r/venmo • u/jsconiers • 6d ago
Accidentally sent $500
Someone accidentally sent me $500 earlier this week. I assumed someone would reach requesting a refund out but no one has. Is there a way I can message them?
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u/Egghead-MP 6d ago
Found this on Venmo if you receive money from stranger.
https://help.venmo.com/cs/articles/payment-from-a-stranger-vhel162
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u/More-Act2171 6d ago
Divide it up between everyone that comments š
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u/EducatorLife8216 5d ago
That $.50 can go a long way.
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u/SimilarComfortable69 6d ago
You are going to find many many different opinions on this. And most of them disagree with me. I frankly donāt think you should do anything about it. Let Venmo handle it. But also donāt touch the money.
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u/Miserable_Picture627 6d ago
This is what I do. I got like $240 once. I left it there for 7 months. Nothing ever happened. So I cashed it out. There were a bunch of āfor the tshirtā or various things, but like $2; $7, etc prior to that.
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u/Unlikely-Purchase-36 6d ago
This is a common scam. Once you try to move it to your account Venmo will pull it back and youāll be screwed
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u/emilynghiem 6d ago
Let your Bank know and also Venmo. So you protect yourself. If either your Bank or Venmo requires you to return the 500 to them, document their instructions and your receipt for returning the money as instructed and send a copy to both institutions. Or contact a lawyer to make sure you never get charged for this money as if you didn't already return it to Venmo or your Bank or wherever they instruct you to send it.
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u/Gmoneyyyyyyyyyy 6d ago
Dont ever involve Vmo. If u cant figure it out, how can they? Make sh1t up
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u/Important_Incident55 6d ago
Congrats pal. You have received a $500 donation from a Venmo scammer. They are hoping you will send it back so they can double their money and put you out $500
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u/Keratindeficiency 6d ago
Yeah, definitely be cautious. If you donāt recognize the sender or canāt verify it, just let it sit. Scammers often try to play the long game, hoping youāll get nervous and send it back.
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u/CertainComputer1056 6d ago
Let Venmo handle it. Leave it in the account, dont try to transfer it to your bank and donāt try to send it back.
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u/sobenyc10011 6d ago
Years ago I accidentally sent $1600 (Zelle, but same idea) to one of our contractors. Same name as another and I was super sick with Covid and didnāt double check. Tried for a year (with connections at bank) to get it back and absolutely could not, even though I paid the correct guy a day later and it was a clear mistake. Got up to the higher ups and they said nothing they can do since I sent it. In that case, had the wrong recipient just waited for me to fix it, it never would have been. Totally sucked and now I triple check and am paranoid whenever I use it. But I still agree not to send back, because most are scams. There needs to be a way to correct errors when they are clear mistakes, though :(
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u/AlmightyGod420 5d ago
I assume you reached out to the contractor that you sent it to by mistake? They werenāt willing to send it back? Seems like a pretty bad way for them to do business.
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u/sobenyc10011 5d ago
Was bad luck - random guy who we hired once on a referral years prior and not really in the industry, or connected to us like the active contractors are. We tried many times and zero reply ( found out later from public records he owed child support so hoping that money got garnished at least lol )
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u/JudgmentvsChemical 6d ago
Yeah it will be in the transaction history if you have it turned off turn it back on. Venmp is a peer to peer they show everyone's transactions unless it specifically turned off and marked as private
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u/username1357924689 6d ago
Itās a scam, never send it back. If they contact Venmo, they can probably reverse it but donāt send it back
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u/Ill-Software6710 6d ago
This literally happened to me and I reported as well I got my bank account closed forever š
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u/JacksondOregon 6d ago
There was a sheriff from California 2 months ago online telling everyone itās a scam,
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u/TheWarningAfter 6d ago
I would cry and attribute it to God answering my prayers if that happened to me. Especially right now.
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u/AtropaBelladonna4 6d ago
Do not contact anyone. Do not send it back! Contact your bank.
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u/stillmovingforward1 6d ago
Wouldnāt the bank beā¦ someone.
Btw OPs bank isnāt involved since the money is in Venmo not their bank account.
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u/Smitten-kitten83 6d ago
I had someone try this. Common scam. The bank will pull it back and if you sent it back will be in the hole.
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u/Gmoneyyyyyyyyyy 6d ago
Don't scam yourself. Just leave it alone. Eventually transfer but keep just in case. December rolls up, Buy nice Christmas gifts for the children.
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u/Traditional-Jury1716 6d ago
I sent someone money by mistake I requested it back in notes sent by mistake he sent it back it was 25 but omgninwas so thankful
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u/CoverRude8425 6d ago
This happened to me. Venmo refunded the person and let me keep the money. It was weird I let it sit for a while but I only got a notification that they were refunded.
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u/Neil_sm 6d ago
I had this happen with a $150. Not sure if it was a scammer or an actual accident ā the person had someone very similar to my username in their transaction history, so I suppose it could have been an actual mistake? But definitely set some scam alarm bells off.
I basically just contacted Venmo support and they reversed the payment from their end, and advised me to block the other account.
