Pennsylvania part of $45 million Cash App settlement over fraud, safety claims
WGL News today starts now. Good Thursday morning, everyone. It is July 9th. I’m Regina. I’m Caitlin Smith, and with more on that flood watch, we go to Christine. Yes, today we do have *** flood watch in effect for the Susquehanna Valley that was newly issued overnight. You see, the counties in green under that watch from noon today until midnight, so it’s the majority of the afternoon, evening where we could see some scattered storms that may produce damaging wind gusts as well as heavy rain. Right now we do have *** few showers. out there, some rolled right through York over Lancaster County now and *** couple in Mifflin, Juniata, Perry County, the western part of your area. We’ve been seeing those this morning. Temperature check mid-70s. It’s mid-70s in Harrisburg. That is very warm for this time of the year, and the dew points are back up. So that’s why we can squeeze out some heavy rain today because the atmosphere is just so primed with *** lot of moisture. 12 hour forecast today. We’re calling for those scattered storms, hit or miss variety from. The afternoon all the way through this evening you can see the impacts for the flood watch as well, and temperatures should get into the mid 80s today, so warm, humid with *** chance for on again, off again showers and storms, especially after lunchtime. So if you do see any this morning, they shouldn’t slow down your morning commute. There could be *** few around, but the majority of the day, uh, the afternoon and evening I should say, will feature that chance of storms. All right, how is the morning commute right now? Right now we’re looking good at 5:01. No issues that I’m seeing. Good news is that the majority of the road closures, the major ones that we were seeing, uh, have been cleared, so you’re good to go there. And taking *** peek outside, hello to you in Harrisburg. This is Dauphin County, uh, South Bridge I-83 looking quite busy on this Thursday morning traveling out to their destination. All of you, and if you are driving out of Harrisburg to Camphill, 5 minute drive there to Carlisle is *** 21 minute commute and 14 to Hershey. We’ll have another update in traffic in about 5 minutes. This has been *** Lancaster Toyota traffic report. County issued *** disaster emergency declaration following that severe weather over the weekend. The goal here is to help people and businesses recover as quickly as possible, and this also helps with coordination during the cleanup. The director of emergency management gives him the authority to provide equipment to municipalities. If, if they run into *** jam, if they, if they have *** need for some equipment or other items, it gives him the authority to just go ahead and do that to help those, those municipalities. Now, as of now, we should note that the state has not made *** disaster declaration. In Lower Allen Township, Cumberland County, trees damaged several homes. Kathy Eberly says two trees fell on her home. On Saturday, the damage cracked rafters in the roof, then pushed out *** bedroom wall and impacted the ceiling on the first floor. Eberly says the insurance company is coming to look at her house this morning on Grinnell Drive. Two homes were hit by the same tree. It put *** hole in the side of *** home and damaged the roofs of both homes. *** few years ago back in Harrisburg there was *** micro burst that blew through and took about 4 city blocks, but this is pretty unusual to have this much damage. Strength in the Lord. He gets you through it and you know I look back on this someday and think wow, that was something. And neighbors say they were told power would be back on by today, though many had power restored yesterday afternoon. Well, utility crews have been working to restore power and are already, as Regina just mentioned, there to thousands of customers across the Susquehanna Valley, but there are still hundreds without power this morning. PPL says more than 100 customers in Lancaster and Cumberland counties still do not have. Now the rest of the counties across the valley have fewer than 100 customers impacted by those outages right now according to MetEd and PPL and *** lot of the outages, as we mentioned in Lancaster County, specifically in Mannheim Township, and that’s where we find uh News Aid’s Cameron Loy and Cameron, you’re at the center of all of those power outages. How is it looking right now? What do you see? Yes, Caitlin and Regina, right now we’re actually set up along Littitz Pike right at the corner of Littitz Pike and Roseville Road. That’s where we’re seeing sort of the biggest density of those