Someone Sent Money From My Venmo Without My Permission. I Got It Back in 3 Days.

I woke up to a notification: Venmo payment of $200 sent to someone I did not know. My phone was in my pocket. I had not authorized this. My Venmo account had been compromised.

I immediately contacted Venmo support through their app. Their security team locked my account and started an investigation. They reviewed the login history, which showed the payment came from a device I did not recognize.

Three days later, Venmo credited $200 back to my account. They also instructed me to change my password and enable two-factor authentication.

Venmo's purchase protection program covers unauthorized transactions. But it does not cover authorized payments, even if you were scammed. The distinction between unauthorized and scam is important.

Enable PIN protection on your Venmo app. This adds a second layer of security. Also turn on notifications for every payment, no matter how small. You want to know immediately if something is wrong.