To avoid PayPal scams, don’t give personal information or download attachments from unsolicited emails. PayPal will never ask for this information via email. Be cautious of offers to buy items for more than the asking price on websites like eBay or Craigslist. If you receive a suspicious email, forward it to [email protected] and do not click on any links. Another scam involves a buyer offering more money than the asking price but refusing to pay through the normal payment process, then reversing the charge after receiving the item.
PayPal scams are commonplace, but you can virtually eliminate the possibility of becoming a victim by familiarizing yourself with the most popular scams. These scams often start with an email asking you to sign in or download an attachment or requesting personal information, or the email may claim to sell an item for more money than it’s worth. The real PayPal company says it will never ask for personal information via email or ask its customers to download a file. Also, be wary of anyone offering to buy a product listed on Ebay®, Craigslist® or other websites for more than the asking price. It is definitely a scam and the tip should be that he or she does not want to deal locally or go through the usual payment exchange through the website where the article is posted.
Fraudsters asking for personal information to log in and acquire an account are nothing new. In fact, asking outright for your login information while claiming to work for PayPal works often enough that some scammers don’t bother making the email official. Usually, however, these emails look official but start with “Dear PayPal Customer” or a variant instead of using your full name or company name. PayPal recommends forwarding the email to [email protected] and then deleting it. If there is a link, do not click it, as it will most likely lead to a fake PayPal website that collects login information.
Scams similar to PayPal initiated via email also usually ask for login information or harvest it via a fake website. In a PayPal scam, the scammer asks the PayPal customer to download an attachment for security or similar reasons. This file is usually designed to collect your PayPal login information, but depending on the software you have installed, it may be able to collect all login information entered on that computer. Again, the best way to stop a PayPal scammer is to forward the email to PayPal, but you can also make friends and family aware of PayPal scams.
Other PayPal scams may be less obvious to most people. A scam often involves large amounts of money and begins with a PayPal customer attempting to sell an item on Craigslist®, Ebay® or other popular Internet stores. The scammer then sends a message offering the seller more money than he asked for, but refuses to pay in cash or go through the normal internet store payment process. If the seller agrees, the scammer receives the item and then reverses the charge. This PayPal scam generally doesn’t work if the seller sends the item to the address on the scammer’s Paypal account after waiting until the payment clears and documents that the package has been sent.
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