Woman faces prison over Cash App account she never opened
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The gist
Pennsylvania resident Amanda Smith faces three charges and up to six years over a Cash App account she says she never created.
Her case turns on whether identity-theft victims must prove their own innocence.
Background
Amanda Smith is a Pennsylvania resident who says she had never used Cash App, the payment app owned by Block, and describes herself as not tech-savvy. According to reporting, a scammer took over someone else's Facebook account, advertised items on Facebook Marketplace that were not for sale, and directed a buyer to send $1,000 to a Cash App account registered in Smith's name. Investigators obtained account data from Block, including her Social Security number and date of birth, and that information led them to her; she now faces charges including computer fraud, unlawful use of a communication device and theft of property.
How it unfolded
- Apr 2026Officers arrived at Smith's upstate Pennsylvania home with a warrant for her arrest over an alleged crime in Arkansas, a state she says she had never visited.
- Apr 2026Smith was held in the local jail for three nights; bail was initially set at $50,000, and she says authorities told her paying it was pointless because they intended to extradite her to Arkansas.
- Apr 2026After release, Smith and her husband drove to Arkansas for a court appearance, where she was fingerprinted and photographed and another $20,000 bail was imposed before she could return home.
- Oct 21, 2026A Yahoo/Gadget Review report on the case was published.
- Oct 22, 2026Malwarebytes, TechSpot, Gadget Review, Mallory and daily.dev published reports on the case.
- Oct 22, 2026A 404 Media review of the account records found the listed address and network used did not match Smith's own; the account's phone number is linked to an Amanda Smith in older breach data and to a Venmo account registered under a different name.
Who’s saying what
- Defense
- Smith says she is innocent, has rejected a plea deal, and argues she should not have to prove her innocence.
- Public
- Commenters on daily.dev were outraged at the prosecution and at Cash App's apparent lack of identity verification, framing the case as misaligned incentives in which identity-theft victims bear the burden of proving their innocence.
Still unverified
The source of Smith's Social Security number and date of birth has not been established; who controlled the recipient accounts that received the redistributed money remains unestablished; Gadget Review said it could not independently verify court records or prosecutor statements.