Guy Writes ‘ISIS’ In His Venmo Memo, Guess What The Government Did
Anyone who uses Venmo knows better than to write “rent” when you’re paying for rent, or “dinner” when you’re paying someone back for your meal. If you’re not writing something fun like “strippers and cocaine” or “nipple guards,” then you’re Venmo-ing wrong. Of course, one guy learned the hard way that some things simply shouldn’t be joked about.
Inverse writer Ben Guarino was trying to pay a friend back for the evening’s drinks and decided to write “ISIS beer funds!!!” in the memo before going to sleep at around 2 AM on that fateful Sunday morning. He received an email from Venmo shortly thereafter justifiably asking for a bit of clarification.
In order to avoid having to explain to someone that it was simply a lame joke that translated into a potentially dangerous one once written in text, Ben decided to detail exactly what happened, albeit with blame being placed on autocorrect, the scapegoat to every haphazardly-sent text.
Unfortunately for Ben, Venmo wasn’t buying it. According to Inverse, the feds ultimately seized the $42 transfer via the Treasury Department’s OFAC (Office of Foreign Assets Control), an organization that has been making sure we don’t give money to our enemies for many years.
There is a lesson to be learned in all of this: if you’re going to create a questionable memo on Venmo, stick to drugs, sex and debauchery. Leave religious wars to the professionals.
