Last Updated on March 15, 2023 by Jerome Donovan
This post will show you some possible ways how to get money out of a frozen Venmo account It might be annoying to get an email informing you that your account has been frozen, especially if you still have payments or transactions that need to be made.
One morning I got out of my bed and was ready to carry on my transactions with my Venmo account. I logged into my email and what I saw completely ruined my day – my Venmo account has been frozen, and I was highly devastated. I had transactions to carry out, and I was pretty much confused.
Maybe I did something wrong or maybe I went against their terms and policies, I had no idea. Then I decided to find a way and get my funds out of the frozen Venmo account. Although this is not unusual, it is still a good idea to be aware of the causes so that you may take steps to avoid them.
Why does Venmo Freezes Accounts?
When using Venmo, It is common for users to receive emails informing them that their account has been locked. Although it may appear overly cautious for a financial service like Venmo to freeze accounts, doing so is in the consumers’ best interests.
Even with other financial services like PayPal, Payoneer, and CashApp, any suspected activity that doesn’t go in line with their policy will have your account flagged.
But for now, here are some explanations as to why your Venmo account may have been placed on hold:
Making purchases with a low or empty balance:
This is the most frequent cause of temporary account freezing for Venmo, according to research. Your account will be locked if you try to use your Venmo card to make payments, send money, or make an online purchase but you do not have enough money in your wallet.
Although Venmo rewards the recipient of the transfer, it is recorded on your account as a debt, which results in the account being frozen until the obligation is settled.
Using More Transfers Than Allowed
A user may only make a certain amount of total transactions each day using Venmo. The Venmo account gets locked if this cap is exceeded for any reason.
Going Against Venmo’s Terms and Policies:
Venmo has established a set of rules and guidelines for the User Agreement to guarantee the system runs smoothly and without interruption. Any violation of these guidelines will set off an alert, and Venmo will thereafter freeze that user’s account.
Some of the major guidelines outlined in Venmo’s Terms and Policy include
- Refraining from having two Venmo accounts,
- Confirming the user’s identity,
- Fulfilling the requirements for account ownership
- Make sure one doesn’t engage in fraudulent activities with a Venmo account.
Once you violate any of these or act in any suspicious way, the account is frozen as soon as Venmo notices that a user has broken one of these agreements.
Conducting suspicious actions
Using your Venmo app outside of the US is one illustration. The Venmo app is only available in the US, thus it’s crucial that the user is a resident of the country and has a US phone number. The likelihood is that your account will be banned if you attempt to use Venmo outside of the US.
Even though the user may not have meant for this to happen, there are some actions that cause Venmo to get concerned. One of these actions may be the cause of your account being frozen.
The use of a different, infrequently used device to access your account is another suspicious action that might result in the blocking of your account. This is viewed as suspicious conduct by Venmo. Even if were you trying to access your account using a strange device, Venmo wouldn’t interpret it that way. Your account can be immediately frozen for security reasons if they believe someone else is attempting to hack it.
The use of the incorrect PIN to access a Venmo account is another action that is seen as suspicious. This action causes Venmo to briefly freeze the account to make sure the person attempting to log in is indeed the owner.
Why My Account Was Frozen By Venmo
Apparently, I travelled to a country where Venmo wasn’t supported, and I tried to log into my account and make some payments. I was blocked from accessing the application, then I decided to use a VPN.
With the VPN, I was able to log into my account and carried out the transaction successfully. I logged out of the application and the next day, I got an email saying
After further review, my account has been locked for security reasons. In order to unlock your account, we need need to verify you are the owner of the account.
An email sent to me from Venmo
I was then asked to provide some legal documents to ascertain that I was indeed the lawful owner of the account.
I provided the documents, did some explanation as to what triggered the suspicious activity and my account was unlocked.
As long as your account isn’t completely disabled or closed, you still have a good chance of getting money from your Venmo account.
Guide To Get Money out of a Frozen Venmo Account
Frankly speaking, once your account is frozen, you can’t have access to the account to carry out any form of transaction. No type of transaction may be made on an account that Venmo has frozen until it is unfrozen. It is crucial to realize that accounts are frozen by Venmo in order to safeguard the user or other users, making it unable to utilize the account going forward. So the key idea is to find a way to unfreeze the account.
