My landlord asked me to use Venmo to pay my monthly rent. When I did research on Venmo and how safe it is, I've found dozens and dozens of article warning user just how unsafe Venmo actually is. I was shocked that Tom's Guide did exactly the opposite in this article about Venmo last year. The only security threat Tom's Guide pointed out is when selling stuff on Craigslist. Tom's Guide neglected to point out the various security vulnerabilities that exist with Venmo. Here's and example of what Tom's Guide neglected to fill readers in on: Your phone gets stolen, lost or your account gets hacked. The thief changes your email address and login info. Said thief then takes as much money out of your bank account and the user may not know about it for several days because their email is no longer on file to send notifications to. Youre now out THOUSANDS of dollars, and out of luck. Here's an excerpt from an article I just read:
"While Venmo's security, encryption, and liabilities insurance ostensibly protect users from losses, they are easy to circumvent. After gaining access to a user's account, hackers can easily change passwords, linked email addresses and bank accounts unbeknownst to the legitimate user."
Furthermore, Tom Guide never mentioned how Venmo lost over $40 million dollars in payment fraud in just the first quarter of 2018. I'd say the Wall Street Journal is a pretty reputable source.
Also, Tom's Guide failed to protect users by NOT pointing out that Venmo settled with the FTC over misleading its users and not fully or properly disclosing information regarding security of each users Venmo account. Here is the posting directly from the FTC website, and their post came 5 months before Tom's Guide wrote their article endorsing Venmo.
I can go on and on, but Im extremely shocked by this neglect by Tom's Guide, and mainly because I have relied heavily on Tom's Guide for a few decades. I always knew Toms Guide was funded by users, but I never expected Tom's Guide to show their gratitude towards those users that keep them in business by endorsing a product that has a clear and extensive history of having major security vulnerabilities. Its appalling that Tom's Guide would sacrifice users identity, finances, and more but not disclosing the real truth. We, the people who have supported Tom's Guide over the decades should be pissed that Tom's Guide is willing to screw us over because they get a nice paycheck from Paypal/Venmo. Now, I'm assuming Tom's Guide is making money in some way off of Paypal/Venmo, but I may be wrong. How can I assume anything else when the website (conveniently?) leaves out CRITICAL data that could protect the very users that have supported Tom's Guide for decades? If Tom's Guide DOESNT make money in some way from Paypal/Venmo, then I dont know what to say....Tom's Guide acts like an authority in all things technology-related, and has since the websites inception so I have a tough time believing that their research team/author failed to uncover the stuff that I was able to uncover in 1 Google search and less than 5 minutes of my time. I am so disappointed in Tom's Guides because its obvious to me that Paypal/Venmo has their hands in Tom's Guides pockets and that they are willing to throw us users under the bus to make a little money from Paypal/Venmo. I may never use Tom's Guide as a resource ever again...cant believe their loyalty would to be to someone OTHER than the users who have made the website successful over the past few decades. Really disappointed.
And one more little detail Tom's Guide (conveniently?) left out: Venmo is not FDIC insured, so your pretty screwed if someone hacks your Venmo account.
"While Venmo's security, encryption, and liabilities insurance ostensibly protect users from losses, they are easy to circumvent. After gaining access to a user's account, hackers can easily change passwords, linked email addresses and bank accounts unbeknownst to the legitimate user."
Furthermore, Tom Guide never mentioned how Venmo lost over $40 million dollars in payment fraud in just the first quarter of 2018. I'd say the Wall Street Journal is a pretty reputable source.
Also, Tom's Guide failed to protect users by NOT pointing out that Venmo settled with the FTC over misleading its users and not fully or properly disclosing information regarding security of each users Venmo account. Here is the posting directly from the FTC website, and their post came 5 months before Tom's Guide wrote their article endorsing Venmo.
I can go on and on, but Im extremely shocked by this neglect by Tom's Guide, and mainly because I have relied heavily on Tom's Guide for a few decades. I always knew Toms Guide was funded by users, but I never expected Tom's Guide to show their gratitude towards those users that keep them in business by endorsing a product that has a clear and extensive history of having major security vulnerabilities. Its appalling that Tom's Guide would sacrifice users identity, finances, and more but not disclosing the real truth. We, the people who have supported Tom's Guide over the decades should be pissed that Tom's Guide is willing to screw us over because they get a nice paycheck from Paypal/Venmo. Now, I'm assuming Tom's Guide is making money in some way off of Paypal/Venmo, but I may be wrong. How can I assume anything else when the website (conveniently?) leaves out CRITICAL data that could protect the very users that have supported Tom's Guide for decades? If Tom's Guide DOESNT make money in some way from Paypal/Venmo, then I dont know what to say....Tom's Guide acts like an authority in all things technology-related, and has since the websites inception so I have a tough time believing that their research team/author failed to uncover the stuff that I was able to uncover in 1 Google search and less than 5 minutes of my time. I am so disappointed in Tom's Guides because its obvious to me that Paypal/Venmo has their hands in Tom's Guides pockets and that they are willing to throw us users under the bus to make a little money from Paypal/Venmo. I may never use Tom's Guide as a resource ever again...cant believe their loyalty would to be to someone OTHER than the users who have made the website successful over the past few decades. Really disappointed.
And one more little detail Tom's Guide (conveniently?) left out: Venmo is not FDIC insured, so your pretty screwed if someone hacks your Venmo account.
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