You like the convenience of Venmo, but you do not want your rent split, your dinner repayments, or your friends list visible to strangers. By default, Venmo can make your activity broadly visible, and other people may be able to find you by phone number. The good news is that every one of those exposures has a setting you control.
This guide walks you through locking down your privacy, securing your login, and paying safely so you do not lose money to a scam. The fastest, most common fixes come first.
Almost all of these controls live in the mobile app under the "Me" tab. You can sign in at venmo.com for general account settings, but the privacy-specific flows below are documented for the iOS and Android app.
Set Your Default Privacy to Private
This is the single most important change. It governs the audience for every future payment you send or receive.
- 1.Open the Venmo app and tap the "Me" tab (your picture or initials).
- 2.Tap the Settings gear in the top right corner.
- 3.Tap "Privacy".
- 4.Under the default audience, choose "Public", "Friends", or "Private".
Here is exactly what each level means. Public means anyone on the internet may be able to see the transaction. Friends means it is shared only with your Venmo friends and the other participant's Venmo friends. Private means Venmo will not share the transaction anywhere except in your personal transactions feed under the Me tab and with the other participant. For maximum privacy, choose Private.
Hide All Your Past Transactions in Bulk
Changing the default only affects future payments. Your existing history keeps its old visibility until you clear it.
- 1.Go to the "Me" tab.
- 2.Tap the Settings gear (top right).
- 3.Tap "Privacy".
- 4.Use the bulk-hide option located in this Privacy menu to make all past transactions private.
One firm limitation applies. You can only make a past payment more private than it was originally; you cannot make an already-sent or private payment more public.
Adjust the Privacy of a Single Payment
Sometimes you want one payment handled differently from your default.
- 1.Tap the payment's current privacy setting, either while creating the payment or after it has been sent.
- 2.Select Public, Friends, or Private for that one transaction.
The same rule holds here: after a payment is sent, you can only tighten it, never loosen it.
Control Who Can Find You
By default, other people may be able to look you up and pay you using your phone number. The Find Me settings reduce that discoverability. Note that this is separate from your default payment audience; it controls searchability only.
- 1.Go to the "Me" tab.
- 2.Tap the Settings gear in the top right corner.
- 3.Tap "Privacy".
- 4.Tap "Find Me".
- 5.Use the toggles to update your preferences for "On Venmo" and "On PayPal".
Lock Down Your Friends List
Your friends list can reveal a surprising amount about who you know. You can restrict who sees it and whether you appear in other people's lists.
- 1.Go to "Me" > Settings gear > "Privacy" > "Friends List".
- 2.Select your preferred setting. Your friends list can be visible to all Venmo users, to only your Venmo friends, or kept private.
- 3.Use the separate toggle at the bottom of that page to control whether your profile appears in other users' friends lists.
Stop Contact Syncing and Auto-Discovery
Venmo offers to sync your phone contacts from the Pay/Request or Search screen via "Sync your contacts" > "Allow". To disable it, turn off Venmo's contacts access in your device's system settings.
Worth knowing: Venmo has not automatically added your device contacts as friends since 2022, so you must add friends manually even with contacts synced. Syncing can still surface you to others, so turn off contacts access if you want maximum privacy.
Add an App-Lock Passcode and Biometric Unlock
An app lock means a stranger who picks up your unlocked phone still cannot open Venmo. You must already have Face ID, Touch ID, or Fingerprint enabled in your device's system settings before Venmo can use biometrics.
On iOS:
- 1.Open the "Me" tab and tap the Settings gear at the top.
- 2.Under Preferences, select "Face ID & Passcode".
- 3.Toggle to enable the Passcode feature.
- 4.Create and confirm your Passcode.
On Android:
- 1.Open the "Me" tab and tap the Settings gear at the top.
- 2.Under Preferences, select "Passcode code & biometric unlock".
- 3.Toggle to enable the Passcode feature.
- 4.Create and confirm your Passcode.
The passcode is required each time you open the app and may also be requested when you send payments.
