Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

Police May Have Caught the Los Angeles Venmo Scammer

posted by martyb on Sunday February 11 2018, @06:14AM   Printer-friendly
from the meta-money-manager dept.

Fnord666 writes:

Police have arrested a man named Andy Mai in connection with a string of Venmo scams against LA-area resellers, according to Los Angeles County Superior Court records. Andy Mai faces six charges of grand theft, filed on January 25th. On Wednesday, Mai posted a $145,000 bond, pleading not guilty to all charges. He is next scheduled to appear in court on February 26th. Detectives on the case said the investigation was still ongoing, and declined to comment further.

In November, The Verge traced more than $125,000 in scams perpetrated under the name Andy Mai, exploiting a poorly understood feature of Venmo's payment system. Arranging to buy iPhones, cameras, and other big-ticket items on Venmo, the scammer would pay with fraudulent funds that disappeared from seller's accounts after 24 hours. When Venmo reversed the charges, sellers were left with no money and no goods, often out tens of thousands of dollars. Venmo advises users never to purchase goods from strangers using Venmo, but few are aware of the restriction, which proved crucial to the scammer's success. In recent weeks, a number of the victims have received official notifications of court proceedings.

Venmo.com: "Venmo is a free digital wallet that lets you make and share payments with friends. You can easily split the bill, cab fare, or much more."

Coverage on The Verge

Related Links:

Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Police May Have Caught the Los Angeles Venmo Scammer | Log In/Create an Account | Top | 11 comments | Search Discussion
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.

  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by takyon on Sunday February 11 2018, @06:38AM (1 child)

    by takyon (881) <takyonNO@SPAMsoylentnews.org> on Sunday February 11 2018, @06:38AM (#636288) Journal

    I looked at this app in the past and as far as I could tell, it broadcasts people's transactions by default, notes and all. Since then I've heard it can be turned off, but I haven't confirmed that.

    That privacy killer transparency feature hasn't stopped dumb millennials from paying their drug dealers using it, and getting busted [politico.com].

    Bonus [vice.com].

    --
    [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Moderation   +2  
       Interesting=1, Underrated=1, Total=2
    Extra 'Interesting' Modifier   0  
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  
    Total Score:   4  

  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 11 2018, @07:03AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 11 2018, @07:03AM (#636293)

    Read the fucking dotted line! Sow!