By Satnam Narang, Tenable
Scammers target vulnerable Cash App users on Twitter and Instagram through fake requests, money flipping and mobile application referrals, while YouTube videos promote fake Cash App generators. Here’s what you need to know.
Cash App, the popular person-to-person (P2P) payment service application from Square, has been steadily growing since its debut in late 2013. The service’s growth has been fuelled by a promotion marketing campaign offering cash giveaways to those who engage with the brand on various social media platforms. The success of these promotions, in turn, is emboldening an army of scammers who employ a variety of cons to separate social media users from their hard-warned cash.
A look at the numbers makes it easy to see why Cash App is such a promising target for scammers. According to an August 2019 MarketWatch article, Cash App received a whopping 2.4 million downloads in July 2019. The same article notes Cash App has been downloaded 59.8 million times since its 2013 launch, outpacing its biggest competitor, Venmo, which has been downloaded 52.7 million times.
Music has played a role in fueling Cash App’s popularity, as 200 rap artists have name checked the app in song lyrics and used the app to give money to fans, whether “just because,” as Lil B did, or as part of a giveaway promotion for scoring a number one album, as Travis Scott did.
Some consumer brands have also activated marketing campaigns using the service. For example, Burger King began its Whopper Loans promotion by teasing a giveaway using Cash App.
This two-part series details the practices I uncovered while researching these scammers from July to September 2019. This research is not meant to be a comprehensive overview of all such scams; rather it’s an analysis of behavioral trends among a group of scammers targeting the popularity and interest around one particular application.
Here, in part one, I explore how Cash App’s soaring popularity is attracting opportunistic scammers and their methods of operation on Twitter and Instagram. In part two, I provide further details on the tactics used by Cash App scammers on Instagram, as well as examine videos hosted on YouTube, which claim to provide ways to earn “free money” and “hack” Cash App. In addition, I provide guidance and advice on how users of the P2P payment service can avoid being conned.
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In part one of our two-part series on Cash App scammers, I explored how promotional tactics used by the popular person-to-person (P2P) payment service have been co-opted by scammers, particularly on Twitter. Here, I share additional details showing how similar cons are perpetrated on Instagram, and how scammers are also creating videos on YouTube to deceive users into believing they have a way to “hack” Cash App for free money. You’ll also find tips and guidance on how to keep your hard-earned cash from falling into the wrong hands.
In part two, I provide further details on the tactics used by Cash App scammers on Instagram, as well as examine videos hosted on YouTube, which claim to provide ways to earn “free money” and “hack” Cash App. In addition, I provide guidance and advice on how users of the P2P payment service can avoid being conned.
