{"id":4402231477136,"date":"2026-04-13T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/?p=4402231477136"},"modified":"2026-04-07T15:52:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T19:52:00","slug":"scammers-are-spoofing-charities-on-venmo-how-to-protect-your-donors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/solutions\/scammers-are-spoofing-charities-on-venmo-how-to-protect-your-donors\/","title":{"rendered":"Scammers Are Spoofing Charities on Venmo: How to Protect Your Donors"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When two volunteers for a Pennsylvania animal-welfare organization received solicitations last year asking them to donate $50 to the charity on Venmo<\/a>, something seemed off. The impersonal tone of the messages seemed different from the organization’s usual friendly manner. So they alerted staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It was a play on our name with the exact same logo,\u201d a spokesperson for the nonprofit told the Chronicle<\/em>. (The organization asked that its name be withheld from this story to protect its donors\u2019 privacy.)\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
More on Cybersecurity<\/div>\n
\n
\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\"After <\/a>\n <\/figure>\n \n
\n
\n Solutions<\/a> <\/div>\n\n

\n \n After Donor Data Is Compromised, How to Restore Trust <\/a>\n <\/p>\n\n \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

\n \n
\n
\n Solutions<\/a> <\/div>\n\n

\n \n Crypto-Philanthropy and Donor-Advised Funds Are Not Immune to Problems. Here Are Some Red Flags. <\/a>\n <\/p>\n\n \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

\n \n
\n
\n Solutions<\/a> <\/div>\n\n

\n \n Cybersecurity Is Evolving Fast. Here Are Terms You Need to Know <\/a>\n <\/p>\n\n \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

The fraud went beyond the two volunteers: The scammers had reached out to other supporters as well, and a handful had already sent money to the impostor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Venmo, the popular cash-sharing app, allows users to easily send money from their bank accounts to other individuals, businesses, or charities. But a proliferation of fake accounts impersonating charities has made the process more fraught for organizations that use the platform to receive donations from individuals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We caught it pretty quickly,” the spokesperson said. “We immediately sent out an email to everyone in our subscriber list explaining the situation and encouraging people to ask questions.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Above all, the spokesperson added, “We made it really clear that this is not how we would ever ask for money.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Venmo said in a written statement provided to the Chronicle<\/em> that it does not tolerate fraudulent activity on the platform: \u201cProtecting the Venmo community is a top priority. We work hard to safeguard our customers from evolving scams and act quickly against any activity that violates our policies, including attempted impersonation fraud.”\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To help protect your organization and donors from online fundraising scams, experts and practitioners share these tips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Understand the increasing sophistication of online scams.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The rise of artificial intelligence has made it much easier \u2014 and quicker \u2014 for fraudsters to imitate legitimate organizations, says Michael Enos, vice president for infrastructure, security, and governance at TechSoup<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

\n \n
\n