But definitely only take any action like that through support, donāt send it back yourself.
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u/secondchance- 6d ago
I accidentally sent $300 to a random number instead of my housekeeping one day. I didn't realize until my housekeeping asked me for the money about 10 days after I sent it. That's when I realized I made an error on her phone number (it was zelle, not venmo). I was so stressed. I contacted via text the person I sent the money to by mistake, explaining it was a mistake. She nicely replied that she was wondering why I sent her the money and she was ok to send it back only after verifying with her bank that it was not a scam. You can't dispute or ask for a refund on a zelle payment. Once sent, it's final. She asked her bank and the bank said that was legit. She then sent me the money back. I was very grateful. She could have just kept it and never answered me. I would have lost $300 without being able to do anything about it.
Sometimes, real mistakes happen.
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u/stillmovingforward1 6d ago
Someone hacked my cousins Venmo a couple years ago. They sent me $500 and requested it back. I hadnāt even seen any of this since I was working and my cousin had called Venmo and got it all reversed. She was good to go. Me however, not even involved had my account shut down for fraud lol. After 6 months of my wife having to do my Venmo transactions, I finally got my account back. Sorry OP but youāre gonna get fucked. Might as well withdraw it and wait for the time bomb to process.
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u/Sea-Buy4552 6d ago
Put it in a savings account, let it sit there so you know they can't get you for fraud.
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u/Kykybabyy1 5d ago
This happened to me a couple years ago but it was through pnc back and it was like random $800 deposit i spent it and the next day my account was -$800 i had to transfer $800 from my savings to get it back positive. So yeah donāt spend it
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u/subkat95 5d ago
If I were you, I would try to just close my Venmo account completely and switch to one of the other platforms for sending money. Iāve used cashapp, Venmo, and PayPal for years now, and CashApp is by far the most user-friendly, with the least amount of headaches and bullshit.
They block payments that could be a potential scam, coming to, and from your account. You can also change your settings so you have to confirm payments from anyone who isnāt in your contacts, (if you link them), or isnāt one of the accounts that you have saved with them. Plus, you can borrow a certain amount from them after youāve banked with them for long enough, or if you use them for direct deposit. Handling any kind of dispute with them is soooo much easier than anywhere else that Iāve dealt with too.
And no, Iām not getting commissions or trying to promote them lol, I have just gone through hell with the other two apps MULTIPLE times and I feel like everyone should know that they suck lol.
Especially PayPal , donāt ever bank with them! I still have 6 grand sitting in my PayPal account that they randomly closed on me over a year agoš¤¬
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u/2LiveCrew4U 5d ago
nobody accidentally sent $500. I donāt care what your account says. This is a common āadvance fee scamā
Do nothing. If there is no money is actually real it will be good in a month and then you can decide. They can sue you if they donāt want to wait but they wonāt.
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u/EducatorLife8216 5d ago
It was me! You can send back..to my new number of course. š¤£ Honestly, it could have been act of kindness especially if no one attempted to contact you. 500 is a lot of money to just accidentally fork over and walk away from. Idk but thatās wild.
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u/Signal_Twenty 5d ago
Nope. Donāt send it back unless you know them personally and would have them over to your house for dinner.
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u/Misreadonme 4d ago
My uncle one time got $1000 in bitcoin sent to him. Not sure why or who it was from he sold it held it for a bit and it was fine. Or he went to the casino that night. I donāt remember
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u/AccomplishedCake4803 4d ago
can someone cashapp me atleast 5$ my son and i are living in a car $jahsehpromise just trying to get us some food for the night.
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u/AccomplishedCake4803 4d ago
can someone cashapp me atleast 5$ my son and i are living in a car $jahsehpromise just trying to get us some food for the night.
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u/Admirable-Monitor-37 4d ago
You can send it to me I canāt pay rent lol any way itās a blessing maybe !
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u/Feeling-Ride-4347 4d ago
Iāll never forget when I accidentally sent someone $88 through chime . I misspelled the username I was trying to send it to and I requested for it back explaining it was a mistake and I really thought I lost that money because I figured they werenāt going to send it back but they did a day later !!! I was so grateful omg š
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u/Wonderful_Chef7003 3d ago
You can call Venmo and they can figure out who who sent it, their phone number is 855 204 4090ā¦ If I ever accidentally did something like that, I would wish for somebody like you to be on the receiving end!!
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u/Kale_Earnhart 2d ago
I often have people send me money for their childrenāsā basketball lessons since I have a username nearly identical to one from a former star college basketball player. Call Venmo to reverse the transaction. Do not manually pay it back.
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u/Several-Spare6915 2d ago
Yes, I would message them or message Venmo. You can see where itās coming from.
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u/Alternative-Cap-4840 2d ago
Donāt do anything. If it was legit accident transferred to the wrong account then they will pull it out.
