Kimberly Palmer: How to safely use payment apps
Scams are common on peer-to-peer payment apps, but you can keep your money safe by avoiding questionable payment requests that may be fraudulent, only sending money to people you know and upgrading your privacy settings
As a frequent PayPal user, I wasn’t surprised to see a payment request on the app pop up. But when I read it, I knew something was wrong.
In the message, a stranger asked me to send them $699 in order to get a “refund.” While I instantly recognized the request as a scam, I still felt vulnerable; I didn’t immediately see any obvious way to flag the request as a scam, and with just one click, I could have accidentally sent this stranger a huge chunk of money.
I’m hardly alone in my worry over security when using peer-to-peer payment apps: According to a Pew Research Center survey published in September 2022, about one-third of people who use payment apps or websites say they are “a little or not at all confident that payment apps or sites keep people’s personal information safe from hackers or unauthorized users.” And an alarming 13% of people who have ever used PayPal, Venmo, Zelle or Cash App say they have made the mistake of sending money to a scam artist.
Fraud prevention experts recommend these strategies to keep your money safe.
