Consumer complaint received 2025-09-15 00:00:00
Product: Prepaid card — General-purpose prepaid card
Issue: Problem with a purchase or transfer — Charged for a purchase or transfer you did not make with the card
Company: Paypal Holdings, Inc
State: TX

Complaint narrative:
On XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX, I was sent {$300.00} on Venmo from XXXX XXXX XXXX 

On XX/XX/XXXX I received a series of emails from Venmo : -Email 1 ( XXXX ) : Stated " The phone number for your Venmo account was recently changed. '' -Email 2 ( XXXX ) Stated " XXXX XXXX is ready to go. You added your Venmo Debit Card ending in XXXX to XXXX XXXX. '' -Email 3 ( XXXX ) Stated " Your Venmo Debit Card is ready '' -Email 4 ( XXXX ) Stated " How to redeem your new Venmo Debit Card offers '' -Email 5 : ( XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX ) Stated " You removed your Venmo Debit Card ending in XXXX from XXXX XXXX. '' All of these emails went unnoticed by me as I was working and don't use this email address much anymore as I use gmail.com now. 

I can confirm that I never changed my Venmo phone number ( I only have one phone ), never requested a Venmo debit card, and never used XXXX XXXX with Venmo. All of that activity was done by someone who was not me. 

I had checked my Venmo account and saw two chargesI did I not make : XX/XX/XXXX : {$100.00} to XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  {$190.00} to XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX' I called Venmo and submitted a claim on these unauthorized charges. The customer service rep that I chatted with canceled the Venmo debit card, suspended my account, and submitted a claim. 

13 hours later I received emails from Venmo that stated : Your Venmo card dispute has been denied. After careful investigation, we've determined that an error has not occurred and the dispute claim has not been resolved in your favor. This decision was made because this transaction was not unauthorized. 

I called the Venmo customer service phone number to follow up. I was told that Venmo had no record of anyone ever using my Venmo account besides me. I know that wasn't possible so I did some investigating in my email and Venmo account and here is what I found. 

Several emails from Venmo from the last few months about suspicious activity : -Email XXXX : XX/XX/XXXX - Stated " Sign-in attempt from new device '' -Email XXXX : XX/XX/XXXX - Stated " New remembered device added to your account '' -Email XXXX : XX/XX/XXXX - Stated " Sign-in attempt from new device '' -Email XXXX : XX/XX/XXXX - Stated " Sign-in attempt from new device '' -Email XXXX : XX/XX/XXXX : Stated " Sign-in attempt from new device '' -Email XXXX : XX/XX/XXXX : Stated " New remembered device added to your account '' None of these sign-in attempts or adding remembered devices were done by me. I had seen the email on XX/XX/XXXX and reset my password as instructed. 

On my Venmo account, I was able to see the following : -Under My Account, I see that my phone number was changed to a number I do not recognize : XXXX -Under " remembered devices '', I can see 3 devices : -My current XXXX ( purchased in XX/XX/XXXX ) with the location listed as XXXX, TX XXXX where I live ) -My previous XXXX ( purchased XX/XX/XXXX ) with the location listed where my previous address was ( near XXXX, TX ) -A third XXXX with no location listed, but can see it was added on XX/XX/XXXX - the same date that someone logged into my Venmo account and added a remembered device to my account ( as proven in the emails I received, listed above ) I let the Venmo customer service rep I was on the phone with know all of this and he submitted an appeal for my claim. 

The next day, I received the same email that I had received last time : " Your Venmo card dispute has been denied. After careful investigation, we've determined that an error has not occurred and the dispute claim has not been resolved in your favor. This decision was made because this transaction was not unauthorized. '' I have clear proof in my emails and in my Venmo account that this was account takeover. These charges were not authorized or made by me. I have been a loyal Venmo customer for many years and my history shows I have never been deceptive. I am single, live alone, and spend most of my time alone- I do not have any family or friends who have access to my devices ( I only have one XXXX and one XXXX ), my email addresses, or any of my passwords. 
Under the Electronic Fund Transfer Act ( Regulation E ), I am not liable for unauthorized transactions. I did not authorize the phone number change, the new device, the debit card issuance, or the two charges that emptied my Venmo balance. Venmos own records ( emails confirming new device and number change, and the third XXXX in my remembered devices list ) prove this was account takeover. Despite this, Venmo denied my claim twice without properly investigating. I respectfully request that the CFPB require Venmo to comply with Regulation E, reverse these unauthorized transactions, and reimburse my account in full. 

I am attaching all of the emails and Venmo screenshots that I mentioned above. In the emails you will see I forwarded them to my gmail.com email ( my primary email address ) and my mom, because I wasn't sure if the hacker had access to my email as well and could delete the emails. 

I will be filing a police report and FTC Identity Theft Report as well and will add those details once completed. 

Thank you so much for all of your help!

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief