Is Venmo Safe to Use? What They Don't Tell You (2026)

The short answer: Venmo is technically secure — PayPal-owned, encrypted, and no major breach of financial data. But Venmo has a privacy problem that most users don’t know about: by default, every transaction you make is public. A researcher once scraped 207 million Venmo transactions from a public API, exposing users’ spending habits, social connections, drug purchases, and daily routines. That default setting still exists. Here’s what to change immediately — and what Venmo knows about you.

What Is Venmo?

Venmo is a peer-to-peer payment app owned by PayPal, used by over 90 million people in the US for splitting bills, paying rent, and sending money between friends. It also has a social feed that shows transactions between friends — and by default, your transactions are visible to the entire internet.

That social layer is what makes Venmo uniquely risky compared to other payment apps. It is simultaneously a payment platform and a social media app — which means it carries the privacy risks of both.

The Privacy Problem: Public Transactions by Default

When you create a Venmo account, your transaction feed is set to Public by default. This means:

• Your name
• The name of every person you pay or receive money from
• The date of every transaction
• The memo field (often a description like “rent,” “dinner,” “Coachella tickets”)

…are visible to anyone on the internet without an account.

In 2018, a researcher analyzed over 207 million public Venmo transactions via Venmo’s own API. The data revealed users’ drug habits, relationship patterns, daily routines, rent payments, and location behaviors — all from transactions users believed were semi-private.

In 2021, President Biden’s personal Venmo account was discovered by BuzzFeed reporters within 10 minutes using only the public feed. Every family member and contact he had transacted with was exposed.

In 2024, Venmo settled FTC charges for misrepresenting the privacy of transactions and failing to adequately disclose that transaction information could be publicly visible.

This is not a historical problem. As of 2026, Venmo still defaults to Public transactions. Every new account starts with this setting unless users manually change it.

Venmo’s Privacy Score: 22/100

An independent 2026 privacy audit scored Venmo 22 out of 100 (Grade F) on privacy practices, citing:

• Public-by-default transaction feed
• Data sharing with third-party business partners for marketing purposes
• Continued data sharing after account deletion: “When you are no longer a customer, we continue to disclose your information as described in this Statement”
• Third-party app connections where “data shared will be used and disclosed in accordance with the third-party’s privacy practices” — removing Venmo’s protections entirely

What Venmo Knows About You

What to Change in Venmo Right Now

1. Set transactions to Private Settings → Privacy → Default Privacy Setting → Private

This is the single most important change. Do this before your next transaction.

2. Make your friends list private Settings → Privacy → Friends List → Private Your social connections are a data point. Keep them hidden.

3. Review past transactions Settings → Privacy → Past Transactions → Change to Private This retroactively hides your transaction history from public view.

4. Disable “Appear in searches” Settings → Privacy → uncheck “Appear in other people’s searches”

5. Enable two-factor authentication Settings → Security → Two-Factor Authentication → On

Is Venmo Safe for Large Transfers?

No — Venmo is designed for small, trusted payments between people you know. For large transfers:

• No buyer protection for goods and services sent as “personal” payments (friends and family)
• FDIC insurance does not apply to your Venmo balance — money sitting in Venmo is not FDIC insured until transferred to a linked bank account
• Instant transfers charge a fee (1.75%, minimum $0.25) — standard bank transfers take 1–3 business days

For large transfers, use your bank’s wire service or a platform designed for it.

Common Venmo Scams to Know in 2026

Fake payment scams: Scammers send a screenshot of a Venmo payment and claim to have “accidentally” overpaid you — asking you to refund the difference. The original payment never actually arrives.

Marketplace fraud: Buying/selling on Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist via Venmo offers zero buyer protection on personal payments. Send as “business” if purchasing goods.

Phishing texts: Messages impersonating Venmo claiming your account is suspended. Always go directly to the app — never click links in texts.

Social engineering: Because your public transaction history reveals your social network, criminals use Venmo data to craft personalized phishing messages referencing your known contacts.

The Bottom Line

Venmo is safe from hacking in the traditional sense — PayPal’s infrastructure is solid. The risk is privacy, not security. The public-by-default transaction feed, the third-party data sharing, and the post-account-deletion data retention make Venmo one of the most privacy-unfriendly financial apps in common use.

Change your settings to Private today. It takes two minutes and immediately closes your largest exposure.

If you use Venmo regularly and want monitoring for when your financial data is exposed or misused, an identity theft protection service monitors your personal information, financial accounts, and dark web exposure around the clock.

Incogni removes your data from the data broker sites that aggregate Venmo-linked public information — sending automated removal requests to 180+ data brokers. At ~$7.99/month annually, it’s the most direct way to reduce the data exposure that Venmo’s public feed creates.

Identity Guard monitors your financial accounts and credit across all three bureaus, alerting you if your information appears in unauthorized transactions or dark web markets. From $7.99/month with $1M identity theft insurance.

If you’re concerned about how much of your personal data is already exposed online through apps like Venmo, Plaid, and other financial services, a data broker removal service can help clean up what’s already out there. If you also invest through Robinhood, learn about its breach history and what security steps to take. If you use Chime as your primary bank, understand the account freeze risks before it’s your only option. And if you use Cash App, read about the 2021 insider breach and why your balance may not be FDIC insured.