GRAND RAPIDS, Mich — A local college professor wants to get the word out about a security breach involving a popular money transfer app. Cash App lets you transfer money to friends directly from your bank account.
It's an easy way to pay friends or family instead of carrying cash, but James Sackett says he'll never use it again.
"It's really so convenient," said Sackett, a professor at a West Michigan university. "I don't have to carry cash on me; it's easy to send money back and forth."
Sackett and his wife used to use Cash App all the time.
"It's very similar to Venmo, or Zelle I think is another one, even Apple Pay is coming out with their own now."
This week, they noticed several charges on their account that they never authorized.
"There was like six or seven transactions in a row between $1,000 and $2,000 each time," Sackett said.
There were eight charges within the last two days, totaling $10,000.
"Within like five minutes of each other before you can even stop it or un-link your card," Sackett said.
The charges were sent to people the couple didn't know.
"It looks like a real person. There's a picture with the account and a real name," Sackett said.
They tried to contact Cash App immediately.
"You try to reach out to them with a phone number because you're panicking," Sackett said.
According to the company's website, there isn't a number available to speak to a customer service agent.
"They're like, 'we don't talk to people on the phone' and we're like 'we need to talk to someone immediately,' and then you have to send them an email and sit there and wait," Sackett said.
He said, eventually, Cash App told them to contact the people the money was sent too and ask for the funds back.
"We don't know these people! They're not listening to us," Sackett said.
They contacted their credit union, canceled the card, and filed a formal fraudulent complaint.
"They were able to get us our money back. But the frustrating part is I would imagine Lake Michigan Credit Union is having to fight with Cash App in order to get the money and that's not fair to them," Sackett said.
They unlinked their bank account from the app, and somehow, it was hacked again.
"They uploaded somebody else's card to our account and then hacked that person's card on our account," Sackett said. "Now it looks like my wife is stealing money from people so now we're associated with fraudulent activity."
Sackett is urging everyone to delete their bank account from Cash App, delete their cash app account, and then delete the app from their phone.
"I don't want this to happen to other people because it's been a nightmare," Sackett said.
13 ON YOUR SIDE eventually reached someone at Cash App who told said they do everything they can to protect their customers.
To minimize your security risks, experts say never use public WiFi, use your phone data instead.
Also, make sure you use different usernames and passwords for all of your online accounts.
RELATED VIDEO:
Other stories on 13 ON YOUR SIDE:
►Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the 13 ON YOUR SIDE app now.
Have a news tip? Email news@13onyourside.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter. Subscribe to our YouTube channel.