On July 3, Hopkinton Little League announced on its Facebook page that a Venmo account had impersonated the organization, taking money from Little League families. 

“It was intentional,” said HLL president Gabe Recos. He said the fake account copied his organization’s banner, photo and logo to make it look legitimate.

The impersonator’s handle on Venmo also was designed to deceive. The official HLL Venmo account is @hopkintonLL. The fake account’s handle was @hopkintonLL-. 

Recos said the issue was discovered when HLL’s treasurer was making a transaction with a player’s family member. He recounted that the individual said she had processed the payment, but the treasurer was unable to see it.

“It turned out she had sent payment to this false account,” Recos said.

A notice was sent out to HLL families shortly after, directing people to go back through their Venmo transactions and inform the organization if they had made payments to the impersonator. That information then was handed over to Hopkinton police.

Recos said that not long after the notice went out and both Venmo and the Hopkinton Police Department were notified, the fraudulent account disappeared. “The account appears to have gone inactive on [July 4] either taken down by Venmo or the user themselves,” he stated in a follow-up email to the Independent.

The HPD’s investigation is ongoing. Recos said that officer Justin Cappuccio is working the case and has requested a subpoena from the district courts to get the account information.

“We’re hoping that we can find out and, with the help of the police department, that it doesn’t happen again,” Recos said.

It is unclear when the fake account was set up or how many individuals were affected. Recos noted that “only a handful” of people reached out to confirm they had sent money to the imposter and that there was roughly a two-week window when the earliest transactions were made.

Fortunately for HLL, Venmo is not the organization’s primary payment system. Recos noted that the majority of its transactions, including registration fees, are run through its website. The organization uses Venmo for onsite transactions at its concession stand.

Those who may have been affected still are encouraged to report the transaction to Venmo and to let HLL know so that information can be passed on to investigators. 

Recos also recommended that individuals buying concessions at Little League games double check who they are sending money to if they decide to use the Venmo option. He added that the safest method of transaction is to use the QR codes on display at the concession stand.

As for where the fraudster might originate from, Recos couldn’t say.

“You’d almost wish it was somebody halfway around the world,” he said. “It would be very disheartening to us as a volunteer-run organization if it ended up being somebody in our community.”

Those who have been affected are encouraged to contact Venmo and notify HLL at hopkintonLLfundraising@gmail.com as soon as possible.