I got scammed: Appealing A Closed Case

[Ciara5]

Hi! On Nov 2 I sent money through the gogetfunding site and instantly realized through the confirmation email from PayPal that the email the site featured wasn't the same email the money got sent to. I looked that email up and realized it wasn't a personal email, it was a company email and it was a scam. I instantly issued a refund, but PayPal closed the case on Nov 4 saying that because the transaction was never authorized, they couldn't issue a refund. However, looking at my bank account again, I realized that the donation I initially sent to the scammer still came off my account after the dispute was closed, and now I can't reopen the case. I could really use some help because it should be easy to see that it's a scammer email (a <removed> one), and 683.68 came off my account, so it's a lot! I'd really appreciate any help on getting that money back.

[sharpiemarker · Accepted solution]

@Ciara5 

I have bad news...

Ineligible items and transactions under PayPal’s Purchase Protection program:

Payments for the following are not eligible for reimbursement under PayPal Purchase Protection:

• Real estate, including residential property.
• Financial products or investments of any kind.
• Businesses (when you buy or invest in a business).
• Vehicles, including, but not limited to, motor vehicles, motorcycles, recreational vehicles, aircraft and boats.
• Significantly Not as Described claims for wholly or partly custom-made items or an item purchased from a classified listing and picked up in person.
• Donations including payments on crowdfunding platforms.
• Items prohibited by the PayPal Acceptable Use Policy.
• For Item Not Received claims, items which you collect in person or arrange to be collected on your behalf, including items bought in a seller’s store location.
• Industrial machinery used in manufacturing.
• Anything purchased from, or an amount paid to, a government agency.
• Stored value items such as gift cards and pre-paid cards.
• Gambling, gaming and/or any other activity with an entry fee and a prize.
• Payments sent using PayPal’s friends and family functionality. 
• Payments sent using PayPal to any bill payment service.

• Payments made using PayPal Payouts and Mass Pay or guest checkout transactions (i.e. not sent using your PayPal account).

The part I don't understand is what PayPal said as the reason for closing the case:

"PayPal closed the case on Nov 4 saying that because the transaction was never authorized, they couldn't issue a refund"

What?

Do you mean they said it was never Unauthorized or is not considered an Unauthorized Payment?

Then, you filed an "Unauthorized Payment" report on the transaction?

Well, Unauthorized Payment claims are for reporting transactions made without your knowledge or permission. You indeed made this payment. No one broke into your PayPal account to make this payment. You did, albeit to a scammer.

Your other recourse, if you paid with a credit card is to file a chargeback through your card issuer.