If you receive a payment from a name you don’t recognize, you can simply send the payment back to that user with a note explaining that they paid the wrong person. If you receive a payment request from a stranger, you can decline the request.
Remember: When you pay someone on Venmo, that person does not have access to the payment method you used (for example: your bank account information or your debit card number). In other words, when you pay them back, you won’t be sharing any new information with them, aside from whatever you write in the payment note. Learn more about payment activity and privacy.
If the full amount you received from the unknown user is still in your Venmo account, that money will be used to fund your payment back to them—assuming you have access to a Venmo balance. If you don’t have access to a Venmo balance, or if the full amount isn’t in your Venmo account, the payment will be funded with the payment method you select.
To ensure this doesn’t happen again, we recommend you block the user who paid you or sent you a request. We also recommend checking your privacy settings.
Does this mean my Venmo account has been hacked?
If you haven’t received unexpected notifications from Venmo or notice any unauthorized transactions in your account, probably not. Because we offer a search feature for accounts, occasionally Venmo users may pay strangers by mistake (often with the same name as their friend). In those cases, it’s best to send the funds back and block the user to prevent this issue from happening again.