You notice a deposit to your Venmo account that you do not know. Shortly thereafter you get a message from someone you do not know, claiming that the deposit was made by accident, and could you please send it back?
Being the kind person that you are, you send it back, and a few days later that “accidental” deposit disappears from your account, and you have now lost the money you sent back to the guy.
Don’t do it. The original deposit to your account was undoubtedly made with a stolen credit card. As soon as the banks figure it out, they will cancel the card and reverse the deposit.
The better course of action is to simply wait for the credit card company to cancel the card, and the deposit.
And by the way, don’t spend that money – even if it is an accidental deposit, it is not yours, and the owner of the funds can sue you to get it back. Happens all too often with erroneous bank deposits.
Mark J. Astarita is a veteran securities attorney representing investors and financial professionals nationwide in securities investigations and arbitrations. Have a question? Email him at mja@sallahlaw.com, call his office at 212-509-6544, or visit The Securities Lawyer
Mark Astarita is a nationally recognized securities attorney, who represents investors, financial professionals and firms in securities litigation, arbitration and regulatory matters, including SEC and FINRA investigations and enforcement proceedings.
He is a partner in the national securities law firm Sallah Astarita & Cox, LLC, and the founder of The Securities Law Home Page - SECLaw.com, which was one of the first legal topic sites on the Internet. It went online in 1995 and is updated daily with news, commentary and securities law related links.
