Central Texas organization loses $6000 from Cash App fraud activity

KWTX
By Jessica Rajkumar
Published: Dec. 5, 2023 at 5:02 PM GMT-7

KILLEEN, Texas (KWTX) - The Killeen – Cove Youth Sports Association, a non-profit organization that helps young kids engage with sports like football and cheerleading, is warning the community to be aware of the possible dangers of online banking after they lost nearly $6,000 in a scam.

The organization receives donations to help fund their kids’ trips and activities.

Founder Dale Seitter noticed on October 17th that he had hundreds of unknown charges to the organization’s Cash App card, resulting in the organization losing thousands of dollars.

While Seitter immediately dealt with the issue, he is still waiting for the money to be refunded.

“It’s just become very frustrating and I have run out of options as far as where to get help. The fraud charges, that’s great if they find anything, any criminal charges will be almost impossible to prove.”

Seitter told KWTX that he has been working for the past two months to get all charges refunded but has received little cooperation from Cash App.

“The frustrating part is the lack of communication, the inefficiency in their process,” he said, “It’s unrealistic to think that someone with 342 charges have to go to an app and do each charge individually.”

Experts in cyber security, such as Dr. Abhijit Nag with Central Texas A&M, recommend to use multiple features in online banking to confirm your identity before transferring money.

“Always make sure when you choose an app, always make sure it actually asks for more than one factor of authentication. Maybe a pin code or passcode in addition with unlocking your smart phone.”

Dr. Nag explained identity confirmation can also notify users when their account is being used.

“That way you make sure that any time your account is accessed or tried to draw any balance, you will be notified immediately.”

While Seitter is working every day to get the money back, he asks his community to be aware of the dangers of fraud.

“If this happened to us its probably going to happen to somebody else eventually. You got to be careful with those cash App cards.”

We reached out to Cash App and they told us they cannot comment on Seitter’s issue now.

A Cash App spokesperson told us in a statement what they recommend for users dealing with fraudulent activity and scams.

• Cash App takes safety and security very seriously.
• We encourage customers to educate themselves on common scams, how to avoid them, and how to secure their account through our help pages (outsmart scams, keeping your account secure) and official social media accounts.
• If you believe you have fallen victim to a scam, you should contact Cash App Support through the app, website, or by phone at 1-800-969-1940.

If you are interested in helping out the Killeen – Cove Youth Sports Association, please contact director@kccasa.org