Cash App, like Zelle, PayPal, and other payment platforms, is a convenient way to make and receive payments. It can work like a debit card and you can link your bank account, debit or credit card to the platform.
The first thing you do if you get scammed on Cash App is not to wait. However, you should also match your strategy to the situation. What kind of fraud is it?
Did someone hack your account and make unauthorized charges? Did you send money to a merchant and you never received the product? Did you lose money in a romance fraud, through phishing, a fake broker, or a Cash App bitcoin scam?
You should contact Cash App, but first, they may want to know if you contacted the other party. If you already feel sure that the recipient is fraudulent and took your money on purpose, you might not see any point in asking for a refund, but this is an important step. Cash App will want to know if you did what you could to resolve the situation before coming to them – but don’t wait too long.
If you don’t get an answer after contacting the recipient, don’t wait too long, but contact Cash App. If your account was hacked and you don’t know who has your money, take screenshots to prove that the charges were unauthorized.
You can file a complaint with Cash App, but this is usually not enough. They will want you to prove that the other party was fraudulent before considering giving you your money back. The reason for this is the high incidence of chargeback fraud.
What is chargeback fraud? It’s a type of scheme in which the customer, not the other party, is the one who is dishonest. It happens often in retail and e-commerce. A customer will order something, claim it is damaged or not the right size, and demand another one without returning the first one. This is an easy way for people to get free merchandise and it hurts the business.
Cash App will give you money back if you are scammed but only if they are convinced the other party is fraudulent. This can be straightforward with proven unauthorized transactions, like when your account is hacked.
However, if you have authorized transactions with a merchant or a broker, you will have to give a compelling case to get your money back.
The term “Cash App chargeback” is used often but it is kind of a misnomer. The term chargeback is used specifically for credit card chargebacks when a transaction can be entirely reversed. However, Cash App transactions, because they aren’t directly with credit or debit cards, aren’t really chargebacks.
Instead, Cash App deals with a dispute and decides which party – the customer or the merchant – is correct. If they rule on the side of the customer, they compel the merchant to return the funds.