I’m only on Venmo with my sons because it’s how I reimburse them for things. They changed their settings quickly when I pointed out I could see everything from their other transactions. “Poker debt” “beer” LOL
I set up a separate bank account (checking) for Venmo with just the minimum of $100 in it. Did not want to be throwing my Venmo out there when I’m the point person for work parties, etc., and have it tied to my main bank account. I feel a lot better after doing that.
I also do not accept a Venmo for FB Market items - have heard that those deposits can be reversed within a few minutes if being made. These aren’t high finance transactions but I just don’t want to worry so take cash only…
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I recently ordered a debit card for a secondary checking account (I have a bit of “my own” money there that I inherited from my mom). I added it to my Venmo payments method and to use that going forward, instead of the main joint account.
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It baffles me that people, especially young ones, don’t change the privacy settings. I have a young relative in college who seems to be playing a lot of poker! I don’t think his mother would be happy to know that.
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No Venmo here. I have Zelle (I know it has issues) but only for sending money between members of the family.
I use Paypal for some transactions. Don’t love it, but some tiny businesses want it, and I sometimes need to get paid through it. i “think” it’s safe.
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TD Bank now has a tab in its phone app for Zelle so I use that.
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Zelle isn’t any better at stopping or reversing transactions. They merely facilitate money movement and take no responsibility beyond that. But I guess, unlike Venmo, you can’t see anyone else’s transactions.
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My daughter likes Zelle because (I think?) the $$ comes faster than Venmo!
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That’s why I only use it for family.
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I canceled my Venmo a while back and only used it for my hairdresser and after a local contractor had done some minor work around my home or with friends but after reading an article about how unsafe it was in a number of different ways, I switched to Zelle only. It isn’t exactly safe either, but my understanding is it has a few more protections, and I’m not sure what they are but I don’t use it for anyone but those I know.
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I had my Venmo transactions set to Private - they only show if you want them to.
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John Oliver; 24 minutes. But well worth the watch.
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I watched it just because I love John Oliver. 
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Yesterday, a scammer sent out texts to many of our church members: “ Hello MLH
Are you less busy at the moment? I have a request for you to manage confidentially. I will be in a meeting in a few minutes, no calls so kindly respond via text.
Blessings,
-Pastor Greg xxx”
Of course it looks fishy. For one thing our pastor never uses the title. And the no calls thing was weird. And “blessings?”
I let him know about it and a little later he sent out texts and emails to the whole congregation saying it was a scam. He said he’d been inundated with texts from people telling him about it.
It’s a little unnerving that someone targeted our small church in Maine and was able to contact us all via text. I think I will ask Greg how that could have happened.
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John Oliver helps us laugh through this, but it’s obviously not funny. 
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My husband is doing some consulting work. He was approached by a “recruiter” to work for a “client” that requires a specific liability insurance policy from a specific company. $500 buys the policy. Uh 
no go. What a scam!
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Two additional takeaways from the Oliver piece:
- Crypto should be illegal. Nothing good comes from it. Much evil does. It’s essentially nothing, and is the root of tremendous amounts of crime and misery–both financial and environmental.
- The investigators of Propublica, time after time, are absolute heroes. The stories they uncover of injustice and, basically, evil, are incredibly important, and impressive.
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Should I tell my DH that he is deceased? And that apparently he made millions in real estate in Canada and died of covid there? And that his Canadian attorney mailed his letter from North Carolina? 
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I don’t know if this was indeed a scam or not. I’d be interested in knowing what others here think.
My wife was contacted via LinkedIn by someone from an industry consulting group. They wanted to see if she’d do a 1 hour consulting call with a client to share her expertise. This isn’t unusual in her industry so no automatic red flags. This person’s LinkedIn profile looked normal, although my wife has never heard of her firm.
They discussed some details and logistics via LinkedIn and then over email. The lady sent over a contract that looked fairly boilerplate and harmless but required her birthdate for proof of age. Then they sent her a link to provide details so she could receive payment. Name, address, and choice of PayPal Or bank deposit (no passwords requested). Finally, they sent a tax details form that they said they needed to issue her a 1099 next year. It looked legit but required her SSN.
That gave my wife pause and we the discussed the situation. While the arrangement looked potentially legitimate, my wife had given a total stranger her name, email, phone number and DOB. And she was now being asked for her address and SSN? All these components collected separately over 3 days, when put together provided everything needed for identity theft, and maybe financial fraud. My wife decided not to go through with it. The lady was upset, even offered to pay more. But my wife held firm and declined.
So… phishing attempt or not really?
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This is a good question…I think my husband did one of these in the last year and I’ll have to ask him if he gave out all that info. 
ETA: They didn’t ask for his SSN or DOB. They also didn’t send him a tax form, though. I don’t know enough to know if saying they’ll send a tax form makes them more legit or less.