PayPal Scams: Fake Emails, Seller Tricks and Friends and Family Risks

PayPal scams usually fall into three groups: fake emails and texts that look like PayPal and steal your login, tricks aimed at sellers such as overpayments and “use my shipper” requests, and buyers or sellers who push you to pay with Friends and Family, which PayPal says isn’t covered by its Purchase Protection. The safest habit is simple: never act on a link or phone number in a message. Open the PayPal app or type paypal.com yourself, and check whether the payment, request or problem really appears in your account.

If you’ve already been caught, don’t be hard on yourself. PayPal scams are designed to look exactly like normal PayPal activity, and some even use PayPal’s own system to send messages.

Why PayPal is a common target

PayPal is trusted, widely used and connected to bank accounts and cards, so an email that looks like it’s from PayPal gets opened. Scammers use that trust in two ways: by impersonating PayPal to steal logins and money, and by using PayPal as the payment method in a scam where the real trick is elsewhere, such as a fake listing.

This guide covers scams that trick you into acting. If someone has already got into your account, follow our guide on what to do if your PayPal account is hacked first.

Common PayPal scams

Fake PayPal emails and texts

A message says your account is limited, a payment is on hold, you’ve received money, or there’s been suspicious activity. A link goes to a page that looks like PayPal’s login, and anything you enter goes to the scammer. PayPal says its genuine emails address you by your first and last name or your business name, not “Dear customer”, and that it won’t ask for sensitive details such as your full password or card number by email. Our guide on how to spot a phishing email covers the wider warning signs.

Fake invoices and money requests

Some scammers send real PayPal invoices or money requests, so the email genuinely comes from PayPal, with a note telling you to call a number to dispute a charge. That version has its own guide: the PayPal invoice scam.

Overpayment scams against sellers

A buyer “accidentally” pays you more than the asking price and asks you to refund the difference, or to send the extra to their shipping agent. Sometimes the original payment is funded fraudulently and later reversed. Sometimes it never existed, and the “payment” was a fake email. Either way, you lose the money you sent. This works the same way as fake check scams.

Shipping and address tricks

A buyer pays, then asks you to ship to a different address, use their own courier, or mark an item as shipped before you’ve sent it. Others send a fake “PayPal” email saying the money is on hold until you provide a tracking number. These requests can leave you outside PayPal’s Seller Protection and without the item or the money.

“Pay by Friends and Family to avoid fees”

A seller on a marketplace or social media asks you to pay using Friends and Family, often saying it saves fees or is “faster”. PayPal says Friends and Family payments are meant for people you know and trust and aren’t eligible for Purchase Protection. If the item never arrives, there is usually no PayPal dispute route to fall back on.

Fake PayPal support

You search for a PayPal phone number, or call one in a suspicious message, and reach a fake agent. They ask for your login, a one-time code or remote access to “fix” the account or process a refund.

What PayPal’s protections do and don’t cover

PayPal’s own terms describe these programs in detail, and they change from time to time, so check the current version on PayPal’s site. In broad terms, as PayPal describes them:

Situation	How PayPal describes it
Buying goods and paying through Goods and Services or checkout	Eligible purchases may be covered by Purchase Protection if an item doesn’t arrive or is significantly not as described, subject to PayPal’s terms.
Paying with Friends and Family	Not eligible for Purchase Protection. Meant for sending money to people you know.
Selling and shipping an item	Seller Protection is available for eligible transactions, and generally depends on shipping to the address in the transaction details and keeping proof of shipment or delivery.
Refunding or sending money outside PayPal to a buyer	Money you send yourself, such as “returning” an overpayment, is generally not something PayPal can recover for you.

Warning signs of a PayPal scam

• A link or phone number in a message telling you to fix a problem urgently.
• A generic greeting in an email that claims to be from PayPal.
• A payment that you can’t see when you log in to PayPal yourself.
• A buyer who overpays and wants the difference back, or asks you to pay their shipper.
• Requests to ship to a new address after payment, or to use a courier the buyer arranges.
• A seller who insists on Friends and Family, crypto, gift cards or another app.
• Anyone asking for your password, a one-time code or remote access.

