Is Venmo Safe?

[BMW F22]

So recently I got notification that because Venmo is a money transferring app, they needed me to verify my identity by providing bday, last 4 of social, name and address. I held back on it and transferred the balance to my bank.

Tomorrow is the last day to verify otherwise I can’t use it anymore (which I think is fine with me). I’m hesitant because so many hacks have been happening. Today I read about Coinbase users getting hacked and losing money from their accounts. Coinbase basically said nothing we can do, sorry.

Wanted to get people’s thoughts on here. Any cause for concern with Venmo? They are owned by PayPal.

[UncleWede]

Just send me your full SSN, I'll make sure Venmo allows your account to continue.

EVERYBODY is getting hacked these days. I think my information has been "shared" in 3 different accounts to this point. Today my FICO did drop 11 points, but I was told it's still OK.

P.S. 3576, right?

[shoei]

Not much concern with Venmo. Been using them for a decade+ now. Shit, maybe even longer.

PayPal's more secure and has more features but if you're just sending / receiving money amongst friends and or family? You're fine.

[DETRoadster]

I use it from time to time. Seems fine. it's all about convenience. Are you willing to accept some added risk in order to make life easier?

Honestly, there's risk all around. Do you bank online? Risky. Do you pay bills online? Risky. Do you use a debit card? Risky. Apply Pay? Risky. Hell, you could get mugged pulling cash out of the ATM. Risky.

If you are super worried about it, open up an account that you isolate and use only for Venmo. keep a few hundred bucks in there so exposure is low. That's what we do. We have our "burner" checking account that we use our debit cards and Venmo with. We do a weekly automated transfer into that account from a more secure account that has no cards or online activity accociated with it.

[Bonk!]

Last 4 of your SSN is no big deal. Last year someone filed an unemployment claim in my name, which means he had my full SSN. Called banks, brokers, etc. and they all said it's no longer a big deal. They all work off user names/passwords/PIN now. All I did was put an alert with the credit agencies preventing anything new from being opened.

[BMW F22]

Thanks everyone. Seems okay then. I understand there’s a bit of risk but I’m a bit paranoid these days about those kind of things. Lots of EDD fraud and my mom recently had ID theft which was a PITA to resolve. We’re still dealing with some leftover shit. We all have our credit frozen since then. I have my bank info to transfer venmo balance to but not to transfer $ from bank to venmo.

[WShade]

Originally Posted by BMW F22

Thanks everyone. Seems okay then. I understand there’s a bit of risk but I’m a bit paranoid these days about those kind of things. Lots of EDD fraud and my mom recently had ID theft which was a PITA to resolve. We’re still dealing with some leftover shit. We all have our credit frozen since then. I have my bank info to transfer venmo balance to but not to transfer $ from bank to venmo.

You are golden. I have been using it since the inception with no issues.

[upstatedoc]

What a coowinkydink. My cleaning lady just asked me yesterday if I'd be willing to pay her by Venmo and I said I was wary of using that app as my debit cards been hacked so many times

[six75LT]

venmo is owned by paypal, youre fine

[shoei]

Originally Posted by upstatedoc

What a coowinkydink. My cleaning lady just asked me yesterday if I'd be willing to pay her by Venmo and I said I was wary of using that app as my debit cards been hacked so many times

Yeah Venmo is just fine. Legit been using it for over a decade. I got sucked in during inception. I lived in SF at the time. Start up tech.

[BMW F22]

Related note: which is safer - trusted device or 2 factors authentication with SMS? Tmobile got hacked recently and people said that hackers can do SIM swap so text authentication isn’t as safe. Not really sure how that works so curious to learn from those in cyber security here.

[Nativetexan]

Originally Posted by DETRoadster

I use it from time to time. Seems fine. it's all about convenience. Are you willing to accept some added risk in order to make life easier?

Honestly, there's risk all around. Do you bank online? Risky. Do you pay bills online? Risky. Do you use a debit card? Risky. Apply Pay? Risky. Hell, you could get mugged pulling cash out of the ATM. Risky.

If you are super worried about it, open up an account that you isolate and use only for Venmo. keep a few hundred bucks in there so exposure is low. That's what we do. We have our "burner" checking account that we use our debit cards and Venmo with. We do a weekly automated transfer into that account from a more secure account that has no cards or online activity accociated with it.

This is what we do too.

One checking with only debit cards.

A second checking for bill pay, writing checks & Venmo/PayPal linked. NO debit cards on this account.

[IllSic_Design]

Originally Posted by BMW F22

Related note: which is safer - trusted device or 2 factors authentication with SMS? Tmobile got hacked recently and people said that hackers can do SIM swap so text authentication isn’t as safe. Not really sure how that works so curious to learn from those in cyber security here.

Use a SIM lock and also use 2 factor authentication with Google Authenticator or similar app like AUTHY

[iminhell1]

If you want an extra layer of security with anything like paypal, venmo etc. Use a prepaid credit card. Not one of those buy anywhere ones. The mastercard or visa ones that you have to apply for. Load up some money and that's the only money you'll ever be able to loose should something get hacked.

[JJ 911SC]

Originally Posted by BMW F22

... they needed me to verify my identity by providing bday, last 4 of social, name and address.

Got similar request from banks I don't even deal with... Weekly scam.

[Maxmil982]

Venmo is actually safer than Zelle

[Finn Germai-Yaz]

I've been using Venmo for about 5 years. Its such a stupid app but it's the preferred way my roommate pays rent.