{"id":828,"date":"2026-11-11T11:42:47","date_gmt":"2026-11-11T17:42:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pagesofwisdom.com\/?p=828"},"modified":"2026-11-11T11:42:47","modified_gmt":"2026-11-11T17:42:47","slug":"venmo-voicemail-scam-dont-press-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pagesofwisdom.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/11\/venmo-voicemail-scam-dont-press-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Got a Voicemail About Your Venmo Password? Don’t Press 1. Here’s What to Do Instead"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Picture this: you’re in the checkout line, juggling a cart full of groceries, and your phone buzzes with a voicemail. A calm robot voice says someone is trying to change your Venmo password. If that wasn’t you, please press one. Your heart does a little jump, your thumb hovers over the keypad, and that’s exactly the moment the scammer was counting on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This week, the Hearst Television National Consumer Unit<\/a> obtained one of these voicemails, and Venmo confirmed it’s a scam. The message says, word for word: “This call is because of an attempt to change the password on your Venmo account. If this was not you, please press one.” Hearst stations from Baltimore to Sacramento ran the warning on November 10, and local radio picked it up as a holiday-season heads-up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The short version: don’t press one, don’t call back, and don’t hand over anything. Below is how this trick works, what Venmo says it will and won’t cover if someone gets in, and a 10-minute plan to make your Venmo (and the email behind it) much harder to break into.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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An unexpected call or voicemail about your account is your cue to hang up and check the app yourself. Illustration: AI-generated image (not a real call).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What the scam call actually sounds like<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It’s an automated call, also called a robocall. If you don’t pick up, it leaves a voicemail. The script plays on a very human fear: someone is messing with my money right now. It doesn’t ask for anything up front. It just asks you to press a button, which feels harmless. That’s the hook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Security folks call this “vishing,” short for voice phishing. It’s the phone version of those fake “your package is delayed” texts. And it isn’t brand new. Call-blocking company YouMail<\/a> flagged a nearly identical “Venmo Fraud Prevention line” robocall back in 2024, that time claiming someone was changing the phone number on the account. Scammers reuse scripts that work, and they dust them off when people are busy, distracted, and sending lots of money around. In other words: the holidays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What happens if you press one?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Neither the news report nor Venmo spelled out exactly what happens after the button press. But Venmo’s own scam guide<\/a> describes the playbook these callers use, and it’s sneaky enough to be worth knowing:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. The scammer already has your email or phone number and tries to log in to your Venmo account.<\/li>\n\n
  2. Venmo does its job and texts a one-time verification code to your<\/em> phone, since that’s how it confirms a new login.<\/li>\n\n
  3. The scammer calls you pretending to be Venmo support, says there’s suspicious activity, and asks you to read them that code “to verify you’re the owner.”<\/li>\n\n
  4. If you read it out, you just handed them the key to the front door. Now they can move your money.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Venmo lists other versions too: the fake agent who asks you to log in to an account they “created for you,” asks you to install an app so they can “help” with your phone, or tells you to send money to “verify” your account. Every one of those is a scam, every time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Here’s the golden rule straight from Venmo’s login security page<\/a>: Venmo will never ask you for your six-digit code by phone call, text message, email, or chat. If anyone asks for that code, they are not Venmo. Think of that code like the PIN for your debit card. The bank will never call and ask you to read it to them, and if someone does, that’s your answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    Scam robocalls count on you reacting before you think. Image: Youcef Smahi, via Wikimedia Commons<\/a>. CC BY 4.0<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Will Venmo give your money back?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Maybe, and the details matter. According to the Hearst report, Venmo’s User Agreement says that if someone steals your password and uses it to send money from your account, that counts as an unauthorized transaction. Venmo says it will cover the full amount of unauthorized activity if you follow its procedures, including reporting it promptly<\/strong>. Wait more than 60 days to report it, and you could lose that protection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    But when reporters asked Venmo whether someone fooled by this specific scam would be reimbursed, the company didn’t directly answer. It said individual cases are reviewed separately and encouraged anyone who thinks they’ve been targeted to contact customer service. Translation: don’t count on a refund as your safety net. Your best protection is never letting them in at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Why it matters to you<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Payment apps feel casual. You split a pizza, pay the babysitter, send your brother $20 for the fantasy league. But behind that friendly app is a real link to your bank account or debit card, and money sent on payment apps usually moves fast and is hard to pull back. That’s why scammers love them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    This trick also isn’t really about Venmo. The same “press one” or “read me the code” script works on bank customers, PayPal users, Amazon shoppers, and anyone else with an account that sends login codes by text. Learn to spot it once, and you’re protected everywhere. And if you’ve already had to deal with a scam email this month (we covered a fake Frontier Airlines email that used real flight codes<\/a>), you know these crooks are getting more convincing, not less.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Got the voicemail? Do this<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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    1. Don’t press anything,<\/strong> and don’t call back the number that called you. Delete the voicemail and block the number.<\/li>\n\n
    2. Open the Venmo app yourself<\/strong> (not from a link or a number someone gave you) and look at your recent activity. If nothing looks odd, you’re fine. The scary message was the whole trick.<\/li>\n\n
    3. Report it,<\/strong> even if you didn’t lose a dime. Venmo asks people to report scams to its support team (in the app: Me, then Settings, then Get Help, then Chat With Us). You can also report it to the Federal Trade Commission at ReportFraud.ftc.gov<\/a>, which helps them track and shut these operations down.<\/li>\n\n
    4. If you already pressed one or shared a code,<\/strong> don’t panic, but move fast. Change your Venmo password, change your email password, and contact Venmo support right away. Remember that 60-day reporting window, and don’t wait anywhere near that long.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      Your 10-minute Venmo lockdown<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      Even if you never get the call, these steps from Venmo’s own help pages make your account a much worse target. Grab a coffee and knock them out:<\/p>\n\n\n\n