“A representative answered the phone, saying, ‘thank you for contacting Square cash App.' I told them what happened. They then proceeded to say, ok, let’s validate who you are. They asked me for my name, and telephone number," said Shorter.

Shorter says she later learned the number was a fake.

In fact, Cash App says they do not do phone customer service, rather all communication via email.

Within minutes, her account was drained.

“So, the time they had me on hold, they wiped my account, with $4,668 in 22 minutes,” said Shorter.

After filing a police report, Columbus Police Financial Crimes unit issued a ‘fraud alert.’

Their investigations found numerous fake 800 numbers linking themselves to Cash App.

According to reports, people all across the Valley are falling victim to the same scheme.

Police and representatives with the Better Business Bureau reminding users to never give out your pin or personal information over the phone, no matter how credible the source may seem.

“If you are using Paypal CashApp or square, make sure your bank account is not attached. Make sure it’s your credit card. It is easier to dispute,” said Business Relations Specialist with the BBB, Mallory Bergara.

After a week with no funds, Shorter, a small business owner, and mother of four is sending out a strong warning to others in the community. She is hoping her story will keep this from happening to anyone else.

“People be careful. Be careful. That information can be used in a very bad way. There are scammers out there looking to steal innocent people’s money. Hard working people’s money,” said Shorter.

Shorter says she still has not gotten any of her money returned from either her bank or Cash App.

A Cash App spokesperson says they are aware of the phishing scams, providing News Leader 9 with this statement:

We are always working to protect our customers, which includes educating them about phishing scams. We remind customers that currently (1) the Cash App team generally communicates via email; (2) the email will come from a cash.app, square.com, or squareup.com address; and (3) the Cash App team will never solicit a customer’s PIN or sign in code outside of the app. For more information, we encourage customers to visit our website.

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