So instead of paying some exorbitant fees to a random folk who tells you that they can help you get your money out from a frozen Venmo account, you should find ways to unfreeze the account and pull out your money.
Retrieve Funds From a Frozen Venmo Account Due to debt incurred by insufficient funds
This is probably the simplest problem to fix if your Venmo account was suspended because of a Venmo debt brought on by inadequate cash. Your account will be unfrozen as soon as you make a money transfer from your bank account to yours. To make the transfer, adhere to the steps listed below;
- Please visit venmo.com/addfunds.
- Choose the bank from which you wish to send the money, then decide how much to send (must be enough to cover the debt and keep enough money in your Venmo account)
- Within two to three business days, your Venmo account will be unfrozen.
How to get money out of a frozen Venmo account Due to User Agreement, and suspicious activity in your account.
The best and only thing to do is get in touch with Venmo if your account was frozen due to a violation of the , or any other cause. The simplest way to accomplish this is to reply to the email that was sent to you to let you know that your account has been locked.
When replying to their email, please take your time to draft a quality explanation and also attach proofs.
In my situation, I replied to the email by stating;
I just got a shocking news that my Venmo account has been frozen due to suspicious activity in my account. I would love to apologize for anything that looked like a suspicious activity. I travelled to Thailand a few days ago, and I mistakenly tried to use my Venmo account due to me running out of cash. I was stranded and had no other choice but to try and access my account.
I have attached proof of my travel, my US Passport and Travel Visa to prove that I am indeed the owner of my account. Thanks for always looking out for us.
Kind Regards
Jerome Donovan.
This was the email I sent to the Venmo team, then I attached the documents as I stated in my response.
Option 2
However, another method of contacting Venmo is demonstrated in the steps below if you no longer have access to the email that was received;
- Go to the Venmo app and click “Contact Us” from the menu icon.
- You may contact us by clicking the “Contact Us” option under Get help.
- You may contact the Venmo support staff by phone, chat, email, or live chat. Please let them know that your account is frozen, regardless of the option you select. You can also use the above format I used to also send yours.
NB: Please do not copy my words, but you can use mine as a template.
Your account will be quickly unfrozen and you will be able to withdraw your money whenever you need to when you contact Venmo, whether by sending additional dollars or informing them of your predicament by emailing or calling the support staff.
Will Venmo Unfreeze Your Account?
This depends on the reason your account was frozen. Your account will remain frozen if you don’t provide the information required by the Venmo team. In many cases, if you don’t respond on time, your account may finally be disabled.
How long does it take to unfreeze Venmo account?
New Accounts for ID Verification
For new accounts that got frozen due to ID verification, responding to the email informing you of your frozen account does not guarantee that it will be unfrozen right away. It may take up to 90 working days for Venmo to unfreeze your account.
Inadequate Funds
However, it will take around two to three business days for your account to be unfrozen if it was frozen due to inadequate funds. This comes after you have followed the instructions in this article to unfreeze your account, which was banned due to a low balance.
Suspicious Activity
For suspicious activity, it takes 2 – 3 working days for Venmo to respond and unfreeze your account if the documents provided are satisfactory.
Other times, it can take a while because Venmo needs to perform another identification check. To verify that you are the owner, they could need to see your ID. Keep in mind that the account may have been frozen because Venmo believes someone other than you attempted to access it.
Other Situations
However, if your account is frozen for any other reason except insufficient cash, Venmo alone determines how long it will stay frozen.
Conclusion
To make sure you don’t fret and start looking for how to get money out of a frozen Venmo account, take notice of Venmo’s policies and User Agreement in the interim to prevent your account from being or being frozen. You avoid a lot of anxiety and tension by doing this.
Summary
To get money out of a frozen Venmo account, you have to do the following
- Read the email to determine why your account was frozen
- Respond in detail to every complaint by the Venmo team
- Provide proof and documentation
- Wait for Feedback
- Get your money out from Venmo.
