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Pa. woman charged after scammer opened Cash App in her name, 404 Media says
404 Media reports Amanda Smith of Pennsylvania was arrested on an Arkansas computer-fraud warrant after a scammer used her identity on Cash App; she says she never used the service.
- New headline Was: “Someone Opened a CashApp In Her Name. She Faces Years in Prison”
- Our desk filed its story
Amanda Smith of upstate Pennsylvania was arrested in April on an Arkansas computer-fraud warrant after a scammer opened a Cash App account in her name, 404 Media reported in an Oct. 21 account by Joseph Cox1.
Smith told 404 Media she answered the door to local sheriff's deputies with a warrant for a crime allegedly committed more than 1,000 miles away1. "I was completely confused," she said1. She said she had never been to Arkansas and, by her own account, is not a very tech-savvy person1.
Deputies took her to the local jail, where she spent three nights, according to that report1. 404 Media said she later learned a scammer had tricked someone on Facebook Marketplace into sending $1,000 to a Cash App account in her name that the scammer controlled1. The outlet said the account was created with her Social Security number and date of birth1. Smith said she has never used Cash App1.
According to a prosecuting attorney affidavit Cox cited, investigators served Block Inc., which owns Cash App, with a search warrant; data returned included Smith's Social Security number and date of birth, which led them to arrest her1. She is charged with computer fraud, unlawful use of a communication device, and theft of property, Cox wrote, citing a court filing1. 404 Media said she faces up to six years in prison if convicted1.
Cox wrote that other Cash App data produced in discovery, in 404 Media's review, did not match Smith, including a Philadelphia address she said was not hers, an outdated iPhone OS, Verizon IPs while she said she uses AT&T, and a username she said she never used1. Smith's lawyer, Jason Horton, told 404 Media he is trying to get the case dismissed short of trial1.
Cash App did not respond to multiple requests for comment, Cox wrote1. Jeffrey Sams, the prosecutor, did not respond to a request asking whether investigators took additional steps to verify the Cash App data beyond the detective's account in court records1.