A new report shows a spike in complaints against cash apps

The Arizona Public Interest Research Group Education Funds reports complaints nearly doubled

PHOENIX, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - During the pandemic online commerce grew, and with it the use of cash apps. The demand in the service sprouted more apps.

According to the Arizona Public Interest Research Group Education Fund, the increase in cash app usage led to the increase a fraudulent activity and mishaps.

PIRG released a report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau who reported 970 complaints against cash app companies. According to the CFPB, that number nearly doubled that of complaints in 2020.

Senior Director Ed Mierzwinski says that many of the issues with cash app companies were caused by users failing to read the fine print. In many cases, Mierzwinski reports the default setting made it so information like transactions and your contact lists were made public.

Mierzwinski wants consumers to avoid using cash apps altogether. But, if you do use them he says to change the default setting to private, make sure to only transfer money to people you know, and have those people send you a request to avoid sending it to the wrong person.