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  Geebo 8:00 am on October 21, 2020 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: 2FA ( 11 ), Cash App ( 42 ), payment app ( 18 ), paypal scam, Scams ( 1,368 ), two factor authentication ( 17 ), venmo ( 28 )   

  A Cash App scam that could happen on the street 

  

  Most scams that happen on payment apps like Cash App happen online. However, we just came across one that happens on the street.

  The report we found about this scam comes out of Nashville, Tennessee but could happen in any city. In Nashville, the city is known for its music scene so there are a number of street musicians looking to get their name out there. There are also a number of scammers looking to take advantage of those interested in the music scene.

  The scammers will pose as a street musician and will approach a victim. The scammer will ask for the victim’s phone so they can pull up their music video on YouTube. Instead, the scammer accesses one of the victim’s payment apps like Cash App, Venmo, or PayPal and sends the victim’s money to themselves before fleeing the scene.

  While this particular approach may be exclusive to Nashville or any other city with a vibrant music scene, this scam could happen anywhere. You could be approached by someone asking to use your phone for an emergency where instead of calling someone they could be draining one of your payment app accounts.

  There are several ways to protect yourself against a scam like this. First off, it’s generally a good idea to never hand your phone over to someone you don’t know. Secondly, most of the leading payment apps have security features that prevent other people from accessing your account on your phone. Known as two-factor authentication, you can have a PIN set up to open the payment app or you could use your phone’s fingerprint reader to access your account. When these features are enabled, it goes a long way in preventing others from accessing your accounts on your phone.

   

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  Geebo 8:00 am on April 23, 2020 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: apple pay, Cash App ( 42 ), payment app ( 18 ), paypal scam, Scams ( 1,368 ), venmo ( 28 )   

  “Oops! Can you send that back?” 

  

  Payment apps are a great convenience. They mean that we don’t necessarily have to carry cash on us and can be used to pay for various goods and services while maintaining social distances. These apps like Venmo, Cash App, Paypal, and the like have been around for a long time and have been the targets of scammers almost since the beginning. Now, scammers have come up with a new way to try to steal money from your payment app account and it relies on the politeness of others.

  If you use one of these apps and you receive a payment from someone you don’t know, don’t spend it and don’t send it back. Scammers are sending payments to random app users along with a message that says something along the lines of “Oops! Can you send that back?” These are payments sent using stolen credit cards or other stolen financial information. If you send the payment back to them it becomes real money in their account. However, once the credit card is reported stolen that money will come out of your account and you will be out the amount of the ‘Oops’ payment. This is very reminiscent of the phony check scam only in digital form.

  [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSVtXuhnUnk%5D

  If you receive one of these payments, instead of sending the money back ask them to cancel the payment. If they refuse or try to pressure you into sending it back it’s more than likely a scam. Report the payment to whichever app you’re using and whatever you do, don’t touch that money. It should just be removed from your account but as we said, if you spend the money you’ll ultimately be responsible for that amount.

  This is an unprecedented time for scammers so please keep your wits about you when dealing with digital payments.

   
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  Geebo 8:00 am on May 7, 2019 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: armslist ( 12 ), craigslist ( 129 ), guns ( 14 ), lockbox ( 5 ), paypal scam, real estate ( 127 ), rental scam ( 87 ), Rentals ( 14 ), Scams ( 1,368 ), wedding rings ( 2 )   

  The Armslist gun sale scam and more 

  

  We’re back again with another trio of scams to be on the lookout for.

  It seems that the much-criticized Armslist isn’t immune to scams as a woman from Western Pennsylvania has been charged with defrauding users of the website. The woman allegedly advertised several firearms for sale on the controversial site and collected the payments for them in money orders. However, she did not have any of the actual guns for sale and she’s accused of keeping all the money for herself. There’s no word on whether or not any background checks were completed on any of the victims.

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  A man from Silver Lake, Washington was trying to sell his late wife’s wedding ring on craigslist when he was approached with an out-of-state offer. The man then received a bogus email stating that the money for the ring had reached his PayPal account. The man sent the ring but the money wasn’t actually there. Amazingly, after he contacted the police the ring was found in Illinois. This is a rare occurrence on the scale of a solar eclipse. Ok, maybe not that rare but it is remarkable that the man was able to get the ring back as in most cases once the item has been shipped it’s usually gone forever. In most cases, you should only deal locally and only in cash and when completing the transaction it should be done at a local police station.

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  Lastly for today, a rental scam that we’ve discussed before has started popping up again and that’s the lockbox scam. The scam works like the typical rental scam where someone claiming to be a landlord will rent you a property sight unseen if you wire them a deposit. With the lockbox scam, the phony landlords have somehow gained access to the realtor’s lockbox on the property that contains a key to the home. A family in Phoenix, Arizona recently fell for this scam and even moved into the property after wiring their money to a scammer. Sadly, they had to be evicted from the property. Under no circumstance should you ever wire funds to someone you’ve never met. Most legitimate property managers will do background checks on prospective renters and will meet them in person.