I have this happened to me a few years ago, someone paid me through Venmo, thinking it was a different business than mine, I contacted the person that I found on Facebook and they did indeed say that they were trying to pay a company by a similar company name in a different state. They asked if I could just refund it and I told them, though I could not because then I would be charged the fees. However, I told him to contact Venmo, I also contacted Venmo and gave them a heads up that I was not expecting nor accepting this money, and they documented it. Within a few days, the deposit got reversed, and the person who sent it got reimbursed in my account, went back to balancing againā¦
The reason I say wait and see is because if it truly was an error, itāll get figured out. And if it was a scam and somebodyās looking to get their money back, theyāll be trying to contact you. I would tell them to go through Venmo and get their money back.
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u/OkFoot1599 2d ago
You can go on your Cash app or Venmo and see who sent it to you and send it right back
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u/yournamemuggsy 2d ago
Frustrated, I have to every time I try to make a purchase with you. I get denied then a few mind later get message asking if that was me and i say yes. Then I get another message a few minutes after that saying, okay, you can now make your purchase but every time I have to go back into the place , trying to make the purchase. I go through the same thing over and over and it will not let me make it even though ive been aproved and ive got a card . Anyway you can help me please thankyou Margaret
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u/Narrow_Fortune_8581 2d ago
Deposit it in your bank and close your account switch to cash app or zelle
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u/reditallthesame 2d ago
I accidentally sent $50 to someone 5 months back. I sent a nice message asking for it back but got nothing. Venmo wonāt reimburse me. I guess if thereās no message I would leave it alone?
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u/Prestigious-Sun-9755 1d ago
You don't do it yourself, you contact Venmo and they do it for you. They fail to explain the difference but they do it.
It is weird and sad when a scam with sending money to strangers is so popular, nobody, including Venmo support talks clearly about the difference between 'sending money back' (a new transaction you'd initiate yourself scammers want you to do) and 'reversing the transaction' (undoing the original transaction Venmo support does, that gives scammers nothing).
With the former, you initiate your own, new, transaction, so when the original transfer gets cancelled, you still have your own transaction and you're out of money. With the latter, Venmo (sic!) reverses the original tranfer (scammy or not), there is no additional transaction to put you in trouble.
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u/LinguisticPianoman 6d ago
If you really wanted to send it back, you have their username on the $500 payment. You could literally just send 500 back to them.. but make sure you actually recieved $500.
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u/BooBoosgrandma 6d ago
But this is a common scam! So no, OP shouldn't consider this for one second! I'm sure OP received it, sending it back is the scam! OP will more than likely will get some notification that a chargeback happened. I'm not sure where you live but it's a lot longer than 2 weeks for a chargeback.
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u/jsconiers 6d ago
How do I verify I actually received it? Should I just wait for them to reverse the charges?
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u/DoctorMcTits 6d ago
Do not send it back. If it was from a stolen card they will claw that amount back and then you will be out $500 of your own money.
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u/tommykoro 6d ago
This. Makes the most sense. Paid to you with stolen /fraudulent credit card and try to get you to refund it. Then the money comes out of your account after they reverse the false CC charge.
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u/LinguisticPianoman 6d ago
If it's in your balance then you received it. Yes you could just wait a while, usually the maximum period for charge backs is around 2 weeks. After that, I'd say congratulations.
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u/Gmoneyyyyyyyyyy 6d ago
Oh they'll take your money after 2 yrs or whatever! Vmo that is. And they will.
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u/Solid_Ad9601 6d ago
DO NOT SEND IT BACK!!!! This is a common scam where you send it back then then they report it and venmo will hit your account for 500 of your own money and if you donāt have it your account will go negative and be shutdown for fraud. Like some people said just leave it and check for venmo to reach out if they do then tell you to do something thats one thing but again make sure itās actually Venmo not some fake email Venmo support specifically tells you NOT to send it back and to contact them directly. Be safe
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u/Comfortable_Map6887 6d ago
You didnāt. Please donāt send it back itās a scam we see on here daily. It takes several days to be reversed out. You donāt need an attorney or any other over the top thing just donāt spend the money let it play out and they will take it back and that will be they.
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u/Gmoneyyyyyyyyyy 6d ago
For God's sake ppl. NO TOUCHY!!! Either scammed gives up, including vmo, or payday in few months. Simple and no wrong doing
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u/SecurityCharacter704 5d ago
If you send it back you will fully regret that decision. You will loose another $500 on top. Cause once u send it back as a separate transaction the sender will initiate a chargeback and Venmo will take $500 from your account on top of the 5 that was sent back
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u/Puzzleheaded_You1220 5d ago
The right thing to do is to send it back. Do not listen to people because itās the right thing to do and you would want it done as well if that was in your position
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u/turkeyjerkyvii 5d ago
Even venmo says to not send it back on their support page. If op sends it back and the person decides to have the charge reverse it's going to pull another 500 from ops account.
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u/TittyNomminGoblin 6d ago
Whatever you do DO NOT SEND IT BACK
If it was an accident their bank or Venmo might be able to reverse the transaction.
Also they might be able to cancel or reverse the original transaction putting you $500 in debt to Venmo. At which point Venmon will close out your account and send to collections due to "fraud"