You receive an email from PayPal that you’ve been paid. Without thinking twice, you ship merchandise to your new customer, thankful for their business. The only problem is, they never paid you at all! Instead, you’ve now been a victim to one of the many PayPal scams striking users daily.
Unfortunately, PayPal scams are frequent enough that the site devotes entire pages to help their users avoid them. We will give you the quick and easy cheat sheet to PayPal scams, that the scammers don’t want you to know about!
PayPal scams often operate through fake emails and payment schemes. Although we will explore the types of email that are most common below, a safe bet is to check the “reply to” email address for any PayPal emails you receive.
Downloading the PayPal app from Google Play or the Apple iTunes Store will make it easier to turn on account alerts and check the app quickly. As with most online scams, scammers are after one of 2 things (or both at once): your data and money!
Problem with Your Account
You receive an email, phone call, or text saying that there is a problem with your account and you must go to a specific link and verify your password and information. The link you are sent to is a fake spoofed website that steals your personal/account information. The scammer can then commit identity fraud or access your bank accounts.
Advance Fee
This occurs when a scammer says they will send you a large payment or gift, so long as you send them a small fee for registration, legal documents, or to verify your identity. This is a scam, and the scammer never intended on doing anything more than stealing your money!
Name Spoofing and Fake Links
Even though the email you receive looks legitimate, it is from a fake sender who wants your cash, access to your PayPal account, your private information, or all of the above. The websites you are sent to are called “phishing” sites, as they seek to steal your information.
Malware
If the email contains a download or directs you to a website with a download, you may have a virus/malware now loaded onto your computer.
Fake Charities
Fake charities may ask for you to pay through PayPal when the money only goes to scammers, not real charities. PayPal recommends checking a charity site is legitimate through CharityWatch.org, CharityNavigator.org, and other organizations.
Fake Job Scams
Scammers will post fake jobs on their website, and encourage you to apply for them. However, once you do they will steal your money through your PayPal.
Over-Payment Scam
According to PayPal:
Fraudsters may try to convince you that you've been paid more than you were owed.
Example:
Really, in both examples, they have used a stolen PayPal account to pay you and know the charges will be reversed in your account soon, leaving you out the device and money.
Verify the correct amount was paid. Not only will this help avoid overpayment scams, but also verify you were paid and did not just receive a fake email.
Check the “reply to” email address and hyperlink address to avoid fake or spoofed names or websites. A “real” PayPal email will be from the URL of email@Paypal.com. You will have to move your mouse over any links in the email to verify their actual domain address and check the full email address; not just the name is shown.
Go to Social Catfish and search for the suspected scammer’s name, photographs, email addresses, phone numbers, and more. If you find a match and it belongs to someone else, you are dealing with a stolen account or scammer using a fake identity.
It is possible to (virtually) guarantee that you will not be scammed, as long as you think through your actions online. Always stop and think twice about any strange emails or alerts that you receive.
Verify information with Social Catfish, do not provide anyone with money through other means, nor accept weird forms of payment. Your personal information is off-limits and should not be given to anyone online, as it makes you at risk of identity theft.
It can take a while to correct the damaging effects of a scam. The best way to ensure your data and PayPal account is safe before a fraud takes place. Search the name, email address, photographs or images, username, or phone number of anyone you suspect might be a scammer (or even if you don’t!) through Social Catfish!
It can take hours and weeks to repair identity theft or PayPal scams, but only seconds for Social Catfish to scour the web for information and provide you with detailed results.
As successful communication spreads, so does the rise of scammers and Skype has not been spared. Worse, some Skype scams are particularly cruel and disturbing involving everything … Read More
Awe summertime! There’s nothing better than this time of year. It is time for sunshine, relaxation, and lots of fun vacations. Unfortunately, it is also prime time for vacation s… Read More
When searching on Christian Mingle for love, many people might not realize that the person you meet online may not be who they say they are. Scammers are lurking every dating site … Read More
When shopping online for your Christmas gifts this holiday season, we want you to be aware of the scammers that plague the internet. They will do anything they can to steal your mo… Read More
Is your significant other cheating on you? Did your child secretly make a Tinder account? No matter what your dating situation or dilemma, read this a ...
Read More >>Have you ever wondered how to find out if someone has a dating profile, like your boyfriend, girlfriend or spouse? This situation comes up more oft ...
Read More >>Dating online is most people's go-to way to discover their prince charming or princess of their dreams. However, scammers know just how badly people w ...
Read More >>Are you looking for hidden online profiles? While it would be helpful if social network profiles were always easy to find, that often isn’t the case ...
Read More >>What is Catfishing on Ashley Madison? Ashley Madison is the best of what modern relationships have to offer the cheaters of the world. Their tag li ...
Read More >>You've been talking to someone online, and you start getting suspicions and you're getting some signs that you might be catfished. The person t ...
Read More >>0 Comments
Social Catfish is an online dating investigation service based in California, USA. We verify information to confirm if the person that you've met online is really who they say they are.
We do in depth checks using our own proprietary online tools to verify things like images, social profiles, phone numbers, emails, jobs and a lot more to make sure that you have the most information about the person that you've met online. We are the only company doing verification of public information such as jobs, phone numbers criminal checks as well as social profiles and images.
If you want to be aware of the latest news and catfish stories, subscribe to our newsletter!
