Unauthorized Transfer on my Account

[chelsvans]

I have a $4500 transfer completed on my square account that I did not make. I have sent several emails to Customer Support as well as contacted them by phone more than 5 times. I have made a police report, it shows that someone logged into my account in Iowa, I have never even been there, I am in Florida. So, I was emailed saying someone had logged into my account from Iowa, then my account had settings changed and I was notified via email (2 step authentication was turned off) and then the transfer was made all back-to-back within 4 minutes everything had been completed. I then received email saying, "Your transfer has been completed for $4500" Obviously Square was hacked somehow and my info was used to make the transfer. How can I get this taken care of?? No one will respond to me; I keep getting the same thing: 1-3 business days someone will contact you. Which has not happened, and this was done Feb. 21, 2025 PLEASE HELP!!!

[TheRealChipA]

Hey there @chelsvans.  First, I’m so sorry to hear you are dealing with this.  It’s never fun and always takes too much time.  I wish you the best.  Now, there are a few things I’d like to say.

First, I hope you now have two-step authorization turned on.  This is the very reason for its existence.  Also, I’m assuming that you have now changed your password on your Square account.  If not, you definitely need to do both of those things — especially considering the fact that scammers often share credentials on the dark web for other scammers to use.

Second, while you might think it is obvious, this DOES NOT mean that Square was hacked.  It means that somehow the scammers got your account credentials.  It could have been a phishing email.  It could have been from someone you shared your credentials with, who got phished or hacked.  It could be that your email has been compromised.  There are so many reasons that Square can not control where this can happen.  Right now, it will not help to jump to conclusions.  Just do what you can to stop further damage.  I’d also recommend changing your email password, just in case.

Third, just because the IP address was “located” in Iowa does not mean that the scammer is in Iowa.  These days, everyone can use VPNs and other tools to hide their IP addresses.  That feature is built into all Apple devices, for example, known as Private Relay.  The days of IP addresses determining location are gone, and law enforcement has to employe special tracking tools to try to figure out where the attack actually came from.

I’m going to tag the Square moderators here.  Hopefully they can check with their support teams internally and determine where this case stands.  If they do, they will reach out to you privately since they can’t post account-specific information here on this very public board.

Again, I wish you the very best.

@Kassi_
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@_Violet
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[_Violet · Accepted solution]

Thank you for the tag here, @TheRealChipA - I'm sorry to hear this happened, @chelsvans 😞

From the details you've provided, it sounds like this may be a case of Account Take Over. An account takeover happens when a hacker logs into your Square account and uses it to commit fraud. To do this, they only need access to your email address and password. Please see this Support Article for more details.

As @TheRealChipA mentioned, I also recommend enabling Two-step verification as well as changing your password to your Square account to something new, if you haven't done so already.

I understand the urgency of this matter and your frustration regarding not receiving timely responses from our Support Team thus far. I will escalate this issue internally to ensure it receives the prompt attention it deserves. Please send me a direct message when you have the chance so I can gather some details from you that I'll need to escalate this further.

Thank you,

[chelsvans]

Yes, I enabled 2-Step verification right away. The issue I'm having is that I initially had the 2-step verification enabled and whoever sent the transfer also turned the 2-step verification off, then linked their bank and then transferred $4500 all within 4 minutes. I have since then turned it back on and changed my password both on my Square account and email. I have filed a police report for fraudulent transfer being made and reached out to Square multiple times to try and get my money refunded. I run a business and $4500 that was in my account are my operating costs to run my store from the day to day so this has significantly hurt my personal finances and my business finances. Can some one please help or direct me to the person I can speak to, to have this resolved. Thank you.

[TheRealChipA]

@chelsvans 

@_Violet, who is one of the Square moderators, said “I understand the urgency of this matter and your frustration regarding not receiving timely responses from our Support Team thus far. I will escalate this issue internally to ensure it receives the prompt attention it deserves.”. Trust me, she did that and is just waiting for a response.  However, she asked you to send her a private message.  To do that, click on your screen name in the top right corner and select Messages.

Start a new message by clicking on the blue box with the pencil.  Her “send to” name is _violet.  You might have to type all of that the backspace to show her link.  Send a message there and she will respond.