outages, but it’s also where we were seeing work happening not just 10 minutes ago right across the street from where we’re standing right now. We saw PPL crews out early this morning making sure that the cables just across the street over there were repaired and ready to go to get power back to the folks around here. Now I want to show you some video of what we saw just minutes. Before those crews took off, we saw 2 PPL bucket trucks. We saw *** number of Mannheim Township safety crews out here and dozens of workers working to make sure that power can be restored to the people who have been without it for *** number of days at this point. We’ve been keeping an eye, as you mentioned, on the PPL and the MetEd outage maps, and both of them have seen *** significant decrease even just this morning. That number being brought down from, as you mentioned, the early 100s, and it just continues to go down as these crews continue to make their way through the township and of course the county, making sure that everyone is able to get their power back following these storms. There’s obviously even some more work that needs to go into this, including clearing those roads. *** number of roadways have opened up, so *** lot more work to continue today. I’ll send it back to you, Cameron. Thank you for that report. Places that was *** concern for many people was FedEx, and they say their plans are now in place for customers to receive packages after one of its facilities in Dauphin County was damaged during the storm. Now we’ll tell you what steps the company says to take and get *** closer look at the damage in our next half hour. And also this is *** time to remind you to download the WGAL app that way you can get the updated information that we have and the forecast anytime, anywhere. And if your power does go out, you can still watch our newscast because we do live stream them. Thank you Regina. It’s 5:06. Let’s give you *** look through our Lancaster sky cam on this Thursday morning and more storms in the forecast, which can be *** scary thought for people who experienced the worst of it this weekend. But you’ve got some better news for them this time around, Christine. It’s not going to be as strong. I don’t think the storms will be as widespread, certainly not as damaging, but we do have the potential for some heavy rain because we’ve had heavy rain so far this week. So it’s not going to take much more rain to cause some problems in spots. You could see rainfall. Of 1 inch per hour if you get under one of those heavier storms, 1 to 2 inches per hour. So that’s why we do have that flood watch in effect from noon until midnight today. As far as our rain chances go, we’re going to see the rain chances around this morning. Few showers, but *** better chance for those scattered showers and storms, the hit or miss variety this afternoon through this evening. So it’s not *** guarantee that you get some rain today, but the storms will be in our area. You can see the highest chances though this afternoon through early evening as far as our. Rain goes this morning. We have some light showers moving through Lancaster County. We’ve had some light showers through western portions of Juniata and Perry County, and they are moving east. Temperature check, plenty of 70s on the map. Boy, it’s warm and it’s soupy. The dew points have gone up since yesterday, so that’s why we have that moisture to squeeze out of the atmosphere this afternoon. *** lot of it. Here’s the weather planner for you for this morning. *** couple of showers will be around. Lots of clouds, muggy this afternoon. We get to 86 with some scattered storms, warm and humid, and then this evening, the storms still. Winding down, uh, but, uh, we should be seeing an end to them around 89 o’clock with heavy rain possible in any storm today. Back to you. Thanks, Christine. *** veterans group in Stilton, Dauphin County is meeting today after the state Supreme Court’s ruling that skill games need to be regulated under the Gaming Control Act, and lawmakers were given until October 13th to legalize, regulate, and tax them. New state’s Gabrielle Thomas is joining us live in Steelton with now *** group’s message to lawmakers after this ruling. Good morning, Gabrielle. Good morning Regina and Kaitlin. Well, members of American Legion Post 733 says getting rid of skilled games means taking away funds from communities that depend on them. Now they say revenue from skill games helps keep American Legion, VFW posts, volunteer fire companies, and small businesses open. The group is backing bills in both the House and the Senate. Which would regulate skill games, charge *** $500 