Venmo Scam Costs Bergen County Victim Thousands Of Dollars

GLEN ROCK, NJ — Even with police reminding residents to be careful of internet and phone scams, the perpetrators are always finding new ways to trick victims into revealing information.

This past Saturday, according to the Glen Rock police, a resident \was swindled out of $8,000 because of a fake Venmo number.

According to police, on Saturday, just before 11 a.m., a resident contacted them to report the scam.

The person told police that they noticed a problem with their Venmo account.

They called what they thought was a legitimate customer service number.

The person on the other end told the victim to download an app on their phone. It allowed the suspect to gain control of the phone.

Then, $8,000 was fraudulently transferred out of the person's account.

The Federal Trade Commission reported in 2020, "Some scammers are creating fake customer service information for popular companies and paying for it to show up in your search results. When you contact them, they’ll offer to “resolve” the problem you may have — if you wire money to them or send gift cards. They might also ask for your personal information, or to get remote access to your computer."

Always make sure the information is on the company's legitimate website, and be wary of giving out too much information, the FTC says. See more tips about this scam here.

As for the Glen Rock victim, the Detective Bureau is investigating, police said.