I've been scammed

[Amber77]

Hi, I was just wondering if someone could help me. Yesterday I paid someone £200 for a phone they were selling on facebook marketplace. After I had sent them the money on paypal, they deactivated their account and removed me so that I could not contact them. The transaction is in my recent activity. Yesterday I began a dispute but the only option on the menu was "unauthorised transaction" so i selected that option and explained how I'd been scammed. The case has now been closed after one day as the transaction was not unauthorised however that was the only option I had to select. The transaction was authorised because it was me who sent the money; but I have not received my item and the seller has literally disappeared! I'm sure there's something that can be done to solve this as the seller surely shared details in order to create a Paypal account. My friend believes the seller won't receive the money until I have confirmed that I have received my item - but I am unsure! I believe they may now have also deactivated their paypal account too!

[kernowlass]

@Amber77 

I guess you must have paid using the friends/family option???

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.