Employer Accidentally Deposited $7,400 Into My Account And Now Wants Me To Send It Back Through Venmo. Am I Obligated To Do That?

Location: Ohio

I work for a medium-sized company and get paid by direct deposit every two weeks.

Last Friday I noticed my paycheck was way higher than normal. At first I thought maybe a bonus had been approved or there was some adjustment I didn't know about. After checking the pay stub, I realized something was definitely wrong. My normal net pay is around $1,800. The deposit was over $9,000.

I emailed payroll immediately and asked if there had been a mistake.

This morning they responded saying another employee's payment had accidentally been deposited into my account due to an internal payroll error. They apologized and asked me to send $7,400 back to them through Venmo because it would be "faster than reversing the transaction."

That immediately felt strange to me.

I haven't touched the money and it's still sitting in my account, but I'm uncomfortable sending thousands of dollars through a personal payment app. My concern is that if I send the money and then they also reverse the deposit or make some other accounting correction, I could end up fighting to get my own money back.

I asked whether they could simply reverse the deposit through payroll or coordinate with the bank. They replied that reversing it would create extra paperwork and delay things for the employee who should have received the money.

Now my manager is messaging me saying payroll is waiting on me and that I'm holding up another employee's paycheck.

To be clear, I am not refusing to return money that isn't mine. I just don't want to move $7,400 through Venmo based on an email request.

Do I have any obligation to send the money through the method they're demanding, or is it reasonable to insist that they recover it through payroll and banking channels instead?

Thanks.