VersusGame is an app that rewards users for correctly predicting who will win a matchup. The match-ups or “games” may reflect competitions that exist outside of Versus Game (e.g. which song will be #1 next week?) or they may be match-ups created by users. In addition to winning money for correctly predicting the outcome of a match-up, users can win money for creating popular match-ups. (Versus Game FAQ.)

In the last month, many users of VersusGame have reported money missing from their balances— in the form of fluctuating and dropping balances (and here), missing reward money, and temporarily halted payouts. In addition to money missing in their balances, users are experiencing  unexpected limits and difficulties when trying to withdraw funds from their Versus Game balances. Other users report having their accounts blocked for no clear reason.

Whether the inaccurate balances reflect theft by VersusGame or technical glitches is unclear. In response to a customer’s email, customer support stated that bugs in recent security and system updates were likely the cause of the issue and assured users that the money would be reinstated after updates were released. There does not seem to be a reliable path to get money reinstated; some customers were successful closing and reopening the app while others report no predictability to restoring their balances. Many app reviews on the App Store call VersusGame a “scam.”

VersusGame users suffer obvious harm for money that is missing or temporarily unavailable as well as for misstatements about how much money is available to them. Banks, which are regulated much more closely than apps like Versus Game, often show incorrect account balances on mobile devices; these banks may be liable when customers rely on the incorrect balances and the discrepancies are due to negligence. In a related class action lawsuit against PayPal, PayPal allegedly froze accounts unlawfully and without prior warning and subsequently seized account funds. In a related class action lawsuit against DraftKings, a user sued DraftKings for a display error, showing incorrect game odds, on which he relied when making his bet.

VersusGame’s liability here will depend on their disclosures with regard to and reasons for limiting withdrawals and blocking accounts, whether balances are merely showing fluctuations or the funds are actually missing, and, in the case of fluctuations based on technical glitches, the availability of funds to customers through those fluctuations.