Customers of the payment platform Cash App can claim up to $2,500 each as part of a giant class action lawsuit that led to a $15 million settlement for data and security breaches of thousands of customers.
According to the class action lawsuit, people whose Cash App accounts were accessed without authorization by third parties, or who were victims of fraudulent withdrawals or transfers, can file claims as long as they had or have a Cash App account between 23 August 2018 and August 20, 2024, according to the agreement website.
The Incidents of the Cash App Class Action Lawsuit
The text of the Cash App class action lawsuit says there was an incident in 2021, but the company publicly accepted that this occurred only in 2022. A former employee of the company downloaded reports of some US users without their permission, or without the company’s permission.
And another security breach, revealed in 2023, occurred when an unauthorized individual illegally accessed some Cash App accounts using phone numbers that were linked to them.
The plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit claim that both Cash App and its parent company, Block, failed to install sufficient security controls to block unauthorized users, and that complaints were handled incorrectly by the app when it came to security breaches and fraudulent transactions.
Although it did not accept having committed any error or illegality, Cash App and Block also agreed to take measures to strengthen data security as part of the agreement. Under that premise of non-acceptance of guilt, Cash App and Block agreed to pay $15 million to reach an agreement with the plaintiffs, which should cover their payments for claims but also legal fees and administrative costs.
How to File a Claim in the Cash App Lawsuit
Affected customers can submit a claim using the official lawsuit website, where they must enter the notice ID and a confirmation code they received by mail or email. Others who believe they are affected may still file a claim even if they did not receive such notice, but are subject to review by the settlement administrator.
The settlement site states that each claimant must complete only one claim form. If a customer has multiple accounts, they must include their $Cashtag identifier (the unique username associated with each account) and information related to their claims on a single form.
The final date to present the agreement is November 18, and the total amount that beneficiaries will receive is yet to be defined. It is believed that it could be around $2,500, but it will depend on how many people join as plaintiffs.
Those $2,500 have requirements to demonstrate that they had losses due to the security breach, which are the following:
- Costs for credit monitoring or identity theft insurance, credit report requests, or credit freezes.
- Expenses related to canceling a payment card or obtaining a replacement card.
- Costs derived from closing a bank account and opening a new one.
- Overdraft fees that have not been refunded.
- Charges or fees for late or missed payments that have not been refunded.
Additionally, clients can claim up to three hours of lost time, with compensation of $25 per hour.
Also, Cash App users have the option to file a claim to recover lost transactions. For these cases, it is necessary to provide documentation, such as a copy of a police report.
