Pay attention and hold onto your checking account

[zipper]

Over the last holiday week there has been a few fraud attempts to move money out of our farm business account. We were alerted a week ago by a person in Chicago who said we had charged his credit card with just over $1k in charges in two transactions. We knew this was not true. His bank said they were SQUARE transactions. We use Square in our blueberry field in July and August only and now somebody in the name of square was trying to drain our business account with smallish withdrawals as well. After we were alerted we went to the bank to stop the first transaction for $1500. We got the money back in two days. Yesterday morning my wife checked for more fraudulent activity and found two more over the weekend and another attempt yesterday morning at the $1500 that we got back from them, they were attempting to drain the acct. once they saw we were onto them, as more charges were made as we were shutting the acct. down. At the bank we shut down the acct. and opened a new one.

We were lucky as my wife was paying attention. We were obviously hacked thru the Square App where they gained control of our business checking acct.
Pay attention and keep an eye on your money. All kinds of skumbags are trying to steal it.

 

[King]

Over the last holiday week there has been a few fraud attempts to move money out of our farm business account. We were alerted a week ago by a person in Chicago who said we had charged his credit card with just over $1k in charges in two transactions. We knew this was not true. His bank said they were SQUARE transactions. We use Square in our blueberry field in July and August only and somebody in the name of square was trying to drain our business account with smallish withdrawals. After we were alerted we went to the bank to stop the first transaction for $1500. We got the money back in two days. Yesterday morning my wife checked for more fraudulent activity and found two more over the weekend and another attempt yesterday morning at the $1500 that we got back from them.. We went to the bank and shut down the acct. and opened a new one.

We were lucky as my wife was paying attention. We were obviously hacked thru the Square App where they gained control of our business checking acct.
Pay attention and keep an eye on your money. All kinds of skumbags are trying to steal it.

zipper's spot on.

My wife, who works for a bank here in the Atlanta metro will tell you that there's always fraud but, from Thanksgiving on, it's in overdrive. She was telling me that yesterday alone, they dealt with over a dozen fraud issues, some like what zipper is talking about, others directed at the bank. Usually she'll see numbers like that over the course of a month or two.

 

[Adrian @ JB Solutions]

Square = CashApp = Scam Central. Stay away from both.

 

[zipper]

Square = CashApp = Scam Central. Stay away from both.

Ya, it really sucks. The app. was convenient for customers to use in the field. They forget to bring a check book or enough cash to pay for what they picked. We have a few months to figure out what we will do for next year.

 

[Adrian @ JB Solutions]

Ya, it really sucks. The app. was convenient for customers to use in the field. They forget to bring a check book or enough cash to pay for what they picked. We have a few months to figure out what we will do for next year.

Plenty of options. I really prefer Zelle. Straight into your bank account. Chase Pay is another secure option. Venmo is much more mainstream but never had an issue with it.

 

[DonJohnsMusic]

I’ve been using Paypal for over 20 years and have never had any issues. Now I do not know about being in the field. As a producer/director I’ve always required a half deposit to secure a filming date or dates. I’d send an invoice to client and they would pay it however they wanted. I’ve had money my Paypal account for years and it just sits there with no fees. I’m paid my movie royalties and music royalties as well. Knock on wood, I’ve never had any issues. Not sure if that would work in the field. It’s not so much the app but how you are accessing it. If you are on an unsecure network, it doesn’t matter what you are using, anyone can get on that network and see what you are doing. That would be something else to consider when using that, but the reality is there are a lot of crooks and losers out there. We’ve had our credit card hacked 4 times in the last year! Go figure!

 

[Julian]

Square does not look to be secure:

https://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/how-safe-is-square-researchers-find-a-number-of-holes/

Cash App doesn't recommend sending/recieving money from people you don't know (although it looks to be secure):

Cash App Banking Review

Explore our in-depth 2024 review of Cash App Banking. We'll dive into the pros and cons of the features and fees of the Cash App Savings Account and Cash App Card.

www.businessinsider.com

@zillow I'd work with your bank and set up a deposit only account for your picking events and then use Cashapp/zelle etc to receive money only - and empty the account daily (don't link the accounts with overdraft protection).

 

[biffdotorg]

I guess this is why I will never shut down my home town credit union account. It seems to be a good place to keep "fun money" and tie to the pay apps. They are just way too convenient not to use. That and it ticks off the staff at the CU, as they have yet to update any of their core banking software. So every Internet transaction has to be entered manually!

But using Paypal and Venmo is a regular occurance. And using forms of bill pay online rather than writing checks is not going away. So my solution is to keep them tied to the most disconnected account I have. That and I really don't have any money to steal, so there is that.

And now working with millinials, the necessity for Apple Pay and Venmo is regular. These guys never have a dime on them, and insist on sending money through venmo for everything. Honestly, it works really well. The best is walking through large multi-day shows/swap meets and the average seller now has their code for these apps proudly displayed.

 

[MidnightRider]

Yeah I'm like @biffdotorg - Not sure if it is a reasonable solution for a business but for my personal use I attach all my "cash/money" apps to a checking account that only has $10 in it (its setup specifically for this reason). When I need to send money via an app, I just quickly (via bank app) transfer the money needed into that checking account. Also protect all accounts you can with 2 factor authentication, if possible use a 2fa authentication app to do this, not text messaging or email (I know, only option sometimes and better than nothing).

 

[crazy4life]

Over the last holiday week there has been a few fraud attempts to move money out of our farm business account. We were alerted a week ago by a person in Chicago who said we had charged his credit card with just over $1k in charges in two transactions. We knew this was not true. His bank said they were SQUARE transactions. We use Square in our blueberry field in July and August only and now somebody in the name of square was trying to drain our business account with smallish withdrawals as well. After we were alerted we went to the bank to stop the first transaction for $1500. We got the money back in two days. Yesterday morning my wife checked for more fraudulent activity and found two more over the weekend and another attempt yesterday morning at the $1500 that we got back from them, they were attempting to drain the acct. once they saw we were onto them, as more charges were made as we were shutting the acct. down. At the bank we shut down the acct. and opened a new one.

We were lucky as my wife was paying attention. We were obviously hacked thru the Square App where they gained control of our business checking acct.
Pay attention and keep an eye on your money. All kinds of skumbags are trying to steal it.

One other thing at the first sign of fraudulent charge close account right then and there. Do not delay, there are organized rings that will share your info as soon as they know it is a good account.