If someone sends you money out of the blue, it’s probably an honest mistake, right? Not necessarily.
If you use Venmo or another digital wallet, such as Zelle or Apple Pay, watch out for this high-tech twist on a classic fake check con.
Here’s how the scam works. You get a message in Venmo. It reads something like: “Oops! Can you send that back?” You check your balance history, and someone you don’t know just sent you several hundred dollars. Must have been a mistake! After all, it’s easy to mistype a username. You might think you are doing the right thing by returning the money, but don’t fall for it!
What’s happening here? Scammers connect stolen credit cards to Venmo and use them to transfer money to unsuspecting users. If you send the money back to the scammer, they will delete the stolen credit card from their account and add their own card in its place. Then, the money you are sending will go on to their personal card. Eventually, the stolen funds will be removed from your account, and you will be out that money.