Venmo Launches Hotline to Protect NCAA Athletes From Sports Betting Harassment

Venmo, the PayPal-owned payment platform, has introduced new measures to protect NCAA athletes from harassment by sports bettors. The company confirmed that a dedicated hotline went live Tuesday, giving college athletes a way to report abusive requests and ensuring illegal activity is reported to law enforcement.

Good to know

• Venmo created a hotline for NCAA athletes to report harassment from bettors.
• The platform will provide ongoing account monitoring and added security features.
• An NCAA study found sports betting linked to 12% of athlete harassment cases.

The move comes after repeated reports of players being targeted by losing bettors, who often send them payment requests following games.

David Szuchman, PayPal’s SVP and Head of Global Financial Crime and Customer Protection, acknowledged the problem:

“The safety and security of our users remain our highest priority. Harassment or abuse of any kind is not tolerated on the platform, and strict action is taken against users who violate our policies. Through these measures, we are taking decisive steps to help prevent the misuse of our platform and ensure all our users feel protected when they use Venmo.”

Although Venmo said such cases represent a small share of transactions, the company stressed it will continue to report illegal activity to federal authorities.

The new initiative includes:

1. A reporting hotline for NCAA athletes.
2. Distribution of guides, newsletters, and learning modules explaining how to use reporting tools.
3. Ongoing account monitoring to prevent targeted harassment tied to athletic performance.
4. Closure of accounts that violate Venmo’s policies.

Former Auburn quarterback Payton Thorne shared last fall that he regularly received requests from angry bettors:

“They’re definitely not sending cash. It’s funny. When they lose money, they want their money back. But when they win money on a parlay, no one’s ever sent me any of the money.”

The NCAA has documented the issue in detail. A study revealed that 12% of targeted harassment was linked to sports betting, and football players accounted for nearly 19% of abuse cases tied to bettors.

NCAA President Charlie Baker applauded the partnership:

“The harassment we are seeing across various online platforms is unacceptable, and we need fans to do better. We applaud Venmo for taking action, and we need more social media companies and online platforms to do the same. Several states have passed laws to crack down on this behavior to protect student-athletes, and we hope more do the same because stopping this abuse requires action on multiple fronts.”