Is this a Venmo scam?

How to spot the Venmo scam

• A stranger sends money and asks you to return it. The original payment can be reversed later as stolen or disputed, leaving your refund gone and the original clawed back too.
• There is a deadline to verify your account or a hold will be placed. Urgency exists to stop you opening the app and seeing nothing wrong.
• The link is not venmo.com. Lookalikes like venmo-verify.account-secure.com bury the real domain at the end where nobody reads.
• You are pushed off Venmo to text, email or a 'support agent'. Moving the conversation somewhere unlogged is the point.
• You are asked for a verification code. That code is the login, and the FTC's guidance is that it exists for you alone.
• The sender is unknown and the payment note is chatty or confusing. Confusion is doing work here; it slows down the obvious question of who this person is.

What to do now

1. Do not refund a stranger. Let Venmo handle any genuine reversal, so a fraudulent payment is unwound by the people who can see both sides.
2. Check the app itself, opened from your home screen. A real hold or alert is visible there.
3. Never share a verification code, whoever is asking and whatever they say it is for.
4. Report the sender and the message in the app, and forward a scam text to 7726 (SPAM).
5. If you entered credentials on a linked page, change your password from another device and review your linked bank and card.
6. If money has gone, contact Venmo through the app immediately and tell your bank the same day.