Friends and Family scam

[Remi4791]

I’ve done the classic and been scammed through friends and family, this was done through my debit card so I contact my bank to cancel the payment. My question is how does it work on PayPal? Will I still need to fund this payment anyway?

[kernowlass · Accepted solution]

@Remi4791 

A friends / family (or gift payment) is intended as a transfer of funds from family or friends to one another. For this reason, there is no processing fee when payment is made with bank or PayPal balance.
However as it is a gift payment, there is also no Buyer protection as no goods or services should have been exchanged.

If he was not a close mate or family member you should never use that option as it enables the seller to evade paying his paypal fees and negates your buyer protection at the same time.

You would also not be able to open a dispute apart from one citing an unauthorised transaction but that would be automatically closed as you did authorise the initial payment.

Be careful as using that option for purchasing goods is against Paypal rules and can lead to account limitation.

If you funded your paypal payment via a credit card then contact your card issuer and see if they will help you but unfortunately they may decline as well as it was a gift payment.

[Ecko_87]

I have also just been scammed by this PayPal charges a fee for this transaction tho, what is this fee paying for if I’m not getting and protection ??

[kernowlass]

@Ecko_87 

Its free if you fund it from funds in your balance OR a bank account.

You only pay a fee if you fund the payment via a card, then you pay the card issuers processing fee.

And why would you need protection if you are paying a family member or a close mate?