Venmo has over 90 million active users in the US, and that scale makes it one of the most targeted payment platforms in the country. FTC data shows consumers lost an estimated $391 million to payment app fraud including Venmo in 2024. Phishing emails, fake texts, impersonation calls, and fraudulent payment requests are all in active use. This guide covers the scams most likely to reach you, how to identify them, and what to do if you have already been caught out.
Why Venmo scams are particularly damaging
Most payment methods have some form of buyer protection or dispute mechanism. Venmo is different. Transfers on Venmo are final by design. There is no buyer protection on standard person-to-person payments, and once money is sent, recovery through the platform is extremely limited.
Scammers exploit this by manufacturing urgency or trust, getting you to send money before you have time to verify anything. By the time you realise what happened, the funds are already gone and the account has been abandoned. This is why recognising the setup before you act is the only reliable defence.
Common Venmo scams to know
Phishing emails and texts
The most widespread variant. A fake communication arrives claiming your Venmo account has been suspended, that there is a pending payment waiting for you, or that unusual activity has been detected. The message contains a link to a convincing fake Venmo login page. Any credentials you enter go directly to a scammer.
A related variant targets accounts protected by two-factor authentication. The scammer attempts to log in to your account, triggering a real verification code to be sent to your phone. They then call you posing as Venmo support, claiming to be verifying suspicious activity on your account, and ask you to read out the code that was just sent to you. If you do, they complete the login and own your account. Venmo will never ask for your verification code over the phone under any circumstances.
Legitimate Venmo authentication texts contain no links. If a text claiming to be from Venmo contains a link, do not click it.
Accidental transfer and reversal trap
A stranger sends an unexpected payment to your Venmo account, typically a round number, and then contacts you claiming it was a mistake and asking you to send it back. The original payment was made using a stolen card or a hacked account. When the fraud is reported, Venmo reverses the payment. You have already sent your own real money and are left out of pocket.
The right response if this happens: do not refund the sender directly. Contact Venmo support via the app and let them handle the reversal from their end. They can reverse a fraudulent incoming payment without you losing anything.
Fake customer support
Scammers place fake Venmo support phone numbers in Google search results and paid ads. Victims searching for help with their Venmo account call the number and reach a scammer posing as a support agent, who eventually asks them to install remote access software to "diagnose" the problem. With that access, the scammer can reach banking apps and drain accounts directly. One documented case involved a loss of $19,000 through a fake helpline found via Google search.
The rule: never search for Venmo support through Google or any search engine. Always use the help function inside the Venmo app itself.
Friend and account impersonation
A scammer compromises a friend's social media account, or creates a lookalike Venmo profile with the same name and photo, and then requests money from people who know that person, typically citing an emergency. In one documented case a victim lost $2,500 after her son's social media account was hacked and the impersonator requested money urgently.
If you receive an unexpected money request from a friend, verify it through a separate channel (call or text them directly at their known number) before sending anything.
Marketplace and seller fraud
Venmo is widely used on peer-to-peer marketplaces like Facebook Marketplace, OfferUp, and Craigslist. Two variants are common:
Buyer fraud: A buyer requests you ship the item first, claiming their Venmo payment is "pending" or sends a screenshot of a fake payment. The payment never arrives or was made with a stolen card that later reverses.
Seller fraud: A seller accepts your Venmo payment and never delivers the goods.
For any marketplace transaction, verify that a payment has fully cleared and appears in your Venmo balance before releasing goods. Mark all sales transactions as purchases rather than personal payments to activate Venmo's limited buyer protection.
Job offer and money mule scam
A fake employer sends you a fraudulent payment, typically via a cheque or a transfer to your account, and then instructs you to forward a portion of it via Venmo as part of your job duties. The original payment reverses when the fraud is discovered. You have already sent your real money and may be liable for participating in money laundering without knowing it. In one documented case a victim forwarded approximately $8,000 over two weeks before realising what was happening.
