NCAA, Venmo partner to combat harassment of college athletes - ESPN

The NCAA and online payment service Venmo announced a partnership Tuesday aiming to combat abuse and harassment of college athletes, some of whom have reported receiving unwanted requests for money from losing bettors and solicitation for inside information.

The NCAA-Venmo partnership features a dedicated hotline for athletes to report abuse and harassment, education on account security, and increased monitoring. Venmo's security team will monitor social media trends and events during games, such as last-second missed field goals, that have triggered surges in unwanted interactions.

The reporting hotline launched Tuesday.

The NCAA says its research shows that close to 20% of online abuse and harassment directed at college basketball and football players on social media is connected to sports betting. On Venmo, most of the harassment comes in the form of requests for payment from gamblers who lost a bet related to the athlete, according to an NCAA official.

«We have heard of solicitation of insider information as well,» Clint Hangebrauck, NCAA managing director of enterprise risk, told ESPN. "'Hey, can you let me know if you're going to play or not, and I'll provide you some money,' which is obviously really problematic for us from an integrity standpoint."

David Szuchman, senior vice president of Venmo's parent company PayPal, told ESPN that the unwanted requests for money sent to athletes are infrequent on the platform, but still «unacceptable.» He believes college athletes belong in a unique subset of Venmo customers that deserve a higher level of monitoring and protection.

«Harassment or abuse of any kind is not tolerated on the platform, and strict action is taken against users who violate our policies,» said