monthly fee, and they say generate an estimated $300 million in state revenue during the first year. They say the bill will provide stability for community organizations while allowing them to continue to serve. We spoke with an American Legion member who says the funds that come into the post from SEA Games goes right back into the community. Homeless veterans, uh, give back programs, they will be tremendously affected by that because we will not have the finances to give them the quality things that we do. We’re not here for our self glory. There’s *** lot of people that depend on American Legion and VFWs and and volunteer volunteer fire departments and the equipment, jaws for life. *** lot of that, that these guys have these things and, and if they’re gone, then what happens? Are we going to call the casino and say can you help us out? Now veterans hope the conversation tonight helps them find *** resolution to keeping their post doors open if things don’t go their way come October. That meeting will be held here at American Legion Post 420 here in Stilton. Reporting live here in Stilton, I’m Gabrielle Thomas, WJL News 8. All right, Gabrielle, thank you. The Department of Justice warning election officials in every state, including Pennsylvania, that they could be prosecuted if non-citizens are registered or able to vote. The memo also encouraged election officials to contact the DOJ to go over what steps their state should take to maintain clean voter. By required by law, former federal judge and Dickinson College president John Jones says the memo misinterprets federal law and that Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt and other election officials already take significant steps to prevent people who are not legal US citizens from voting. This is an ongoing saga of *** hammer looking for *** nail to hit. You know, there is no empirical data that non-citizens are voting in any great numbers anywhere in the United States. Pennsylvania says it is in compliance with federal and state election law and will continue its work to make sure elections stay free, fair, and secure. Happening today, advocates are calling on both Pennsylvania US senators to protect immigrants following the Supreme Court ruling to revoke temporary protected status. About 1 million people now face deportation. Today that rally will be held in Harrisburg’s Strawberry Square. Groups from Harrisburg and New York are set to lead the rally. It starts at 5:30 this evening. It is 5:11 and the autopsy is set for tomorrow after *** man was found dead with *** stab wound in Columbia, Lancaster County. We did bring this story to you as breaking news yesterday. The Lancaster County coroner says the death is considered suspicious and is being treated as *** homicide investigation. The district attorney’s office says Anthony Stoy Velasquez of Marietta was found lying on the ground at the intersection of Linden and 3rd Streets. The DA says he was stabbed in the chest. It’s frightening. We want to be safe and I told you I’m new to the area, so that kind of concerns me. There’s no word on any suspects at this time. Stoy Velasquez was arrested in October and pled guilty to *** domestic dispute in Marietta. Also in Columbia borough, we now know *** female was shot there on July 4th. Police say just before 3:30 that morning they were called to the intersection of South 4th Street and Avenue I, where the caller said she was shot. They say she told them *** man named Skyler Barr shot at her as she ran from him. Officers say they did find bullet casings at the intersection there at South 4th and Cherry Streets. They also say that 1 bullet hit *** home and that 3 more hit multiple vehicles. They say Barr was not even supposed to have *** gun because of prior convictions. He was arrested Tuesday morning and now faces *** number of charges including attempted homicides. Police are looking for *** man they say assaulted another man with *** machete. Police say 34-year-old Christopher Taylor assaulted the man last Thursday around 8:00 p.m. off South Cameron Street. The victim was not seriously hurt. Taylor is charged with attempted homicide and aggravated assault. We have an update now to *** story that we brought to you as breaking news yesterday morning. The York County coroner’s office. says it does plan to release more information today following that deadly crash in Hanover. Hanover Borough Police say it happened around 5:15 yesterday morning at Carlisle Street and Eisenhower Drive. Police say *** 20-year-old motorcyclist from Hanover hit *** trailer being pulled by *** pickup truck. Investigators so far have not released the victim’s name.
