Woman receives an unexpected $300 from stranger on Venmo — she knew exactly what was happening

Even as authorities are struggling to contain the rise in online fraud, scammers are adopting more sophisticated tools and coming up with innovative schemes to rob people. While payment apps such as Venmo are a convenient way to send and receive money online, scammers are also taking advantage of the platform to scam people. In a Viral video that got more than a quarter million views, an influencer named Jenna Herrera (@themoneymom) shared that she got a "completely random" Venmo notification from a stranger who sent her $300 for "wood."

After a few minutes, the woman received a text that said, "I obviously just paid you $290 accidentally. It would be much appreciated if you could pls return the $. Thx so much!" In the video, Jenna talks about how she waited a couple of seconds before doing anything. "Then the same person quickly requested the money back," she added.

She then goes on to say how she found it weird and later did some research, and learned that this was a technique to scam people. "So they send you money and you send it back and then it was never from them, I am not sure," she said. Mentioning how she declined the request, she said, "I still have the $300 in my account, what do I do with it, I am not going to send it back to this guy." In the end, she asked, "How does this go back to its rightful owner." 

Many in the comment section reiterated that this is way in which scammers are scamming innocent people. "The real owner of the card is going to report that transaction and Venmo will reverse it so just leave it there," @iyomomma suggested. "This happened to us. It was my husband’s cash app. It was over $800. They begged and pleaded and said it was their rent. We told them we would return it if they filled out a police report. They didn’t," @suzie_brewer added.

Another user said how sometimes the money remained untouched, "This has happened to me before! Nothing ever happened with it it just stayed in my account forever. I eventually used it bc there was no way to know who they took it from," @movewithmansell revealed.

In another similar incident, a New York City resident was scammed and lost almost $2,000 on Venmo. A couple of youths approached Gabriela Martin, a lawyer in the Financial District park near Broadway and Liberty. They informed her that they were gathering funds for their athletic group. Even though Martin didn't have funds on her, she said that she might be able to offer them a dollar or five when they asked for the money via Venmo. Later, taking to TikTok, Martin mentioned that she was worried that someone would take her phone. As one of the teens continued talking, another reached for her phone. Later when Martin checked her app, she was stunned to see that  $2,500 had been taken out of her account, according to CBS News. "It felt like a major moment, you know," she said.

You can follow Jenna Herrera (@themoneymom) on TikTok for more financial advice.