Financial Transactions & Social Media in Investigations

By PInow Staff

Social media investigations are growing tools for private investigators to get to the bottom of their clients’ cases. Almost every American can identify social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, but what about applications such as Venmo? Most people view Venmo simply as a way to easily send money to their friends and families, but for investigators, it is much more.

What is Venmo?

Venmo is an application that lets an individual connect to his or her bank account to send money to another user. Many people use Venmo to split a bill or pay for utilities/rent to a roommate.

Users simply request or pay their friends a predetermined amount. The recipient can store the money in their Venmo account to pay other users or transfer the money into their bank account. The transaction must include a description to keep track of the reason for sending or receiving payment.

Venmo Privacy Settings

Public

Many Venmo users have their privacy set to “Public” – meaning that anyone on the internet can view their transaction history. However, regardless if the payments are open to the public, the amount sent is always hidden.

Friends

To easily pay your close friends, Venmo also allows people to “friend” one another. …read more

Source:: Private Invest