Pennsylvania part of $45 million Cash App settlement over fraud, safety claims
Updated: 8:47 AM EDT Jul 9, 2026
Pennsylvania and other states reached a $45 million settlement with Block, Inc., the owner of the widely used peer-to-peer payment app Cash App, according to Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday.Video above: Top stories, weather forecast from WGAL News 8.According to the attorney general, the settlement resolves allegations that Block:Misled consumers about the safety of Cash App.Failed to protect users from fraud on the platform.Did not provide the fraud protection and dispute-resolution services it promised and was legally required to provide.Told users their money was safe, implying Cash App offered protections similar to traditional banks.Knew fraud on the platform was rising sharply but continued aggressively marketing its services instead of warning users or strengthening protections.“CashApp knew peer-to-peer payment apps were prime targets for fraudsters, and instead of taking extra steps to safeguard their platform, they misled and deceived consumers about protections being offered,” Sunday said. “The changes required under this settlement will strengthen consumer protections and improve the ability of users to report and resolve fraud.”Pennsylvania will receive $1,137,695.72 for future public protection and educational purposes.”For years, Block actively promoted direct deposits of paychecks and government benefits into Cash App, particularly targeting unbanked and underbanked consumers – people who would often rely on Cash App as their primary financial account. According to the states, Block grew its user base without making sure it could support those users when problems arose,” a statement from the attorney general’s office said.The AG’s office said among the shortcomings identified on Cash App were:Block’s minimal identity verification made it easy for fraudsters to create accounts.For years, Cash App lacked phone support, leaving users vulnerable to scammers posing as customer service.Block continued its Cash App Fridays promotion even though fraudsters used it to trick users into giving up login information.According to the allegations, weak customer service and poor fraud response left users locked out of accounts, unable to access funds, or unable to recover stolen money.Moving forward, the AG’s Office said Block has agreed to implement and maintain responsible practices to address these issues, including:Maintain customer support to handle fraud complaints, account lockouts, and related issues.Provide live support 24/7, including phone and chat access to human representatives.Stop making false or misleading claims about Cash App’s safety and fraud protections.End marketing practices that contribute to fraud.Educate consumers about common scams.Investigate fraud claims and reimburse users for unauthorized transactions as required by law.”The multistate settlement also reaffirms Block’s commitment to distribute between $75 million and $120 million to compensate consumers nationwide as part of a settlement with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau,” the attorney general’s office said in a statement.You can find additional information about the settlement with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau here.
HARRISBURG, Pa. —
Pennsylvania and other states reached a $45 million settlement with Block, Inc., the owner of the widely used peer-to-peer payment app Cash App, according to Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday.
Video above: Top stories, weather forecast from WGAL News 8.
According to the attorney general, the settlement resolves allegations that Block:
Misled consumers about the safety of Cash App.Failed to protect users from fraud on the platform.Did not provide the fraud protection and dispute-resolution services it promised and was legally required to provide.Told users their money was safe, implying Cash App offered protections similar to traditional banks.Knew fraud on the platform was rising sharply but continued aggressively marketing its services instead of warning users or strengthening protections.
“CashApp knew peer-to-peer payment apps were prime targets for fraudsters, and instead of taking extra steps to safeguard their platform, they misled and deceived consumers about protections being offered,” Sunday said. “The changes required under this settlement will strengthen consumer protections and improve the ability of users to report and resolve fraud.”
Pennsylvania will receive $1,137,695.72 for future public protection and educational purposes.
“For years, Block actively promoted direct deposits of paychecks and government benefits into Cash App, particularly targeting unbanked and underbanked consumers – people who would often rely on Cash App as their primary financial account. According to the states, Block grew its user base without making sure it could support those users when problems arose,” a statement from the attorney general’s office said.
The AG’s office said among the shortcomings identified on Cash App were:
Block’s minimal identity verification made it easy for fraudsters to create accounts.For years, Cash App lacked phone support, leaving users vulnerable to scammers posing as customer service.Block continued its Cash App Fridays promotion even though fraudsters used it to trick users into giving up login information.According to the allegations, weak customer service and poor fraud response left users locked out of accounts, unable to access funds, or unable to recover stolen money.
Moving forward, the AG’s Office said Block has agreed to implement and maintain responsible practices to address these issues, including:
Maintain customer support to handle fraud complaints, account lockouts, and related issues.Provide live support 24/7, including phone and chat access to human representatives.Stop making false or misleading claims about Cash App’s safety and fraud protections.End marketing practices that contribute to fraud.Educate consumers about common scams.Investigate fraud claims and reimburse users for unauthorized transactions as required by law.
“The multistate settlement also reaffirms Block’s commitment to distribute between $75 million and $120 million to compensate consumers nationwide as part of a settlement with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau,” the attorney general’s office said in a statement.