In March 2025, WIRED reported that a Venmo friends list tied to Michael Waltz, then the national security adviser, was publicly visible and showed 328 connections. According to WIRED, the account’s payment transactions were not publicly visible. What was exposed was a map of relationships, not a record of money moving.
What the friends list showed
WIRED reported that an account under the name “Michael Waltz,” using a profile photo of the national security adviser, was publicly accessible until the afternoon before its March 26, 2025 publication. The friends list it displayed held 328 accounts, according to WIRED. Its review identified names of hundreds of apparent personal and professional associates, including journalists, military officers, and lobbyists.
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Because WIRED described these as accounts that appeared to belong to particular people, the identity matches should be read as reported associations, not independently confirmed ones. The 328 figure describes one account at one moment, not a broader population statistic.
What was and was not visible
The distinction that matters most is between the friends list and the payments themselves. The table below separates what WIRED reported as visible from what it said was not.
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| Item | Status as reported by WIRED (March 26, 2025) |
|---|---|
| Friends list on the “Michael Waltz” account | Publicly visible; 328 connections |
| Accounts bearing the names of Susie Wiles and National Security Council staffer Walker Barrett | Identified as apparent accounts linked to the friends list; not independently confirmed as their owners |
| Venmo transactions for the Waltz, Wiles, or Barrett accounts | Not publicly visible |
| Waltz and Wiles accounts after WIRED asked the White House about its findings | Reported to have gone fully private at the time |
The account-status row describes the change WIRED observed at the time. It does not confirm what the accounts look like today.
Why a visible friends list is a security question
A payment history reveals what someone bought or paid for. A friends list reveals who someone is connected to, which can be more useful to anyone trying to build a profile of a person’s network. WIRED’s framing was that visible connections could map relationships and suggest possible avenues for social engineering or intelligence gathering.
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- To access your card information safely, type the complete website address shown on your Gift Card (MyGift.GiftCardMall.com) directly into your browser's address bar. Don't use search engines or shortened versions of the website address, as these may lead you to fake or fraudulent sites. Do not provide any Gift Card details (example: Card Number) to someone you do not know or trust. If you believe you've reached an illegitimate website, contact cardholder service at 1-888-524-1283. Be cautious of phishing sites, there are a variety of scams in which fraudsters try to trick others into paying with gift cards.
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Michael Ard, a former intelligence analyst who runs the master’s program in intelligence analysis at Johns Hopkins, told WIRED: “The first thing you think of is the counterintelligence issue, right? And the security vulnerabilities. It kind of boggles the mind, in a way.”
WIRED also stated that it found no evidence that foreign adversaries had used Venmo to target a US politician’s network. The reporting describes a potential exposure, not a documented exploitation.
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- Visa Virtual eGift Cards are designed for online use only. Gift Cards are subject to Terms and Conditions: a.co/5bw3qXJ
- When you access your Visa Virtual eGift Card for the first time, you’ll need to register your name, address, phone number, and email address via activationspot.com. These details should also be used as your billing address for online purchases, as many merchants require address verification for purchase authorization.
- This Visa Virtual eGift Card is non-reloadable. No cash or ATM access. Visa Virtual eGift Cards are emailed active.
- Funds do not expire but your Visa Virtual eGift Card has a ‘valid thru’ date (9 years from date of purchase). If funds remain after this date has passed, please call the Toll Free number found on your Visa Virtual eGift Card for a replacement card. A one-time purchase fee applies at the time of checkout.
- This item is not eligible for refund, resale, or return. Available for sale within the United States only. Not available to residents of Puerto Rico, Hawaii, New Mexico, South Dakota, West Virginia and the US Virgin Islands.
How Venmo describes its privacy controls
A Venmo spokesperson, Erin Mackey, told WIRED: “We take our customers’ privacy seriously, which is why we let customers choose their privacy settings on Venmo for both their individual payments and friends lists—and we make it incredibly simple for customers to make these private if they choose to do so.”
WIRED described hiding the friends list as an opt-in setting at the time of its reporting. Venmo’s labels, menu locations, and defaults may have changed since March 2025, so use the app and Venmo’s current help materials rather than this description for exact steps.
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- Gift Cards are shipped active and ready for use.
- This card is non-reloadable. No cash or ATM access. Funds do not expire. If available funds remain on your card after the valid thru date has passed, please call customer service for a replacement card. A one-time purchase fee applies at the time of checkout. No fees after purchase.
- To access your card information safely, type the complete website address shown on your Gift Card (MyGift.GiftCardMall.com) directly into your browser's address bar. Don't use search engines or shortened versions of the website address, as these may lead you to fake or fraudulent sites. Do not provide any Gift Card details (example: Card Number) to someone you do not know or trust. If you believe you've reached an illegitimate website, contact cardholder service at 1-888-524-1283. Be cautious of phishing sites, there are a variety of scams in which fraudsters try to trick others into paying with gift cards.
- To report your Lost or Stolen Physical Visa Card, call Customer Service 24/7 at 1 (888) 524-1283 to cancel your Gift Card as soon as you can. You will be asked to provide the Gift Card number and other identifying information.
- Use your Visa Gift Card in the U.S. everywhere Visa debit cards are accepted, including online.
Checking your own payment and friends-list visibility
Treat the two settings as separate controls. Changing one does not change the other.
- Open the Venmo app and go to the settings for your own account. Labels vary by app version, so look for the menu that contains privacy or account settings.
- Find the control for individual payment visibility and set it to the level you want.
- Find the separate control for your friends list and set it independently.
- Reopen the settings after the app updates or after you sign in on another device, and confirm both values still match what you chose.
- Repeat the same two-part review in any other payment app you use, since many apps split payment visibility from social connections in a similar way.
What security software would and would not change
This exposure came from a social-visibility setting inside a payment app. A VPN, antivirus program, or identity-monitoring service would not have hidden a friends list in Venmo. Protecting a list like this requires changing the setting in the app itself.
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- Visa Virtual eGift Cards are designed for online use only. Gift Cards are subject to Terms and Conditions: a.co/5bw3qXJ
- When you access your Visa Virtual eGift Card for the first time, you’ll need to register your name, address, phone number, and email address via activationspot.com. These details should also be used as your billing address for online purchases, as many merchants require address verification for purchase authorization.
- This Visa Virtual eGift Card is non-reloadable. No cash or ATM access. Visa Virtual eGift Cards are emailed active.
- Funds do not expire but your Visa Virtual eGift Card has a ‘valid thru’ date (9 years from date of purchase). If funds remain after this date has passed, please call the Toll Free number found on your Visa Virtual eGift Card for a replacement card. A one-time purchase fee applies at the time of checkout.
- This item is not eligible for refund, resale, or return. Available for sale within the United States only. Not available to residents of Puerto Rico, Hawaii, New Mexico, South Dakota, West Virginia and the US Virgin Islands.
Readers searching for “What was exposed in Mike Waltz’s Venmo account?” should take away the same point the reporting makes: a visible friends list is a relationship map, and that is a privacy question even when no payments are shown.
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