A class action lawsuit has accused Walmart and Cash App operator Block of allegedly allowing fraudsters to use their services to carry out scams and commit financial crimes.
The lawsuit alleges that the companies knowingly facilitate fraudulent transactions through their financial services, resulting in significant losses for victims, particularly among the elderly and vulnerable.
The suit accuses Walmart of advertising itself as a "one-stop shop for financial services," which has become a hub for scammers due to inadequate protections against fraud. Scammers allegedly direct victims specifically to Walmart to carry out scams.
Cash App is also under fire for allowing easy account creation without meaningful identification, failing to keep scammers off its platform, and not requiring partner retail stores, like Walmart, to verify IDs against Cash App accounts before making cash deposits.
Potters claims she was directed by a scammer posing as a police officer to make several deposits into Cash App accounts using barcodes supposedly linked to a court's bond account. The lawsuit alleges that Walmart did not raise any red flags or inform her about the nature of these transactions.
The lawsuit accuses Walmart and Block of allegedly violating California consumer protection and unfair competition laws, among other allegations.
The plaintiffs are seeking to expand their lawsuit to include potentially thousands of other people nationwide and in California who allegedly may have been exposed to fraud risk by using Walmart and Block's money transfer services.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified compensatory, statutory and punitive damages against the defendants, plus attorney fees.