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Block: Inflated user metrics and “frictionless” fraud facilitation

hindenburgresearch.com

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Re: Block: Inflated user metrics and “frictionless” fraud facilitation

#281

Post by RockyMcNuts »

EVa5I7bHFq9mnYK wrote: post #145

>> Cash App’s frictionless approach lets users join with just an email or a phone number. I don't know, I've been asked to send a selfie and a driver license, and activate the physical card they sent in the mail to my registered address - all the usual KYC procedures. They also did send a 1099 form for all Bitcoins I deposited to the app in 2022.

so, you can't get a physical credit card in the mail in the name of Donald Trump, like the picture in the report?

seems pretty bad if true. gotta wonder if Block was really that lax that anyone could do that, or if the authors found an exploit and gamed the system, and if the vulnerabilities have been fixed.

Re: Block: Inflated user metrics and “frictionless” fraud facilitation

#282

Post by eternalban »

mcdonje wrote: post #21
agentgumshoe wrote: post #4

This is bad for Block. I hope. It's incredible that since 2008 it actually seemed immensely easier to skirt regulations and laws (under the banner of 'innovation'), and not just in finance. Just about all of silicon valley seems to have run the longest and broadest grift we've seen. This year's gonna get real interesting.

More like 1998. But yeah, the model of tech-washing has increased in popularity since then. The example that most readily comes to mind is Uber, and they started in 2009.

I used to hate on Uber on principle (and what I read). But Uber definitely added something positive to society. A city with Uber experiences a reduction in DWI incidents. Transportation on demand is not some crypto fluffware. Let's remember that the very premise of tech utopia was [addressing] regulatory capture by ineffective parties. That also is a legitimate concern.

So the question (if we suspend judgement of these initial tech waves) is: if ignoring and bypassing regulations to introduce new approaches is also broken, what is the solution to the original problem? As an illustration, examine a hypothetical of when or if civic centers would themselves modernize transporation for hire regulations, mechanisms, etc.

Re: Block: Inflated user metrics and “frictionless” fraud facilitation

#283

Post by rchaud »

revelio wrote: post #257
lofatdairy wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I found this to be one of the weaker points in the research, as far as making a short case goes. If anything, the fact that it's so popular in hip hop would expose it to a much larger legitimate audience. Regardless, it's also just somewhat non-unique, Zelle is also name dropped in 22gz's Suburban, and a few Von and Durk songs, limiting ourselves only to drill rappers. Probably Venmo as well though I can't say I've h…

Funny, it seemed like one of the strongest points. 1. It's visual and memorable. 2. It leaves you wondering what the hell Dorsey and "Cash App Studios" were thinking when they promoted these guys. 3. It strongly bolsters their case that Block were asleep at the wheel with respect to criminal activity, probably intentionally. We all know that Silicon Valley firms are obsessed with not being racist but didn't anyone th…

I'm not sure they really bent over backwards to not be racist considering that of all the possible representations of their customers' use cases, they went with "use our app to move your drug money"

Re: Block: Inflated user metrics and “frictionless” fraud facilitation

#284

Post by satoshiwasme »

I'm a former block employee who has seen first hand the documents that proves these allegations. Marketing intentionally preyed on poor communities to promote cash app. They would refer to cash app as "payments for poor people". What's worse is Jack uses a large part of the companies budget to fund his personal Bitcoin projects.

If you voiced any concerned you were silenced and eventually terminated.

Re: Block: Inflated user metrics and “frictionless” fraud facilitation

#285

Post by hoofhearted »

knodi123 wrote: post #271
yeahsure22 wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You do live in that world. You can trust random strangers but not ones the look like “youths” in Baltimore. Use your brain to asses the risk level.

Can you give me more detail about what physical characteristics define a "dangerous youth" in Baltimore?

Ones who are under 16, but are smart enough to intentionally extort drivers on the main thoroughfare to T. Rowe Price and Legg Mason’s headquarters lol

They are all actually pretty intelligent individually, and they come up with some pretty clever things to get into. A bunch of them come from rough homes, and they are usually taking the cash home to support their family, even at 15. They are supposed to be in school, but they skip to go squeege because they don’t feel like the things in school are relating to their struggle. They have tried the regular 16 year old jobs, but that doesn’t pay enough to cover their struggling mom and siblings. Instead of losing out to low wages and income taxes, they find it much easier to pick up a squeege from a gas station, and start making some instant cash in tips.

