The Paypal service offers for over 19 years a reliable way of financial transactions within the insecurity of the internet. It is not accidental that it has a multi-year international presence on the Internet, having loyal fans who prefer not to deal directly with their credit card but through third-party services.
So whether you want to make online sales, or want to make secure online purchases, the PayPal is the safest and most convenient solution. Although the company has set the trading security guidelines for both sellers and buyers, we are confident that most users are not interested in reading them. On top of that, crooks are smart enough to bypass security guards using cheap tricks.
In this article we will look at the seven most common Paypal scams that will help you stay alert and understand when "something is wrong". The first 4 scenarios concern the sellers and the remaining 3 the buyers. Let's see:
FRAUD AFFECTING SELLERS
Fraud No. 1. Open a PayPal account through a buyer's link
Scenario
If you are a seller but do not have a PayPal account, a prospective buyer may suggest that they want to buy your products but make the payment through PayPal. In fact, in order to "sweeten" you, he could suggest you as a motivation, a mass purchase of your products. However, when you tell him that you do not have a PayPal account, he will send you a link to open a new account there.
What is happening in the background.
In fact, the buyer has no interest in buying anything from you. He just wants to open a PayPal account using his link. This is actually a phishing attack, as the link that sends you is false and redirects you to a fake PayPal site to sign up.
All the information you enter on this site will be sent directly to the fraudster. This includes your email address, home address, phone number, full credit card details, security question, password, and many other kinds of sensitive information.
The scam can use all this information to map your other accounts, including your bank. It can also use your card details to make purchases or to cheat other users.
How to protect yourself from this fraud?
As a general rule consider that you should never open or login to an account that has been given to you in one message email. Always to you go to the official website and register or connect from there. In addition to this, you should pay attention to the complete URL of the phishing site, which would not be "paypal.com", but something close and similar, like "paypall.com" (which is obviously false).
Fraud No. 2. Send the purchased product to a different address
Scenario
The buyer will tell you that he wants to buy something for a friend of his and wants you to send it as a surprise gift. Therefore, although he will make the payment through his PayPal account, the purchased item must be delivered to a different address from the one he has stated to Paypal.
What's going on in the background?
PayPal assumes no liability for the delivery of goods not delivered to the address registered by the individual user when he opened the PayPal account. Expecting that you do not know this information, the buyer will tempt you to make delivery to a different address (he may even accept to add extra money as a metaphor).
When you deliver the item, the buyer will complain to Paypal that he never received the item. Now, even if you have the acknowledgment of receipt from the shipping company, PayPal can do nothing about it, as it has not been sent to the address entered in its database. The buyer will get his money back, and you just lose your product.
How to protect yourself from this fraud?
It is clearly written in PayPal's security guidelines that you should never deliver a product to a different address from that registered with PayPal. Do not violate this rule and thus reduce the risk of such requests.
Fraud NOXUMX. Excessive payment
Scenario
The customer bought some products from you but paid extra money. Then he will send you a message that he accidentally sent you extra money and you should return the extra money back, by phone check or use any other, unsafe, payment method.
What's going on in the background?
The buyer can use a hacked PayPal account to make the payment. When the real owner of the account will find out about the transport money, he will ask PayPal for a full refund.
PayPal will return the money to the PayPal account owner and you will logically take your product back (or you may not have it sent yet). However, you will lose the extra money you have sent to the crook.
How to protect yourself?
If you have started a transaction through Paypal, stay with it until the whole process is completed. After all, Paypal can only offer protection for transactions made using its platform. For such applications, you will have to refund the full amount and ask them to send the correct payment again. You can also let PayPal know about your customer's requirement and ask them to handle the situation.
Fraud No. 4. The buyer arranges the transport company
Scenario
The buyer wants to buy your product and deliver it to the address registered in his Paypal account, but the delivery is via the carrier proposed by the buyer and is willing to arrange this on a procedural basis. It can be justified that this will help save you money or ensure a safer delivery.
What's going on in the background?
When you let the buyer arrange the shipping process with the shipping company of their choice, the buyer essentially gains complete control over the process Missions. It can easily reroute the transfer to a different address than the one registered with PayPal. He can then claim that the product was not delivered to his headquarters and so he wants his money back. And you won't be able to prove it.
