![]() ![]() Contact Thomas Brewster at or +44 7 on Signal. ) Got a tip about Block, Inc, Square or Cash App? Do you have additional information about how they deal with criminality on their platforms? We'd like to hear from you. He’d previously pleaded guilty to identity theft and sex trafficking of a 17-year-old. We usually don’t comment on those.” Greenberg’s counsel did not respond to a request for comment. His spokesman, Joel Valdez, said, “It must be a slow day for Forbes to be covering an 18-month-old debunked news story. (Gaetz has previously denied any wrongdoing. ![]() Last year, the New York Times reported that it had reviewed receipts from Cash App and Apple Pay showing payments from Gaetz and an associate-indicted Florida tax official Joel Greenberg-to one of the women. The Justice Department is reportedly investigating whether the Congressman paid to have sex with various women, including a 17-year-old girl. The highest-profile case involving Cash App and alleged sex crimes, though, revolves around Florida Rep. ![]() And in another recently unsealed warrant, an FBI agent said the agency had raided the Cash App data of an individual who was suspected of trafficking a 15-year-old runaway in San Diego. In one of the more egregious recent cases, a 26-year-old Asheville, North Carolina, man enticed 15 minor females into either sending him sexually explicit images or having sex with him, typically sending the victim hundreds of dollars over Block’s app. A search for “Cash App” and “CashApp” on collectively returned nearly 900,000 results, compared to 470,000 PayPal and a similar number for Venmo. That included one recently unsealed investigation where a victim in Grand Rapids, Michigan, was just 17 years old. Among the filings referencing Cash App were multiple instances where a victim was trafficked on, one of the largest sex advertisement websites. Hundreds of pages of court filings describe cases where law enforcement said Cash App was used to either pay for sexualized images or sex with minors and adults. The business generated gross profit of $705 million in the most recent quarter, up from $624 million in the preceding quarter, accounting for nearly half of Block’s total $1.5 billion in Q2.īut as Cash App has grown in revenue and popularity, so has its use in sex crimes. ![]() In its latest quarterly results, Dorsey’s business revealed that this June, 47 million accounts carried out transactions on Cash App. With Block’s market cap currently at $30 billion six years after its IPO, much of its growth is due to Cash App, which makes revenue by charging a small fee for business use, and through its stock trading and cryptocurrency exchange features. Competing with PayPal, Venmo and Zelle, it rapidly gained market share by offering a quick, simple and free alternative. Launched in 2013 by Block, Cash App quickly became a cash cow for Dorsey, helping him amass a fortune of $4 billion. We maintain robust compliance programs and continuously assess and enhance our systems and controls to prevent, detect and report bad activity on the platform,” she added. “We do not tolerate illegal activity on Cash App. She added that the company operated “in line with applicable laws and regulations,” closing accounts and reporting suspicious transactions to police, while working voluntarily with nonprofits, industry and law enforcement. “Does Cash App have the appropriate level of staff to deal with this?” he asked.īlock spokesperson Danika Owsley said that all forms of human trafficking were not permitted on Cash App. He complained about delays to getting responses from Cash App, taking far longer than rivals, leading him to question whether or not Block has invested in legal compliance in line with its explosive growth. Because it’s possible to shift funds so quickly between accounts-one signal of criminality that Block’s algorithms could detect and flag as suspicious-it’s easier to hide and cash out ill-gotten gains, added Brink. Users only need to reveal their profile name, called a “cashtag,” to receive and send funds. There’s also the lure of apparent anonymity offered by Cash App, says ex-Arizona attorney general human trafficking investigator Chad Brink. One is that its due diligence is next to none,” says Colm Gannon, a former sex crimes investigator in New Zealand and cofounder of Pathfinder, a police contractor focused on online child abuse. “We’re definitely seeing an escalation of the use of Cash App for a number of reasons. “Does Cash App have the appropriate level of staff to deal with this?”Ĭhad Brink, former Arizona attorney general human trafficking investigatorĬash App’s detractors claim criminals are attracted to its lack of thorough identity checks as compared to traditional banks and the ability for those who have abused the app to quickly sign up again. ![]()
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