Venmo settings to change ASAP: Start by making your transactions private

Tens of millions of people use mobile payment apps like PayPal’s Venmo and Square’s Cash App to transfer money directly from their bank accounts to friends, family and merchants. While these platforms offer convenience, they also bring security risks, due in part to their combination of finance and social media. Users can also be targets for hackers looking to drain financial accounts. 

But don’t worry — there are plenty of ways for you to secure your Venmo and Cash App accounts with a few simple settings changes and privacy best practices. Here’s what to do. 

Read more: Venmo’s social payments can get you into trouble. But people like them anyway

Protecting your privacy on Venmo and Cash App: Basic tips

Both payment apps use encryption and fraud detection technology to protect account information. But to better ensure your security, you should take a few extra steps.

Use a randomly generated password

We know — you’re tired of hearing about how you need to use unique, hard-to-guess passwords for every account. But it’s still true, especially when your money’s involved. One easy way to do this is to use a password manager. Our favorites — including LastPass, 1Password and Bitwarden — offer a free tier of service with all of the basics: password storage, strong and secure password generation and autofill capabilities. 

Beware common scams

Criminals target users of apps like Venmo and PayPal in all kinds of clever ways. There have been reports of hackers posing as Venmo and Cash App support staff, calling or…