PayPal and Venmo add AI-powered scam detection system to help protect your money

PHOENIX — PayPal and Venmo are introducing new AI-powered scam detection alerts to help users avoid fraud when sending money through their platforms.

The new system will alert you when it detects potential scams. The goal is to give people some pause before making any payment, hopefully saving people from the stress and hassle of having to fight to get their money back.

This is how it works:

When users attempt to make a payment, the system will display a message indicating the risk level. As the AI becomes more confident that a transaction might be fraudulent, the alerts become increasingly urgent and add more resistance to completing the payment.

According to PayPal, the alerts are designed to learn and adapt to evolving scam tactics to stay ahead of fraudsters.

The new AI scam alert system is only for “friends and family payments,” a feature intended for sending money to personal contacts. This is particularly important because these transactions don’t offer the same purchase protection as the “goods and services” option.

This initiative follows other companies and their moves to combat payment fraud. In March, Chase updated its policy to block Zelle transactions originating from social media contacts.

No matter what, use caution and be careful when you are sending money to anyone, especially people you don’t know personally. Always verify the recipient’s name or phone number before completing a payment, and consider linking your account to a credit card instead of a debit card for added protection.

Have you been the victim of a scam? Let ABC15 Know. Email Consumer@abc15.com for help.