a large sum of money if users first send in a smaller sum one twitter account cashappg has been online since 2019 with the tagline hi welcome to cash app give away send money and we will send you double backit gives scammers a ripe opportunity said satnam narang a researcher at the security firm tenable who has written about the fraud on cash appemily bradford an unemployed 21yearold in washington said she lost 75 last month after getting a message through twitter offering her 3000 through cash app if she paid an initial clearance payment when she sent the money the person who messaged her disappeared she reached out to cash apps support email but hasnt heard back she saidi figured since they were dealing with money especially others money theyd have a very good security system and customer service she said of squarems anderson the square spokeswoman said the company had recently added warnings about copycats on its messages about cash app fridaysin 2018 square also introduced the ability for people to transact in bitcoin on cash app that has made it easier to move illicit gains off the app because bitcoin can be sent to anonymous addresses that are much harder to trace or reverse than traditional financial transactions venmo and zelle dont offer bitcoincash apps popularity for fraudulent schemes is evident from conversations and listings on dark net forums and markets where criminals gather to do business in august cash app was mentioned 10577 times on dark net forums up 450 percent from a year earlier according to an analysis by the security firm sixgill listings for venmo and zelle rose around 50 percent on the dark net in the same periodimagecreditmelissa golden for the new york timesashley tolley 31 a mother of three in travelers rest sc recently experienced the criminal activity on cash app firsthandin august she said she received requests on the app from addresses that appeared to be legitimate but with a letter or two changed while some of the transactions were rejected by square one went ahead without her approval the thief took 560 which was a month of child support payments from the father of her two youngest children from her accountsquare told ms tolley that she could ask the fraudster to send the money back to her but the person had already deleted their cash app accountim the sole provider in my household she said for that to be gone i broke down i was in tears