These kids are super smart lol. Pressure breeds diamonds. They know how to hack the Lyme scooters and ride around and commit crimes. They know how to scam you out of your cashapp balance. And they really know how to download and build burner handgun kits from Defense Distributed :(

Re: Block: Inflated user metrics and “frictionless” fraud facilitation

#286

Post by msm_ »

MonkeyMalarky wrote: post #246
hotpotamus wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, it's also an anti-pattern with wallets if you hand them your wallet full of cash and tell them to take a tip. A PIN is not a bad idea though. I think this might be an actual generational difference; I feel weird letting someone else use my phone or using someone else's phone now. I can remember a time when phones were much more communal - the family shared a phone, and public phones existed, and I wonder if o…

I don't know if it's a scam but there's been guys hanging around the local greyhound station with stories like "my phone battery died while I was on the bus, can I use your phone to call my buddy to pick me up". And I don't want to be a jerk but something about it felt a bit too pushy, and if I give then my phone I was probably never going to see it or them again. Now just giving it unlocked to a squeegee kid? Hell n…

I thought so too, but then I actually once gave my phone to someone in need, and they... just called someone and returned my phone back to me. I was actually expecting a trick. I guess we need to be more trusting sometimes, and help each other more often (I mean, losing a phone happens to people and can be a real problem)

Re: Block: Inflated user metrics and “frictionless” fraud facilitation

#287

Post by stouset »

mst wrote: post #122
overthrow wrote: post #24

I didn't know Square had changed their name to Block. Looks like it happened in December 2021: https://investors.block.xyz/news/news-details/2021/Square-In... That said this really seems overblown. The report seems to mostly just talk about Cash App. Square Payments, Weebly and TIDAL are not even mentioned. Afterpay is mentioned but that was a 2022 acquisition so the problems likely predate Block's involvement. It fe…

The vast share price growth since the rebrand and Cash App launch seems like a legitimate target if the app is in fact bullshit. They're not saying the company is worthless, they're saying it's overvalued currently because most of its current share price is a result specifically of Cash App. Their proposed actual valuation is quite a long way from zero and entirely consistent with them thinking the other products are…

> The vast share price growth since the rebrand

Uh, the price at rebrand was 194.50. The price at close yesterday was 77.46. That's a 60% loss, not "vast share price growth".

Re: Block: Inflated user metrics and “frictionless” fraud facilitation

#288

Post by paxys »

heisenbit wrote: post #254
paxys wrote: post #232

Skimmed through the report, and all of the allegations will at most amount to a token fine. There's nothing fundamentally wrong with the company. Every bank and money transfer app out there facilitates criminals in some way. Every tech (especially fintech) company is overvalued. The market is overreacting because of Hindenburg’s past successes, but the stock price has already recovered by 10+ points since this mornin…

When IBM was hit by anti trust and entered a consent degree or when Microsoft got hit for its Explorer bundling practices it spelled the end of growth. This is not only a question of fraud and size of fines. The real question is are the current multiples in its stock valuation justified?

Do you think the government is going to overhaul the banking industry and the KYC system based on this report?

Re: Block: Inflated user metrics and “frictionless” fraud facilitation

#289

Post by ElfinTrousers »

astura wrote: post #201
twosdayz wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't this also the premise of the Office Space scheme?

... which explicitly references Superman III as the source.

Which is one reason I suspect it might not be true: not because Block is necessarily honest, but because everyone and their dog has heard of this scam and it's the first thing people would think of.

Re: Block: Inflated user metrics and “frictionless” fraud facilitation

#290

Post by [deleted] »

user3939382 wrote: post #79

FYI if anyone is interested I can prove it -- Cash App is engaged in a massive stock trading fraud. I noticed one day that my books were off (down) by 1 penny. When I dug into it, I figured out that Cash App is providing their customers with conflicting reports for their stock sales. In the app, the sales report rounds pennies up, in the actual sale, whose records are only available through more complex data export p…

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