Venmo Scams in 2024: What You Need to Know and Do

No matter which payment app you prefer, the threat of scams and other fraudulent activities is ever-present. Venmo, in particular, often finds itself in the crosshairs of scammers. As one of the most popular payment apps, it’s promoted as a service for conveniently transferring money between people who trust each other. However, it’s not always easy to verify the true identity of the recipient, and in such cases you can easily fall victim to a scam if you’re not vigilant.

In this article, you will learn about typical fraud schemes and offer some tips to secure your account.

What Are Some Common Types of Venmo Scams?

How can you get scammed on Venmo? Here are the most common ways that criminals may try to get money from  

Requests from fake friends 

Requests from a friend can be easily faked if a scammer somehow obtained their private information and profile photo. In this scam, you will be asked to urgently send money for an emergency, so you may fall for it if you act quickly and don’t question anything.

One of the main tips on how to avoid this scam is not to trust such messages implicitly, but first contact the person or someone close to them directly to verify information. Also, you should make sure your transactions are private so your own data won’t be used like this. 

Accidental transfer fraud 

So, we’ve talked about scams, but can Venmo be hacked as well? Sadly, yes, and this is how the most common scheme works. If someone sends you money from a previously hacked account, claims it was a mistake, and asks you to return the funds to a different account, you might comply. However, the initial transaction could later be marked as fraudulent and canceled because the account was compromised, but the hacker obviously won’t be there to compensate anyone.

To avoid this scam, you should ignore any messages like this from people you don’t know. To help fight online scams, you should also report them.

Giveaway or prize scams

Another Venmo fraud you may encounter is emails or texts informing you that you have won money or a prize. Once you follow the link in the message, your device will be infected with malware, and your information, including passwords, may be stolen.

To avoid this fraud, you should simply not click on any links from senders you don’t trust.  

Romance-related scams 

In this scam, a criminal establishes a semblance of romantic connection online with another person. A scammer may use love-bombing and similar tactics to make a person trust them. Then, they pretend to have a problem and need to borrow some money. Once the money is sent, the fraudster disappears.

Scammers have relied on people’s gullibility since the dawn of time, abusing the better side of our natures. Avoid sending money to strangers, especially under suspiciously rapid circumstances.

Customer support scam

Here, a scammer pretends to be a customer support representative contacting you. They will tell you that there is a problem with your account, and they need your personal information to fix it. This scam is especially popular among scammers who target elderly people, as they are more likely to be ignorant about common customer support procedures.

If this situation happens to you, hang up or ignore the message, then contact customer support through official channels. Always enable two-factor authentication, and remember that legitimate customer support will never request this sort of information.

Simple Tips to Protect Your Venmo Account 

A lot of people wonder, “Is Venmo safe to use with strangers?” Generally, it is not advisable, as the risks are significant. However, if you must deal with a significant transaction volume for one reason or another, we advise you to take the following steps:

• Make all your transactions private. In the privacy settings on Venmo, there are three options — Public, Friends, and Private. The latter is the best option to maximize your security.
• Make sure you use MFA or 2FA. Using multi-factor authentication is another way to boost your security. This way, you will be notified about logins from new devices and can take action if suspecting a fraud. 

If you have encountered fraudulent activity, you should not hesitate to contact Venmo’s security support. Take a screenshot if you received a fake text and then send it to support@venmo.com. If you are dealing with one of Venmo’s email scams, you can send a screenshot to phishing@venmo.com. Also, you can contact support directly at (855) 812-4430. 

Final Thought

In the world of online payments, scams happen all the time. To ensure your online security, it is best to always double-check any transactions and messages you get before taking any further steps. If you get any questions or notice something suspicious, you should always inform customer support via email or phone number.

There are plenty of resources online with detailed information on Venmo scams and how to use Venmo safely, so it’s better to study them and be prepared. Using this app to send and receive money only when dealing with people you trust is your best strategy to avoid criminals. 

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