Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is reissuing her consumer alert about scammers targeting Venmo users, “accidentally” sending money to consumers on the peer-to-peer (P2P) service and asking for the money back.
The AG advises consumers to never send back the money. They should contact the P2P service. Scammers often use stolen funds Venmo and other P2P services will eventually flag as fraudulent. A common version happens when a scammer uses a stolen credit card number to deposit funds into a consumer’s P2P account. Eventually, the real holder of the credit card may succeed in getting that payment reversed as a fraudulent charge; and the innocent consumer who returns the supposedly accidental deposit to the fraudster will experience a debit from the credit card company, and any transferred funds will come from the consumer’s P2P account balance. P2P scams can take many other forms, including:
• Scammers impersonate a consumer’s bank to alert them about “suspicious activity” on their account and direct them to send money to themselves or “the bank’s address” to reverse a transaction or to verify the account is not frozen.
• Fraudsters claim to represent a fraud department or merchant and ask consumers to confirm information such as bank account username and password, credit card or debit card data, or Social Security numbers.
• Scammers pose as a legitimate business requesting a P2P payment for a product or service.
• Scammers connect a stolen credit card to a payment app then look for people selling big ticket items online. Scammers will offer to pay for the product using the app. Once the seller accepts payment and sends the item, they’ll discover the payment sent is not to a legitimate buyer, and the money collected is removed from their account. The seller is then without either the item or the money.
• Fraudsters send spoofed emails warning an account is about to be suspended and the account holder must enter their password on a spoofed webpage.
The attorney general reminds consumers to never share their personal information, treat P2P payments like cash, and not pay for products until they receive them. Victims of a scam involving P2P payment apps can file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission. To file a complaint or get additional information, contact: Consumer Protection Team, P.O. Box 30213, Lansing, MI 48909, 517-335-7599; Toll-free: 877-765-8388; or visit https://secure.ag.state.mi.us/complaints/consumer.aspx.
The AG advises consumers to never send back the money. They should contact the P2P service. Scammers often use stolen funds Venmo and other P2P services will eventually flag as fraudulent. A common version happens when a scammer uses a stolen credit card number to deposit funds into a consumer’s P2P account. Eventually, the real holder of the credit card may succeed in getting that payment reversed as a fraudulent charge; and the innocent consumer who returns the supposedly accidental deposit to the fraudster will experience a debit from the credit card company, and any transferred funds will come from the consumer’s P2P account balance. P2P scams can take many other forms, including:
• Scammers impersonate a consumer’s bank to alert them about “suspicious activity” on their account and direct them to send money to themselves or “the bank’s address” to reverse a transaction or to verify the account is not frozen.
• Fraudsters claim to represent a fraud department or merchant and ask consumers to confirm information such as bank account username and password, credit card or debit card data, or Social Security numbers.
• Scammers pose as a legitimate business requesting a P2P payment for a product or service.
• Scammers connect a stolen credit card to a payment app then look for people selling big ticket items online. Scammers will offer to pay for the product using the app. Once the seller accepts payment and sends the item, they’ll discover the payment sent is not to a legitimate buyer, and the money collected is removed from their account. The seller is then without either the item or the money.
• Fraudsters send spoofed emails warning an account is about to be suspended and the account holder must enter their password on a spoofed webpage.
The attorney general reminds consumers to never share their personal information, treat P2P payments like cash, and not pay for products until they receive them. Victims of a scam involving P2P payment apps can file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission. To file a complaint or get additional information, contact: Consumer Protection Team, P.O. Box 30213, Lansing, MI 48909, 517-335-7599; Toll-free: 877-765-8388; or visit https://secure.ag.state.mi.us/complaints/consumer.aspx.
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