Ever sent a payment to the wrong “Sarah Smith” or “John Brown” on Venmo? It’s an easy mistake to make. If you aren’t paying careful attention when selecting a recipient, it’s possible to send funds to someone with the correct name but incorrect identity.
On July 11, Isaac Nowak made this exact error. Looking to buy a camper for his family, Nowak submitted a transfer of $3,500 from his account to the seller, Trevor Harwood. But his payment went to the wrong Trevor Harwood. Rather than going to the camper-selling individual in Utah, the payment went to a Michigan-based Trevor Harwood. When Nowak realized his mistake, he felt “instant nausea,” as he later told WZZM.
In a bid to retrieve the funds, Nowak reached out to the Michigan-based Harwood via the app’s commenting feature. Luckily for him, Harwood responded to the frantic message.
“Just seen this, I will send back minus a case of beer. I’m really thirsty,” Harwood wrote, adding a laughing emoji for humor.
“For being a man with good morales [sic] I can respect that,” the relieved Nowak responded.
It’s still a little unclear how the mistake happened in the first place. Venmo does have measures to prevent incorrect payments, with photo, email, and phone verification strategies. But given how this one turned out, neither party can have too many complaints.
Nowak received the incorrectly transferred sum — minus the $20 for the agreed upon beer. As for Harwood, he scored himself a free case of Budweiser.
