If you go out to dinner with friends, there is an app that I’m sure you’ve already heard of – it’s called Venmo. Venmo is owned by PayPal and it allows you to send and receive money to others from your smartphone. So for instance, when you’re splitting a dinner bill with others at the table, you can Venmo whoever is paying the check your portion of the bill. It’s a great way to send money back and forth and as you probably guessed, whenever money is involved, scammers are there too. With this latest Venmo scam, here’s how it works:
You may receive a text message claiming to be from Venmo indicating that you’re about to be charged a service fee unless you log into your Venmo account and decline it. At the end of the message is a website url and if you click on it, you’ll be redirected to a very persuasive (but very phony) website that looks just like the real Venmo, same colors and everything else. If you enter your Venmo credentials into that phony website, the scammer will have your username and password that they can use to go into your real Venmo account and steal your money.
The Take Away
So, here’s the thing, Venmo and pretty much every other company on earth will not send you any sort of text message like this. If you do get one, it’s most definitely a scam. If you have received one (for Venmo or not) and want to be extra safe, feel free to contact to the company by phone and speak to a representative. They’ll probably tell you the same thing – that it’s a scam and not to fall for it!
Stay safe out there.
-A