Legitimate employers never ask employees to process payments through their personal accounts.
Fake prizes and giveaways
A message, often on social media or via email, claims you have won a prize and asks for your Venmo username, a small processing payment, or personal information to release the winnings. Sharing your Venmo username can enable account takeover attempts. Any upfront payment is simply theft. Venmo does not run giveaways.
How to spot a fake Venmo email or text
Check how it addresses you. Venmo uses your full registered name. An email or text that opens with "Dear user," "Dear customer," or any generic greeting was not sent by Venmo.
Look at the sender address in full. Legitimate Venmo emails come from @venmo.com. Scammers spoof the display name to look like Venmo while the actual sending address is a free email service or a lookalike domain. Look at the full address, not just the name shown.
Venmo authentication texts contain no links. If a text claiming to be a Venmo verification code also contains a link, it is not from Venmo.
Hover over links before clicking. The URL that appears when you hover reveals the actual destination. If it does not go to venmo.com, do not click. You can also paste the link into ScamInfo's ScamCheck Validator to check it without visiting the site.
Be suspicious of urgency. Phrases like "your account will be suspended," "action required within 24 hours," or "payment will be reversed" are pressure tactics. Legitimate payment platforms do not create artificial deadlines in routine communications.
Do not open unexpected attachments. Venmo does not send invoices or documents as email attachments.
What Venmo will never do
Ask for your verification code or one-time password over the phone or by email
Ask for your password
Request remote access to your device
Ask you to install any third-party app to resolve an issue
Contact you unsolicited to "verify" a payment
Send authentication texts that contain links
What to do if you receive a suspicious Venmo email
Do not click any links and do not call any number in the email. Forward the suspicious email to phishing@venmo.com and mark it as spam. If you want to check your actual account status, open the Venmo app directly or go to venmo.com by typing the address into your browser. If there is no corresponding notification in your account, the email is fraudulent.
If the email contained a link you are unsure about, you can check it through ScamInfo's ScamCheck Validator before visiting it.
What to do if you have been scammed
Acting quickly gives you the best chance of limiting further damage and recovering funds.
Stop sending money immediately, regardless of what the scammer claims will happen if you do not.
Report to Venmo straight away. In the app, go to Me, then Settings, then Get Help, then Chat With Us. Report the transaction and explain what happened. Venmo can sometimes reverse fraudulent incoming payments on the backend even when a direct refund would leave you out of pocket.
Contact your bank if a linked bank account was accessed or if you used a debit card connected to your Venmo account.
Change your Venmo password from a separate, clean device if you entered your credentials on a suspicious link. Also change the password on any other account where you use the same password. Enable two-factor authentication on Venmo if you have not already.
Freeze your credit at all three bureaus (Experian, Equifax, TransUnion) if personal identifying information was exposed.
File a police report if you lost money. Many banks and creditors require a police report before they will process a fraud claim.
How to report a Venmo scam
Reporting takes under 15 minutes and directly feeds the databases used by law enforcement to track fraud networks.
Venmo: Open the app, go to Me, then Settings, then Get Help, then Chat With Us; or forward phishing emails to phishing@venmo.com
FTC: ReportFraud.ftc.gov
FBI IC3: ic3.gov (for financial loss or remote access incidents)
Anti-Phishing Working Group: Forward the email to reportphishing@apwg.org
ScamInfo: Report through ScamInfo's reporting dashboard
How to protect your Venmo account going forward
Enable a PIN and biometric lock on the app so your phone being stolen does not hand over your account
Turn on multi-factor authentication, which blocks most account takeover attempts
Use a strong, unique password not used on any other platform
Link a credit card rather than a bank account where possible; credit cards offer chargeback rights that debit cards and direct bank transfers do not
Keep your transaction history private in Venmo's settings, which prevents scammers from using your payment activity for social engineering
Always mark sales transactions as purchases to activate Venmo's limited buyer protection
Get Venmo support only via the in-app help function, never through a phone number found in a search engine