Although PayPal is considered -and rightly so- one of the safest platforms to send and receive money, we know that this does not mean that it is infallible. Cybercriminals can try to exploit a series of elements so that their users end up biting and becoming victims of a scam or bank fraud.
In the following lines we are going to tell you which are the most frequent scams in PayPal and how to avoid, as far as possible, falling for them.
Phishing in Paypal
Phishing is a type of cyberattack in which the cybercriminal poses as a legitimate entity (in this case Paypal) to trick the victim into revealing sensitive personal information that can later be used against them.
In the case of PayPal, their phishing scams can be really common since, if deceived, the access data to the account is stolen and from there you can get your bank account details .
In a typical PayPal phishing scam, the victim receives an email claiming to be from PayPal customer service or a similar department, instructing them to log in to their account, usually using situations emergency (your account has been hacked/suspended, there is a pending charge, etc). Once they click the link and enter their information, the scammer takes control of your account .
In any case, you should never click on strange links or download attachments from unknown email addresses, and you can report any phishing emails you receive to phishing@paypal.com.
Advance payment scams
As they say “if something sounds too good to be true, it probably isn’t”. In this type of scam, the victim is contacted and the cybercriminal reports that you are about to receive some kind of unexpected money , from an inheritance from a remote relative, a random prize from a sweepstakes, to a grand launch of a new cryptocurrency. .
Most of the time, you need to send a relatively small payment to receive the money . Scammers usually say that this payment is necessary to cover legal expenses or a small transaction fee. Obviously, once the victim sends that payment, they never hear from the scammer again.
People keep falling for these scams. PayPal has anti-fraud protections, but some scams still go undetected, so never trust these types of messages.
Incorrect address and claim to PayPal
The goal is almost always the same in this type of scam: to cheat the seller and get a free product . A product is purchased through the PayPal payment gateway and a false address is knowingly entered.
The shipping company will mark the goods as undeliverable, at which point the scammer would contact that company and provide their real address. After that, with initial proof of undeliverability, they would file a claim with PayPal and request a refund.
PayPal has a pretty good seller protection program, which can be used to file complaints and resolve issues, but scammers still find ways to trick both the payment company and the seller. To avoid falling for this scam, only use delivery companies you trust and don’t let buyers dictate shipping terms and only ship items to confirmed addresses.
Fake charity
Trusting in the goodwill and generosity of people predisposes you to being able to scam them and earn easy money. For this, fake NGOs and similar fraudulent organizations are established. In the digital age, these types of scams often take place online, sometimes through PayPal.
A typical PayPal charity scam involves a cybercriminal sending emails requesting donations referencing an ongoing humanitarian disaster or natural catastrophe to ask unsuspecting people for money . Sometimes they create fake websites and Facebook pages, or impersonate a real organization in a phishing case.
Spotting these scams can be easy, for example if an email contains grammatical and spelling errors, it was probably written and sent by a cybercriminal using machine translation tools and not by a real humanitarian organization. Track down the real NGO and check that everything is in order if you want to have a nice gesture.
Fake PayPal invoices
In recent years, cybercriminals have focused on sending fake cryptocurrency invoices. What they do is imitate a real cryptocurrency exchange and count on the victim being inattentive enough to click and pay. Once they do, it’s too late: your money is gone.
You should be very careful when handling PayPal invoices and double check if they are really legitimate. If you fall for a scam, please contact support or open a dispute in PayPal’s resolution center.