"I was like, 'What's going on?'"
[Ads /]
She says she couldn't find $2,850 from her account.
"My user information was gone, the money, the login, everything," Carmille said. "My money vanished from my account, stolen by fraudulent customer service."
When she realized there was a problem, she Googled "Cash app customer service" and says she called the number that came up.
But she says it was a fake number. We found other examples of people who fell for the same scam.
"My mom keeps saying, 'Reach out to Ted over with Channel 13.' And she was like, 'He solves problems,'" Carmille said.
We put Carmille in touch with a problem solver at the Cash app. "They refunded the money," she said.
[Ads /]
The Cash app told us it almost always deals with users via email, rarely, if ever, on the phone, and email comes from specific addresses that end with cash.app, square.com, or squareup.com.
They never ask for a user's PIN over the phone, the company says. Carmille's scammers did and that likely opened her up to problems.
Cash app's spokesperson told us, "We are always working to protect our customers, which includes educating them about phishing scams...."
Going forward, Carmille's warning: always be cautious, especially with personal information.
[Ads /]
A few really important takeaways here:
- Scammers are everywhere and their websites look just as legit as the real thing. If you are going online, make sure you know the website you are going to
- Same with email, Look at the address and make sure it is from the company you think you are dealing with
Cash app says they usually don't do phone customer service.
Check the rules online, especially if you are dealing with cash.
For the latest investigations, follow Ted on Facebook and Twitter.
Have a tip for Ted Oberg? A problem to solve? Get in touch with us on our tip page, or send a tip below. (On mobile? You can open our form by tapping here.)