CashApp Scam?

I used Cash App for the first time today and the final signup screen said if I shared it with someone they’d give me and them $5. I shared and she said NO! don’t do it, it’s a scam! I listened to the news story and my first thought was gosh…

Money is becoming more and more digital. Hardly anyone actually carries paper dollars anymore. I remember back in the 80’s when debit cards came out religious radicals were saying the cards were the mark of the beast and if we used them instead of paper and coins we would be thrown into the lake of fire.

Well, so far so good because “cashless” solutions like Cash App are inevitable spokes in the wheel that turns the digital revolution. I make a living with the 1’s and 0’s of technology so I may have a comfort level that others may not yet be able to hold.

When finding phone numbers on Google, look for VERIFIED numbers… and skip the ads, and websites that are not the company’s branded website. Always look for the green lock that means your site visit is encrypted, and never give login, or banking info over the phone. If you have an account with a company, they don’t need your login to review your account.

One of my colleagues has sent/received THOUSANDS of with Square Cash (cash app). It is owned by Square, Inc, a public company (NYSE:SQ) with thousands of employees… a San Francisco, fintech (financial technology) company founded in 2009.

See: https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/square#section-funding-rounds

All of that to say that it’s a large company that focuses on money stuffs with investors like Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs.

I hate hearing this story! …and I also hate for us to be left out of technologies that make things easier.

For example: I had $30 more to give today. I gave $10 to a girls home in Texas and wanted to give some to a church my Mom likes. I called her and let her know that I didn’t see a DONATE button on their Facebook profile. Yes, I could have written a check and mailed it, but it seemed so much easier just to click a button and send the money.

Mom mentioned another request for donations that she’d heard about to send a group of talented youth to Alabama for an opportunity of a lifetime. I saw their cash app handle, but I’d never used the app. I installed it and sent money in less than 5 min.

Installing just the app on your phone is different than going to a retail store like Wal-mart, buying a cash card (Cash App Visa debit card). You have to put in a regular bank debit card in the mobile app (just like you do for Apple Cash).

My recommendation is not to EVER use a debit card online that is connected to your main money account. I have a main money debit card and a foo-foo money debit card. This is the same debit card I use for PayPal and Square. When I want to buy something online I go to my regular bank app on my phone and put money in the foo-foo account and then do my transaction.

What this does is protect me if any online foolery happens because there is rarely ever any money in the foo-foo account. Other than that, I use a regular credit card for online transactions because that at least gives me the protection of filing a (almost immediate) dispute if something does not look right.

Digital cash is here to stay… Cryptocurrency, (Bitcoin and other alt coins) are the future of money. We just need to be smart and know the risks so we can take advantage of the conveniences that the very nature of technological advances afford.

In fact, Square Cash announced 8 months ago that you can buy Bitcoin with their app. It’s not the decentralized-be-your-own-bank version that a crypto purtist would herald, but it does give un-banked folks an onramp to participate in that global financial system. You can only buy and sell Bitcoin, not send and receive it though. “Square is likely using pooled wallets to hold user funds and not storing private keys on a user’s device, similar to how Coinbase works.”

See https://techcrunch.com/2017/11/14/square-cash-is-letting-some-users-buy-and-sell-bitcoin/

With all of that said, and with things like Coinbase’s rollout of a “bundle in a bid to take cryptocurrencies mainstream” and the pending Bitcoin ETFs, entirely new ways to hold, invest, send, and receive “value” will be the new normal.

Religious organizations and nonprofits deserve to make it super easy for people to give with things like TEXT-TO-GIVE, PayPal, via their website, cash app, etc.

Even with my passionate explanation,

sis said NOPE, NAW, NO WAY … “I AIN’T FOOLIN’ WIT IT!”

The best we ever can do is watch and pray and praise God every day that things don’t go crazy. If you’re gripped with fear and can’t see your way forward with this that’s ok! I just wanted a say so I took one!

I hope this helps someone… or at least encourage them to figure out the benefits and risks and configure things accordingly… ~lsm