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I recently saw a news report stating that there is a new Venmo scam making the rounds via social media. Currently, it seems to be targeting Instagram users.
As we know social media users are not strangers to being targets for scams. The most common scams are that you’ve won a prize from a giveaway or brand.
I happened to see this news report earlier this week explaining the new Venmo scam. You can visit the link for full info.
Online Scammers Are Using Social Media and Venmo to Target Victims
The scam itself
The scam is targeting social media users especially Instagram users right now. They send you a DM saying you’ve won a prize. The news report states that it was $750 USD. But the amount may vary.
A friend of mine on Instagram had a DM saying she had won a $100 and that she needed to click a provided link.
Does this read/sound familiar to anyone else. This is a common scam as I’ve said. But the worst thing is that it’s phishing for info.
What you don’t do
Don’t click on any links or provide any information unless you entered or participated in any giveaways or other promotions that Venmo had.
Who this is affecting
This seems to be affecting all Instagram Users. Even if you aren’t a Venmo user you may have this DM.
Alert Venmo and Instagram
You can alert Venmo via their Instagram account.
https://www.instagram.com/venmo/
You can also contact Venmo via their app or contact form.
https://help.venmo.com/hc/en-us/requests/new?ticket_form_id=624807
If you want to report the profile that contacts you to Instagram it’s easy you can mark the message as spam
Here’s another info post from Venmo about some scams you may encounter as well.
https://help.venmo.com/hc/en-us/articles/360048404533-Common-Scams-on-Venmo
I thought this was worth sharing. I’m not a Venmo user but I know many people use the service. Remember if it sounds too good to be true it probably is.
