By admin 
RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — North Carolina has secured a settlement of up to $165 million related to alleged safety issues with Cash App, the attorney general’s office said Wednesday.
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According to the Office of the North Carolina General, a settlement was reached with Block, Inc., the owner of Cash App, to resolve allegations related to the company misrepresenting the app’s safety and making fraud easier.
The North Carolina Attorney General’s Office argued that Block made fraud easier by:
- Having little identity verification to prevent scammers from making accounts
- Having no phone support, leading to users calling fake numbers by scammers posing as Cash App, and not warning users or setting up a real phone line until years later
- Running the social media promotion Cash App Fridays that encouraged users to post their handles, resulting in users being tricked into giving their login information to scammers falsely claiming they won
- Leaving users locked out of their accounts for weeks, with no way to access their money after suspicious activity was detected due to a lack of adequate customer service
Under the settlement, according to the attorney general’s office, Block will complete a promise to distribute between $75 million to $120 million to customers across the nation. The company will also pay $45 million to the states in the lawsuit, including nearly $1 million to North Carolina under the settlement.
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According to the attorney general’s office, the settlement also requires Block to:
- Maintain customer support capable of resolving fraud complaints and fraud lockouts, including live 24-hour support and a person available by phone at least 13.5 hours a day
- No longer make false or misleading claims about Cash App’s safety
- Stop marketing practices that are known to increase fraud
- Directly inform customers about common types of fraud
- Investigate fraud claims and reimburse users for unauthorized transactions as required by law
“People deserve to know that their money is actually protected,” North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson said in a statement. “Block told users Cash App was safe, but made it easier for fraud to occur and then failed to help when customers needed it most. This settlement gets money back for the customers who took them at their word.”
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