Consumers Were Left High and Dry: Attorney General Bonta Secures $45 Million Settlement with Block over Dishonest Practices on Cash App

Settlement also prevents the company from evading the payment of up to $120 million in consumer redress pursuant to a separate CFPB settlement

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today announced joining a bipartisan coalition of 46 attorneys general in securing a $45 million multistate settlement with Block, Inc. (Block), the company behind the peer-to-peer payments app Cash App. The settlement resolves allegations that Block violated California’s Unfair Competition Law and False Advertising Law by misleading consumers about the safety of Cash App, failing to protect users from fraud on the platform, and failing to provide fraud protection and resolution services that it promised and that were required by law. Under today’s settlement, California will receive $2.9 million. Notably, today’s settlement also requires that Block honor the consumer redress provisions of a settlement it entered into with the CFPB in the final days of the Biden Administration, which require it to pay at least $75 million and up to $120 million in additional relief direct to consumers, even if the Trump Administration decides to let Block off the hook. Today’s action showcases states’ commitment to safeguard consumers amid President Trump’s continued destruction of the CFPB, the federal agency that is supposed to be at the helm of protecting consumers from unfair, deceptive, and abusive acts by the financial services industry.

“Block told Cash App customers that their money was just as safe and secure as in a bank — which is not true — and then left its customers high and dry when things went wrong. Consumers were stranded: unable to access their money, vulnerable to scammers, and without any recourse or even a phone number to call when they found themselves victims of fraud,” said Attorney General Bonta. “Our settlement today requires Block to immediately cease making misrepresentations, alert consumers of fraud, and provide customer service support to ensure consumers have someone to call when things go wrong. Importantly, today’s settlement ensures Block can’t go back on its already-brokered promise to the Biden Administration to provide redress to consumers it harmed.”

BLOCK'S DECEPTIVE ACTIONS

The multistate investigation revealed that Block told Cash App users their money was safe — implying that the app worked like a bank, with the same protections including FDIC insurance, which is false. At the same time, Block knew fraud on its platform was rising sharply and instead of warning users or strengthening protections, Block doubled down on marketing. For years, Block actively promoted direct deposits of paychecks and government benefits into Cash App. It made a particular push to reach unbanked and underbanked consumers, people who would often rely on Cash App as their primary financial account and who are especially vulnerable to fraud. Block grew its user base without making sure it could support those users when problems arose.  And when problems did happen, Block failed to investigate and provide refunds as required by law.

Block's policies didn't just fail to stop fraud, these policies made fraud easier:  

• Block's sign-up process was designed to be fast and frictionless, with minimal identity verification. That made it easy for fraudsters to create multiple accounts and use them to commit fraud.
• For years, Cash App had no live phone support, even though it told customers who needed help to call them. Users who needed help could only message through the app or on social media. Some Cash App customers who needed help — or just wanted to talk to customer service — searched online for a phone number and often ended up calling fake 1-800 numbers run by scammers posing as Cash App. Those scammers would then take over accounts or drain users' other financial accounts. Block knew this was happening and didn't warn users or set up a phone line with live customers service until years later.
• Block ran a social media promotion called Cash App Fridays, encouraging users to publicly post their $cashtag — a unique Cash App identifier — for a chance to win a weekly prize. Fraudsters would use this information to identify and target those users, contacting them through the app, telling them they'd won, and tricking them into handing over their login information. Block knew about these scams and kept running the promotion anyway, for years.

Block’s failure to provide adequate customer service and protect users from fraud had real consequences for real people. Innocent users who experienced automated account locks for suspicious transactions were frequently locked out of their accounts for weeks without a way to access their money. Victims of fraud through the app were often left with nothing, because Block’s delays made it impossible to get stolen money back from scammers and because the company failed to investigate unauthorized transactions and issue refunds, even when required to do so by law. 

THE SETTLEMENT

Under the settlement, Block has agreed to implement and maintain responsible practices to resolve these issues, including to:

• Maintain customer support that can resolve fraud complaints, account lockouts, and other problems.
• Offer live support 24 hours a day, with a human available by phone at least 13.5 hours a day and by live chat at least 18 hours a day.
• Stop making false or misleading claims about Cash App's safety and how it protects users from fraud.
• Discontinue marketing practices known to increase fraud on the platform.
• Directly educate consumers about common types of fraud.
• Fulfill its legal obligations to investigate fraud claims and reimburse users for unauthorized transactions.

Importantly, today’s settlement requires Block to honor the consumer redress provisions of a prior settlement it entered into with the CFPB in the final days of the Biden Administration, which require the company to pay at least $75 million and up to $120 million to compensate consumers nationwide. Shortly after taking office, the Trump Administration launched a campaign of destruction and systemic shuttering of the CFPB, threatening catastrophic harm to hardworking families and to the economy as a whole.  As part of this effort, the administration terminated a series of prior settlements, letting wrongdoers off the hook and allowing them to avoid paying millions in consumer relief to victims. This included terminating a consent order that prohibited Citibank from discriminating against Armenian Americans and withdrawing a consent order that ordered Navy Federal Credit Union to refund $80 million to servicemembers and their families. With today’s settlement, the states have required that Block comply with the consumer redress provisions of the CFPB settlement, creating a backstop against termination of that settlement by the Trump Administration. Additional information regarding the CFPB’s settlement is available at: https://www.consumerfinance.gov/enforcement/actions/block-inc/ and https://cashappcfpbsettlement.com/.

In securing this settlement, Attorney General Bonta joins the states of Oregon, Texas, Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.