What to do right now if you’ve been scammed

1. Stop contact with the buyer, seller or “agent”. Don’t send any more money.
2. Log in to PayPal directly and change your password if you entered it on a fake page, then turn on two-step verification or a passkey.
3. Report the transaction through the dispute or report options inside your PayPal account. Report quickly, since PayPal’s dispute and claim windows are time-limited.
4. Call your bank or card issuer using the number on your card if a linked card or bank account was used, and ask about a dispute.
5. Don’t ship the item if you’re a seller and something feels off. Check the payment in your account first.
6. Remove remote-access software if you installed any at someone’s request.
7. Save the evidence: emails with full headers if you can, listing links, messages, profile names and transaction IDs.

Where to report PayPal scams

• PayPal: PayPal asks people to forward suspicious emails claiming to be from PayPal to phishing@paypal.com, and to report suspicious transactions from inside their account.
• The marketplace where the listing or buyer came from.
• The FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and the FBI’s IC3 at ic3.gov.
• 7726: forward scam texts to 7726 (SPAM).
• IdentityTheft.gov if you shared your Social Security number or ID documents.

Our guide on how to report a scammer explains how each route helps.

Getting your money back

Your chances depend on how you paid and how quickly you act.

• Goods and Services payments: open a dispute through PayPal and follow the process as PayPal describes it.
• Card-funded payments: if PayPal can’t help, ask your card issuer whether a chargeback is possible.
• Friends and Family payments: often hard to recover. Report it to PayPal anyway, and to your bank if it was funded from your account.
• Money sent outside PayPal, such as wires, gift cards or crypto: report it to the provider immediately. These are often hard or impossible to reverse.

Be wary of anyone who later offers to recover your PayPal money for a fee. That’s usually a second scam. See our guide to recovery scams.

A worked example

This is an illustrative scenario, not a real case. A furniture maker lists a handmade table online. A buyer messages quickly, doesn’t ask any questions, and says they’ve paid extra to cover their own mover. An email arrives, styled like PayPal, saying the funds are on hold until the seller sends the mover’s fee back and uploads a tracking number.

The seller:

1. Opens the PayPal app directly and sees no incoming payment.
2. Stops replying to the buyer and doesn’t send anything.
3. Forwards the fake email to phishing@paypal.com and reports the buyer’s profile on the marketplace.
4. Files a report at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

Common mistakes

• Trusting an email saying you’ve been paid without checking your account.
• Refunding an overpayment by sending money yourself.
• Paying a stranger with Friends and Family to save a fee.
• Shipping to an address the buyer gives you in a message instead of the one in the transaction details.
• Calling a number from a search ad or message for “PayPal support”.

How to protect yourself next time

• Buy from strangers with Goods and Services or a credit card, not Friends and Family.
• Sell with proof: ship to the address in PayPal’s transaction details, with tracking.
• Turn on two-step verification or a passkey and use a unique password.
• Check every “problem” in the app, never through the message.
• Read the buyer, not just the payment. Rushed deals, no questions and complicated shipping stories are warning signs.

Similar tricks appear on other platforms. See our guides to eBay scams and Venmo scams. If scammers are using your business name to run PayPal scams, read what to do if someone is impersonating you online, and if complaints about it are appearing in search results, our personal reputation management team can help you work out what can realistically be done.

Frequently asked questions

Does PayPal protect Friends and Family payments?

PayPal says Friends and Family payments aren’t eligible for Purchase Protection. Use them only for people you know and trust, and pay for goods with Goods and Services or checkout.

How can I tell if a PayPal email is real?

Don’t use the email’s links. Log in to PayPal yourself and see whether the message, payment or alert appears there. PayPal says its emails address you by your name, and it asks people to forward suspicious ones to phishing@paypal.com.

A buyer overpaid me on PayPal. What should I do?

Don’t send the difference back. Check your account directly to see whether the payment is real, and if it is, contact PayPal through your account rather than refunding outside PayPal yourself.

Can I get my money back from a PayPal scam?

Sometimes. Goods and Services payments can be disputed through PayPal, and card-funded payments may be disputed with your card issuer. Friends and Family payments and money sent outside PayPal are much harder to recover.