Michigan AG Dana Nessel warns consumers of Venmo scam

Michigan Attorney Dana Nessel is warning consumers of a nationwide Venmo scam.

Scammers “accidentally” send money to consumers, then ask for the money back. Nessel advises consumers to never send the money back.

Contact Venmo about the error. Scammers often use stolen funds that Venmo and other services will eventually flag as fraudulent.

A common version involves a scammer using a stolen credit card to deposit funds.

The real card holder may get the payment reversed, but the victim who returns the funds may experience a debit from their own account.

Other scams include:

• Scammers impersonating a consumer’s bank to alert them about “suspicious activity” on their account and direct them to send money to themselves or “the bank’s address” to reverse a transaction or to verify the account is not frozen.
• Fraudsters reaching out to consumers claiming to represent a fraud department or merchant and ask them to confirm information such as their bank account username and password, credit card or debit card data, or Social Security numbers.
• Scammers posing as a legitimate business requesting a P2P payment for a product or service.
• Scammers connecting a stolen credit card to a payment app then look for people selling big ticket items (such as a computer, tablet, or car) online. The scammers will offer to pay for the product using the app. Once the seller accepts the payment and sends the item, they’ll soon discover that the payment sent is not to a legitimate buyer, and the money collected is removed from their account. The seller is then without either the item or the money.
• Fraudsters sending spoofed emails warning that an account is about to be suspended and that the account holder must enter their password on a spoofed webpage.

Nessel also reminds consumers to never share their personal information, treat Venmo and other peer-to-peer services as cash, and don’t pay for products until they’re received.

Victims of Venmo and other peer-to-peer services scams can file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission.