The police warn against using “PayPal Friends” as a payment method for online transactions. Since its introduction, fraudsters have been exploiting a weakness of the payment provider due to the carelessness of Internet customers - which is actually supposed to be a strength of the payment system.

The PayPal friends scam

Most sellers may have no ill intentions if you suggest using the Friends and Family feature to complete the transaction. Because there are actually no PayPal fees for the sellers. As a rule, they also offer the items for a little less money.

Unfortunately, some fraudsters use the function to circumvent the buyer protection that applies to payments for goods and services: They pay using PayPal's “Friends and Family” function and usually receive a message that the items have been shipped. Because the package still hasn't arrived, contact the seller again. You will either only receive a message that the package has been sent or you will be completely ignored. If you inform the platform about this, it will point out that buyer protection does not apply to the PayPal Friends transaction.

The police warn of loss of money

“In short: the money is gone!” – The police advise: Don’t transfer money “to friends and family” using PayPal if you don’t really know the recipients – not even if the sellers say the price will change thereby reduce. If necessary, accept a slightly higher price to cover the transaction fees incurred through the Goods and Services feature.

Are you affected by the scam? Inform PayPal immediately if you cannot find an amicable solution to the problem with the seller. Always include the process number. In some cases, PayPal may block fraudulent accounts and in such cases will be willing to refund you the purchase price paid. Especially if sellers do not respond to your attempts to contact you, you should also file a criminal complaint with the police.

Further information can also be found at www.verbraucherzentrale.de/

Source:

Press portal

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