The South Dakota Better Business Bureau is sounding the alert regarding a possible Venmo scam that is circulating throughout the Sioux Empire right now.

The BBB is warning people to be leery should you receive an out-of-the-blue Venmo money request from a friend anytime soon.

I do not have the Venmo app. However, my wife does, and she loves it. She uses it all the time to send and receive money. She's big into buying things on market places on social media, so it comes in real handy.

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The problem these days, there's seemingly a new and different scam lurking around practically every corner.

Dakota News Now is reporting on a new scam that impersonates real users of the Venmo app. Scammers have discovered a way to use information found in Venmo’s public feed to potentially scam individuals out of money by stealing user names and profile pictures to construct fake Venmo accounts.

According to the report, scammers are targeting people whom the person had previously sent or received money from using Venmo. The BBB says these fake requests will appear to come from contacts claiming to have lost their wallet. The bogus money request will typically ask for cash to buy things like groceries or gasoline.

The BBB says that is just an example of one of many possible cons scammers are trying to pull at this time using what appears to be legitimate Venmo money requests.

Be advised...

Should you get burned by paying a scammer using a digital wallet, there's a chance you may not get reimbursed.

Dakota News Now reports the policies of digital wallet vendors can differ from those of credit card companies. Often times they will not cover the cost of fraud. Meaning you're left holding the bag should you get scammed.

How can you protect yourself against digital wallet scams?

The BBB recommends you ALWAYS do the following:

  • Double-check with your friends before sending cash.
  • Keep your transactions private.
  • Use money transfer only with friends.
  • Enable additional security settings.
  • And probably one of the smartest ways, always link your money transfer app to a credit card for added protection.

Source: Dakota News Now

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