Confirm Two-Factor Authentication and Review Trusted Devices
When you sign in, Venmo sends a verification code to your registered phone number; you enter it to confirm you are the account owner. After signing in, you can tap "Remember Device" so future sign-ins on that device may not prompt for a code, though you still must enter your password.
Review the devices that are trusted:
- 1.Go to "Me" > Settings > "Security" > "Remembered devices".
- 2.Review the list and remove any device you do not recognize.
Critical rule: Venmo will never ask you to provide your six-digit code on a phone call, text message, email, or chat. Never share that code with anyone.
Pay Safely With Purchase Protection
A default friend-to-friend payment is not protected. To cover a purchase from a personal seller, you must tag it.
- 1.On the screen after you tap Pay, find the toggle shown below your payment method.
- 2.Tap it to mark the payment as a purchase so it is eligible for the Venmo Purchase Protection Program.
Coverage is free for the buyer; the seller is charged 2.99% of the sale on a personal profile. You are also covered when paying an authorized business profile, by Venmo Debit Card, or via a Venmo QR code.
Covered situations include an item not received, an item that arrives broken or damaged in shipping, an item significantly different from its description (such as a counterfeit), or one missing major parts. Many things are not covered: untagged person-to-person payments, in-person pickups (except via Venmo QR code), reimbursing others, vehicles, real estate and rent, financial products, gambling, donations and crowdfunding, gift cards, cryptocurrency, NFTs and digital assets, and buying into a business.
File a Claim If a Purchase Goes Wrong
If a tagged purchase has a problem, report it inside the transaction.
- 1.Go to the "Me" tab and select the transaction.
- 2.Tap "Need Help?".
- 3.Select the statement that describes your situation.
- 4.If multiple transactions are involved, select "Add more", then "Add".
- 5.Tap "Next", add information about the issue, then tap "Submit Issue".
Disputing an incorrectly tagged purchase through your card issuer will not fix it; you must contact Venmo Support instead.
Recognize and Avoid Common Scams
Venmo documents several recurring scams: fake prize or cash-reward links; calls pretending to be Venmo support asking for your code; phishing texts faking multi-factor authentication; a stranger who takes payment and never delivers; a buyer who pays with a stolen method or a fake payment screenshot; fake tech support demanding payment; someone impersonating a friend; a stranger who sends money then claims it was a mistake and asks for it back; bouncing paper-check scams; and romance scams.
Venmo will never request your six-digit verification code, never ask for remote access to your device, never require you to install a third-party app, and never ask you to send money to "verify" your account. A legitimate multi-factor authentication message does not contain a link. To report a scam, go to "Me" > Settings > "Get Help" > "Chat With Us".
Frequently Asked Questions
If I set a payment to Public, will it always be public?
Not necessarily. Venmo applies the more restrictive setting selected between the two payment partners. If the other person's setting is stricter than yours, Venmo uses theirs, so the transaction may be more private than you chose.
Can I make an old payment public again after hiding it?
No. You can only make a past payment more private than it was initially. Once a payment is sent or set to private, you cannot make it more public.
Why is my Venmo Groups activity still visible after I went private?
If you use Venmo Groups, your group activity is visible to other members of that group regardless of your privacy settings. Also, purchases made with your Venmo Mastercard Debit Card, Venmo Credit Card, and from approved merchants are Private by default.
A seller wants me to pay as "friends" to avoid a fee. Should I?
No. The 2.99% fee falls on the seller, not you, which is why some resist being tagged as a purchase. An untagged friends payment for goods voids your Purchase Protection, leaving you with no coverage if the item never arrives.
Why does Venmo keep asking for a verification code on my computer?
Clearing your browser cookies or using a new browser makes Venmo treat the web login as a new device, so it prompts for a code again. That is expected. Just remember that a real code request never comes by phone, text, email, or chat.
How do I report a scam or get help inside the app?
Go to "Me" > Settings > "Get Help" > "Chat With Us". If someone ever asks for your six-digit code or sends a multi-factor message containing a link, treat it as a scam.
