Greg's Corner

New scam targets Venmo users

By Greg Collier

If you use the mobile payment app Venmo, there are already a ton of scams you have to look out for. However, most of them are about whom the user is sending money to. Remember, Venmo is only supposed to be used between friends and family. Most legitimate businesses and organizations do not request payment through Venmo.

But now there’s a new Venmo scam that’s determined to empty your account. The Ohio Division of Financial Institutions has issued a warning about the latest scam.

The scam starts when the victim receives a text message that appears to have come from Venmo. The text asks the victim if their Venmo account was used in another part of the country. The message also contains a link to click on if you didn’t make that transaction.

If the victim clicks on the link, they’re taken to a website that looks like it’s Venmo, but it’s actually a fake website designed to look like it. The fake website asks for the user’s log in credentials, and if they’re entered, the scammers can easily hijack the Venmo account and drain all the funds from it.

So, how do the scammers know their victim has a Venmo account? In most instances, they don’t know. Scammers will send out these texts randomly while hoping someone will take the bait.

There are a couple of ways you can protect yourself from this scam. The first is to never click on any links that appear in text messages from people you don’t know personally. Instead, log in to your Venmo account and review it for any potentially fraudulent charges. The other way is to enable two-factor authentication on your account. If your device has a fingerprint reader, it’s recommended to use that as your 2FA method as the fingerprint will be tied to your device, and not something that can be easily duplicated.

And if Venmo is being used in a scam like this, it’s only a matter of time before it comes to Zelle, PayPal, and Cash App.