Venmo is a mobile payment service owned by PayPal that allows users to transfer money using a mobile phone app or web interface. Threat actors have been noted purchasing reloadable gift cards online with stolen bank funds, and then transferring the money into a Venmo account. From the Venmo account, the actor will execute a wire transfer to another account, often an offshore bank in a country with lax banking rules. Venmo significantly reduces the time it takes to cash out stolen funds, which makes it harder for victim banks to stop illicit transfers. Financial sector scrutiny of the Venmo service is recommended.Wapack Labs has cataloged and reported extensively on wire transfer scams in the past. An archive of related reporting can be found in the Red Sky Alliance portal.