How to protect yourself?
As a seller, you should take full responsibility for the payment and transportation of your products. Do not accept favors from the buyer or do something that does not fall under the PayPal process or your control. Explain to the buyer that PayPal will handle the payment and that you will arrange the shipment.
FRAUD THAT THE BUYERS ARE
Scam No. 5. Send money as "friends and family"
Scenario
To complete the payment, the vendor may ask you to send the payment as "friends and family" (friends and family). It can also claim that this will help you avoid transaction fees and may even tempt you with a discount.
What's going on in the background?
The friends and family method is only available for transactions between close friends as well as for your family members, whom you trust and do not sell products. Therefore, the “PayPal Market Protection PolicyDoes not apply to this transaction.
If you use this method to buy goods then the seller may refuse to dispatch his goods after receiving your money. You can not claim against these payments and communication with PayPal will not be fruitful.
How to protect yourself?
PayPal's "friends and family" method should only be used to transfer money between trusted friends and family, where there will be no further claim against Paypal. If you want to have the protection of the company for buying and selling transactions then use only the method "Goods or services" which is a purely business transaction.
Fraud No. 6. Seller sends a fake invoice
Scenario
For mass purchases, the vendor can tell you that he will send a PayPal invoice and you should make a payment in accordance with this. You will then receive an e-mail from PayPal with a link to an invoice for the total amount.
You will then need to sign in through your PayPal credentials to make the payment (even if you are already signed in). Usually, nothing happens when you sign in, or you may see an error.
What's going on in the background?
The seller's invoice that has been sent to you is false, and is not the official PayPal address you received via email. When you click on the link in the email, it will redirect you to a fake webpage with a fake PayPal login field. Your credentials will be sent to the scammers and your account will be hacked.
How to protect yourself?
You should be a little cautious about invoices from unreliable sources. First, make sure the address from which you received the message is "support@paypal.com". As with the No 1 scam, make sure that the website on the invoice is "www.paypal.com" and not similar. More details about fake emails are at the end of this article.
Fraud No. 7. They offer you PayPal payment, but they turn you into a different method
Scenario
The seller says he accepts PayPal payments. However, when you are ready to complete the payment, the seller will ask you to use a different method, such as Western Union or a wire transfer. You will probably talk about a lower pay or even give you a discount on using the different method.
What's going on in the background?
PayPal offers protection to the buyer and ensures that you get the goods you expect. Most other payment methods do not offer such protection, and when the money is sent, they can no longer be recovered.
So the seller can try to trick you into using a different method for a better price and maybe not sending you the product. Using the method of choosing them, you will not be able to submit any claim and you will lose your money.
How to protect yourself?
Protection is probably the main reason that most users use PayPal for their transactions. Insist on the original terms and tell the seller that you will make the payment only through PayPal. No matter how sweet a second deal imagines, it is not worth the risk of losing all your money.
additional information
While these are the most common frauds, you should not forget that forged emails are often used for PayRal scams. There are hundreds of ways fraudsters can use fake emails to deceive PayPal users. However, the following basic rules should help you prevent such traps. So see a few clues that can help you locate false emails with a PayPal trap:
- E-mail will not be from support@paypal.com
- He asks confidential informationsuch as bank details, PayPal login information, full name, the answer to your security question, and other similar information that could be used.
- PayRal will never ask you to install or download anything.
- False email will not be addressed to you by your name. PayRal knows your name and its genuine emails always mention it.
- The content of the messages creates a sense of urgency. For example, "Click now to save $ 50 from the coupon" or "We have noticed suspicious activity in your account, click on the link below to confirm it" (We have noticed suspicious activity in your account, click the link below to confirm).
PayPal also has an extensive guide on how to identify fake emails and fakes websites of PayPal. You can please refer to it for more details.
Epilogue
The best protection for fraud through PayPal is to read the company's rules, stay with them, and never complete a transaction that you have doubts about. PayPal offers simple instructions for both sellers and buyers about its market protection policy. We repeat that you should read them if you want to avoid scams.
The 7 common scams I have listed above should give you an idea of how they can trick you.