Venmo Inc.

Review: In Oct 2015 I opened an account with Venmo to make money transfers to my mother [redacted]. On Oct [redacted] I made a transfer from my Venmo account in the amount of $200.00 to my mother [redacted]. The $200.00 was transferred from my account and placed into my mothers Venmo account in the amount of $200.00. My mother then attempted to transfer the $200.00 from her Venmo account to her regular bank account. The $200.00 never transferred to her regular bank account, however Venmo claims the transfer was successful. I have made four attempts to contact Venmo to look into this and requested the money transfer tracking numbers. The only response I get is that this issue need further investigating and someone from a different team will look into the matter and contact me. No one has contacted me further.Desired Settlement: Since the money was taken from my account I would like it tracked down and returned to me so I can pay my mother the $200.00 or I would like my mothers account credited the $200.00. What happened to the $200.00.

Business

Response:

[redacted]

[redacted] Venmo, LLC (“Venmo”) is in receipt of [redacted] ([redacted]) complaint received via the Revdex.com dated December **, 2015 regarding Venmo. Please find our response to his concerns below as well as background on Venmo. Venmo is a domestic person-to-person payments service that allows individual Venmo users to send or request payment from each other using our mobile application or through our website. Payments may be funded with a credit or debit card, a bank account or a Venmo balance. Venmo prefunds payments using its own funds in order to make funds available to Venmo recipients faster than otherwise would be possible. However, in the event that the funds are not received by Venmo from the payee’s financial institution (for example, due to a chargeback or insufficient fund return), Venmo will not allow the recipient to receive the payment (since the payment failed). [redacted] claims that his payment recipient did not receive the funds [redacted] attempted to transfer on October **, 2015. Venmo records show that multiple security flags were raised when a review of the payment was conducted. Based on this review, on December **, 2015, Venmo made the decision to reverse these funds back [redacted]s original payment instrument. Based on this information, Venmo believes that this complaint has been successfully resolved. Regards, Venmo Compliance [redacted]

Review: I lost $2600 and was scammed with venmo.com as many people have been. [redacted]

I used the app in the past. When I first signed up for the app it gave me no indication or big print telling me that it was not used for goods/services. Also it did not tell me up front that it could take away the money I had in my account with no reason. They also offer no service to protect you from lose of the money in your venmo account. Venmo does nothing to tell you any of this till after it happens. They are very sneaky in the way the service is set up just allowing you to use there service without outlining all the consequences up front. They also don't allow users to properly identify themselves. Also there is no grey area for what is being paid for. Users can type in anything they want as a payment for something so it could be used for illegal drug deals or illegal services.

This service is currently being used widely in New York for people to pay for rent or service. I know many of my friends that use this that's how I was roped in to using this service. I heard it was owned by [redacted] so I was confident in the way the system was set up. But the service in many ways just wants to draw in unsuspecting costumers and not help them out in any way. People are losing money daily from this service I feel and I want it to stop.Desired Settlement: $2600 refund for the money I lost from the service

Business

Response:

[redacted]

[redacted] I am writing on behalf of [redacted]. in response to [redacted] complaint regarding [redacted] Venmo product. Mr. Gottwald claims that he was the victim of a scam and lost $2,600.00. Response On September **, 2014, [redacted] created a Venmo account (“Account”), at which time he agreed to the Venmo user agreement (“User Agreement”). On January **, 2016 [redacted] received a $600.00 payment from his sender (“Sender A”). On that same day, [redacted] received a second payment for $2,000.00 from another sender (“Sender B”). In order to prevent fraud and help ensure the safety of the Venmo system, Venmo utilizes automated tools to scan transactions for potential fraudulent or high risk activity. The January **, 2016 payments from Sender A and Sender B were identified by these tools as potentially high risk. On January **, 2016, the payments received were returned to Sender A and Sender B. Venmo is a domestic person-to-person payments service that allows individual Venmo users to send or request payment from each other using mobile or website applications. Payments may be funded with a credit or debit card, a bank account or a Venmo balance. Venmo makes funds available instantly to Venmo recipients. Received funds can be withdrawn to a US bank account or sent to other Venmo users. Venmo does not permit merchants to make sales via Venmo, nor do we offer buyer or seller protection. Personal accounts may not be used to receive business, commercial or merchant transactions. Business usage of Venmo requires an application and explicit authorization, for which [redacted] did not have. For more information, please see section B(1)(b) of the Venmo User Agreement. Based on our review, we determined that [redacted] had engaged in one or more restricted activities pursuant to section D12 of the User Agreement, including conducting non-approved business activity on Venmo, sending or receiving what we reasonably believe to be potentially fraudulent funds with an account associated that has engaged in restricted activities, and participating in a payment that may result in reversals. On January **, 2016, we reversed the $2,000.00 payment back to Sender B’s Account; and we reversed the $600.00 payment back to Sender A’s Account. Both reversals are permitted under Section B1(b) of the User Agreement. Explanation of Closure Venmo’s actions in this matter were taken in good faith and within the terms set forth in the User Agreement as a reasonable measure to maintain the security of the Venmo system. We had a reasonable basis for denying the payments and returning the funds to the Senders. As the funds have been returned to the Senders, we consider this matter resolved. We offer our sincerest apologies for any difficulties [redacted] may have encountered while using our services. Please feel free to contact me should you have any questions or concerns, or if I can be of further assistance to you. Very sincerely yours, Kellie L[redacted] Executive Escalations [redacted]. Tell us why here...

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID# [redacted], and have determined that my complaint has NOT been resolved because:

I did not restricted activities. I like other venmo users in New York used the service to pay for rent. Venmo is scamming us in that they do not let us know they will not help us if anything happens. They are also allowing illegal activity to happen in that people can say they are paying for anything. In my case WHY DIDN'T THE COMPANY CHECK THE ACCOUNTS FIRST. I can't stress that enough there was not enough time for the accounts that I was getting the money from to be checked and KNOWN that it had the money and assests to pay me. When I use [redacted], [redacted] checks that the account that is paying me has the money to give me first before every depositing the money in another person's account. I lost 2600 because you can't check if people have the money first.

In order for the Revdex.com to appropriately process your response, you MUST answer the question above.

Sincerely,

Business

Response:

[redacted]

* I am writing on behalf of [redacted]. in response to your complaint regarding [redacted] Venmo product. Your complaint states that you were the victim of a scam and lost $2,600.00. Response On September **, **14, you created a Venmo account (“Account”), at which time you agreed to the Venmo user agreement (“User Agreement”). On January **, 2016, you received a $600.00 payment from your sender (“Sender A”). On that same day, your received a second payment for $2,000.00 from another sender (“Sender B”). Venmo does not offer any buyer or seller protection programs. The enclosed article is available by clicking the Security link at the bottom of the Venmo website and states, Avoid payments to people you don’t know, especially if it involves a sale for goods or services (like event tickets and [redacted] items). These payments are potentially high risk, and you could lose your money without getting what you paid for. We don’t permit merchants to make sales via Venmo, nor do we offer buyer or seller protection. In order to prevent fraud and help ensure the safety of the Venmo system, Venmo utilizes automated tools to scan transactions for potential fraudulent or high risk activity. The January **, 2016 payments from Sender A and Sender B were identified by these tools as potentially high risk. On January **, 2016, the payments received were returned to Sender A and Sender B. In addition, the User Agreement states that Venmo “does not have any control over any products or services that are paid for with our services and Company cannot ensure that any party you are dealing with will actually complete the transaction or is authorized to do so.” User Agreement at Section D.(**). On January **, 2016, we reversed the $2,000.00 payment back to Sender B’s Account; and we reversed the $600.00 payment back to Sender A’s Account. Both reversals are permitted under Section B.1(b) of the User Agreement. Explanation of Closure Venmo does not offer a seller protection program that will reimburse you for the funds received and reversed. Venmo acted in good faith and within the terms of our User Agreement and Security disclosures. We had a reasonable basis for denying the payments and returning the funds to the Senders. As the funds have been returned to the Senders, we consider this matter resolved. We offer our sincerest apologies for any difficulties you may have encountered while using our services. Please feel free to contact [redacted] Executive Escalations Office should you have any questions or concerns, or if I can be of further assistance to you. Very sincerely yours, Kellie L[redacted] Executive Escalations [redacted].

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID# [redacted], and have determined that my complaint has NOT been resolved because:

that still does not help the fact that I lost 2600. Also there is no point in your service if people can make fake accounts and you can't check if it that person doesn't have the money. Your service is built on people looking to scam others and you have no protection or help from it. Why would people want to use this service when they can use [redacted] were there is protection. Your service defrauded me and will defraud others in the future. I want my 2600. YOU SHOULD HAVE CHECKED THOSE ACCOUNTS FOR MONEY. If there is an account that says it has money in it and is able to pay other people that's your fault you should check that out

In order for the Revdex.com to appropriately process your response, you MUST answer the question above.

Sincerely,