How to Hide Your Contacts and 6 Other Ways to Stay Safe on Venmo (2024)

Venmo is more than a payment app. It's also a way to snoop on exes, check up on friends, and practice your emoji-decoding skills. Its appeal lies in it being an easy way to settle up with friends, whether it's just for a cab ride on a night out or a weeklong getaway.

The mobile payment app also makes it very easy to publicly share your activity, as Senator J.D. Vance found out this week. The Ohio Republican, and Donald Trump's pick for VP, had his account set to public, allowing anyone to peruse his high-profile GOP connections, Wired reports.

A Republican senator having rich and powerful Republican friends may not be particularly scandalous, but the story highlights how apps like Venmo can become a security risk. Read on for tips on how to stay safe on the platform (whether you're a public figure or not).

1. Hide Your Friends

(Credit: Venmo/PCMag)

Vance's friends list was accessible because Venmo makes it public by default. That's generally not a great thing for security, and you should consider changing it. Open the app and go to Settings > Privacy > Friends List and tap Private. While you're there, toggle the tab next to Appear in Other Users' Friends Lists to off so people can't spot you on other people's friends lists.

2. Keep Payments Private

Venmo transactions are also public by default. Anyone in the public feed can see the payment note, the names of the sender and the recipient, and timestamp of the payment.To change that, go to Settings > Privacy > Private.If you did not have your account set to private before and you want to hide your past transactions, stay on that last screen, tap Past Transactions and select Change All to Private.

3. Add Authentication

(Credit: Venmo/PCMag)

As with any app, Venmo is susceptible to someone getting into your account if they have access to your phone. (It's one of the reasons Apple rolled out Stolen Device Protection on iPhones and Google added Android Theft Protection to its OS.) You can add a layer of security yourself by enabling Face ID and a PIN on Venmo. Go to Settings > Face ID & PIN and toggle Enable Face ID & PIN to on. You’ll be asked to enter a passcode. Then you’ll be asked to either allow or not allow Face ID. Once you select your choice, you’re set, and the Venmo app won't open unless you authenticate with that PIN or Face ID scan.

4. See What Data Venmo Has on You

Venmo lets you request a copy of the data it's collected about you. Log in at Venmo.com, go to Settings > Privacy, and look for the Your Privacy Rights section. Click the link under it that says Your Privacy Rights. Choose the data you want to receive and your preferred file type and select Submit Request. It should take just a day or two to receive the report but it may take up to 30 days. When it's ready, you’ll get an email and then an SMS with a password to open the report.

5. Make Sure You're Sending Money to the Right Place

Finding friends on Venmo often means scrolling through a list of people with the same name, hoping to find a photo that lets you know the right person is going to get your cash. A faster way to find someone is by scanning the unique QR code associated with their account. Have them hit the Me tab and click the QR icon next to their avatar. They can then share the QR code with you through text or email or you can simply scan it directly with your own phone.

If you do send money to the wrong person, contact Venmo support with this form, open a help chat in the app, or call (855) 812-4430. Have on hand the user name of the person you accidentally sent the funds to; the amount and date of the payment; and the user name, phone number, and email address of the person that you meant to pay.

6. Don't Leave Money Sitting in Your Account

Once someone has paid you on Venmo, move the money to a bank account as soon as possible. The money sitting in your account is not federally insured as it would be with an accredited banking institution and if something happens to Venmo, you might not have any way to recoup it, depending on the laws in your state.

7. Be Aware of Scams

Scams abound but there are several in particular that you’ll want to look out for regarding Venmo. The company has a list of the common ones on its site:

• Fake prize or cash reward

• Call from Venmo

• Text messages pretending to be Venmo

• Call from tech support

• Fake payment confirmation or request for tracking details

• Pre-payment for goods and services

• Stranger posing as a friend

• Payments from strangers

• Offers to make money fast

• Paper check scam

• Romance scam

If you fall for a scam, do not be embarrassed; it can happen to even savvy users. Contact Venmo support with this form, open a help chat in the app, or call (855) 812-4430. You should also file a report with local law enforcement. And there are resources that can help at the Internet Crime Complaint Center, Fraud.org, and the Anti-Phishing Working Group.