Typing “idek” (aka “I don’t even know”) into Venmo is a no-no, according to Cosmopolitan. Of all things, right?
If you don’t know what Venmo is, then we’ll explain it nice and simply. Basically, Venmo is a free payment service that acts as a virtual wallet, allowing you to pay anyone fast. The app links to your bank account or credit card, and allows you to transfer money to friends at the touch of a button. All you have to do is type in their username and put the amount of money you want to send. The app will also ask you what the payment’s for. Your answer to this can be as simple as a pizza emoji, or as much as a few sentences of text.
So then, what does Venmo have against the seemingly innocuous “idek”? Terrorism, that’s what. Well, that escalated quickly.
But seriously. Lately people who have been writing “idek” in the description on Venmo have been told their payments won’t be processed for 96 hours (or 4 days). Hannah Smothers at Cosmo tried it, and got the 96 hour notice. The company said in a statement that this is because they have to review the payment on account of it being “a restricted good or entity.” Why might this be? As it turns out, “idek” is not just a harmless acronym. According to the Verge, IDEK just so happens to also be an acronym for a radical Islamic group that has been deemed a terrorist group. That’s why “idek” trips the system—Venmo does not want you using the app to pay terrorists.
All this means is that next time, you should just write out “I don’t even know” on Venmo. Crisis averted.