How You Can Get Scammed If You Have PayPal, Apple Pay or Venmo Apps on Your Phone

Beware Of People Asking To Borrow Your Phone

Do you have any of the PayPal, Venmo, Cash App, or Apple Pay apps installed on your smartphone? The digital wallet fraud has been increasing gradually especially this month, from tricks involving money sent accidentally to many other Venmo scams. Today we have a new scheme that we expose for our readers: The Borrowed Phone Scam. Beware of people seeming to need an urgent call and asking for your phone. What is the worst thing that could happen if you do that? Let’s take a look.

Watch the video below to see the Stranger Borrowing Phone Scam exposed:

 

 

The scam is pulled merely by people asking for your help. “My phone just died, and I need to make a phone call home to my daughter. She is sick. Could I please use your phone for a minute?”, the scammer might say. As soon as they step away from you and pretend to type the phone number, they look to see if you have any of the apps mentioned above installed on your phone. If you do, they pretend to make the call, but right away they say the person is not responding.

“Can I please text her? I am very concerned”, the scammer asks. As you give the approval and maybe some space for privacy, the criminal starts operating on the scam. He opens any of the payment apps, let’s say Venmo, and transfers money to his account. All he needs is 30 seconds. Just like a text message!

After that, he deletes the app altogether so you can’t get any notifications.

How is the whole thing possible? For example, Venmo’s default security setting does not require a PIN. This loop allows the user to transfer money immediately. How about the other ones? How can you be safe? Here is how to protect yourself.

Stranger Asking For Phone Scam: How To Avoid

For all the payment apps that you have installed on your smartphone, you should use multi-factor authentication, such as a thumbprint or a PIN code. Not to mention, get off of Bluetooth. Criminals can hack into your phone via the Bluetooth portal and have access to any application that you have.

Another good idea is to link your accounts to a credit card instead of a debit card, for extra protection. Avoid the auto-login and lock down the apps. Better safe than sorry.

If you have Venmo, open the app, and click the top-left icon. Once the drop-down menu opens, click on ‘Settings’ then scroll down and turn on the ‘Touch ID and PIN.’ Type a four-digit PIN, which you will have to use next time you want to transfer money.

Before we go into how to report this scam, beware of other fraudulent practices when it comes to the apps mentioned above, such as the Venmo Deposit Text scam or fake Venmo transactions.

Another notorious scheme is the Venmo Survey Scam.

How To Report Any Scam

Make your family and friends aware of the Stranger Borrowing Your Phone Scam by sharing it on social media using the buttons provided. You can also officially report the scammers to the Federal Trade Commission using the link below:

Report To The FTC Here

 

How To Protect Yourself More:

If you want to be the first to find out the most notorious scams every week, feel free to subscribe to the Scam Detector newsletter here. You’ll receive periodical emails and we promise not to spam. Last but not least, use the Comments section below to expose other scammers.


Verify a website below

Are you just about to make a purchase online? See if the website is legit with our validator:

vldtr®

loding img
Searching: Domain age, Alexa rank, HTTPS valid, Blacklisting, SSL certificates, Source code, Location, IP address, WOT Trustworthiness, Spam reports, Advanced technology, Privacy Policy, Terms of Use, Contact options
identity theft protection

TOP 4 MUST-WATCH FRAUD PREVENTION VIDEOS

1. Top 5 Amazon Scams in 2024
 
2. Top 5 PayPal Scams in 2024
 
3. How To Spot a Scam Email in 2024
selma hrynchuk
Selma HrynchukSelma is a fraud prevention specialist renowned for her expertise in private eye investigations and a remarkable partnership with law enforcement agencies. Beyond her investigative triumphs, her public speaking engagements and written works have empowered countless individuals to protect themselves and stay ahead of deceptive schemes. Selma's legacy shines as a tenacious agent of change, unyielding in her commitment to battling fraud and ensuring a safer world for all.

4 thoughts on “How You Can Get Scammed If You Have PayPal, Apple Pay or Venmo Apps on Your Phone”

  1. I found this site because I was ‘selected’ to write a review for my Amazon purchase experiences for an i-pad 2 ‘reward.’ I was asked my age, sex, how my purchasing experiences have been and one other insipid question. After I was done it said I had 3 tries out of nine boxes and if I chose the i-pad for the shipping cost of $1-$5 it would be sent in a week. It was my second pick.
    Then it had a pop up that said I would soon be notified on how to send shipping because they said they had my contact info and web address. This was followed by an ‘ok’ button. After pushing ‘ok’ the next screen said there was a problem and the site: http://ipad2.boomboomrewards.comts… was not responding. I pushed back and it started from the beginning. After choosing it the second time again and getting the no response page, I screenshot it to send to boomboomrewards.
    I then went to find their site and was bombarded with scam alerts, one of which led me to your site.
    Apparently it is a phishing scam. I hope I don’t get a virus or something and am glad I never sent payment info.
    Thanks for your service, I watched your videos, and I am looking forward to your newsletters.
    Elisa

  2. Be very careful with your phone if you have crypto, and trade using your phone. There was a Sony app called bump that Google bought an never released it, but it is available for free online. Bump allows the user to have total access to your phone via wifi and the permissions your sys apps have. They only need install a simple cmd to clone your phones backup all from in a few seconds like when your pumping gas, or buying a expreso or in traffic bump er to bump er. Same with your bank card chip, with that they need to get very close for just a few seconds,. Bump is very real zero contact theft app

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *