Paypal Scam: Friends and Family Payment for a goods transaction

kcflanders
Contributor
Contributor

Has Paypal ever assisted anyone who was scammed by being asked for Friends and Family Payment for a goods transaction?

Paypal is very aware of this scam, for the average user the first time they've even heard of this time of transaction is when another member asks for them to send them money in that form. Usually something like "hey, can you send the money as friends and family? I can drop the price a couple bucks since I won't be charged the fee." 

 

Paypal can easily eliminate this problem by requiring a person to check a box acknowledging, 

  1. This payment is not for a good transaction. 
  2. I am aware I have no ability to dispute this transaction once sent.

So why has Paypal made this so easy for scammers?

What actions will Paypal take if there is a problem?

What are the chances a State Attorney General might take some action to make the two bullet points above happen?

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119 REPLIES 119

Smfsmf
Member
Member
I did not realize there really was another option. The seller told me to pay using friends and family. I did not understand the difference truly. There are all different kinds of friends close and far away so I did not realize that.
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leoouyang
Member
Member

i have the same problem, how did you cancel it and put is to dispute?

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Saraaugust540
Contributor
Contributor
For me I didn’t even know there was a difference and this lady bralan lohgen used a bait on me. I thought I was buying an I phone for really cheap which should of been my first hint but obviously I’m obvious or something and was more focused on the new phone. She had texted me saying the listing went down because she gave her phone number out but we could go through PayPal. She requested money from me and had it set to family and friends already. Once I paid the first time she then proceeded to tell me that she worked for ups and that she thought she could get free shipping, but had been told to charge me because she couldn’t. So I sent this scam artist who lives in Memphis Tennessee and works at Hampton inn and suites at Beale street ( I searched her Facebook which is under the name “LilBit Ashanti” if you guys wanna look her up ) almost 200$. After I realized my mistake I called PayPal frantic and they told me there is nothing they can do because of the transition type. That’s not all either. Not to long after I started texting this lady trying to appeal to her empathy because background info I’m 18 I’m a waitress at a hole in the wall restaurant so I don’t make much. I kept asking for a refund and I thought she blocked me until she texted me asking if PayPal support texted me yet. I said no then less then 5 minutes later I get a message from “Jessica” with a different number saying “ Hello this is Jessica with PayPal support chat I see you wanted to put a case on money that were sent without your permission I can help you with that I just need to verify some information“ to which I responded with the situation I was in and that I never had the chance to file a claim (I didn’t mention I did in fact call PayPal but they refused to help me) so obviously I was (and still am) very upset, and knew this was part of the scam. But they were determined to get as much possible from me. This lady actually replied this “ Can I verify your card number name on your account expiration date and security code” to which I sent pretty much a page of would you like my mother’s maiden name too? And there is no way I’m gonna send you my card number you can have the last 4 digits To verify whatever u want. I took screenshots of all the messages and tried again going to PayPal support with proof that she not only scammed me after not sending what I bought but then tried again by impersonating a PayPal support member and trying to steal my card info. PayPal support responded to me “ we understand and apologize because we have no authority over personal payments.” So at this point I’m stuck. I called my bank who said they have no jurisdiction over PayPal and PayPal who doesn’t care about the entire situation with documented proof and instead decided to lay over and watch it happen (not blaming the nice reps who were trying to help me blaming PayPal’s completely messed up policy I’m sorry but no matter what payment it is you should ALWAYS have protection if you can provide proof of a scam especially.) So now I have to make an official police report which is fine because I honestly want this lady to face the consequences of stealing from anyone let alone me. But the fact that I have had to go so far just to get a tiny bit of restitution that I may not even get sucks hard. I hope this reply gives some of you guys some insight Incase you in a similar situation. Just don’t bother with PayPal help they won’t do anything to actually help you I. These situations it’s best to go to your local police and if possible (because a lot of internet scammers are trying to steal your card info which is a form of identity theft which has much more severe consequences then petty theft like jail time kind of consequences btw.) some cases are even able to be taken to federal court... none of which promises any restitution heads up. So if you guys have any advice for what I should do... because I’ve exhausted my options and I know who and where she is but she still might get away with stealing from me... idk learn from my mistakes I guess
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I got scammed for 65$ yesterday by someone telling me to pay using this option, what should I do this amount of money is a lot for me!
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kernowlass
Esteemed Advisor
Esteemed Advisor

@wholesomkenshi 

 

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.

You also 'risk' having your account limited as using that option for purchasing goods is against Paypal rules.

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.




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kcflanders
Contributor
Contributor

So, turns out Paypal can, if they want, file a dispute with a seller in this situation after all. I did just that by calling the customer service number. This after trying to file a dispute myself online thru my account and getting the message "Disputes for Friends and Family Transactions are not allowed" 

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kernowlass
Esteemed Advisor
Esteemed Advisor

If i bought from a friend i would probably pay cash.

 

But the optimal word is "buy", if you are buying then you would use the goods option.

 

You would only use the friends / family option if you were sending them a gift or paying them back for something.

 

And no my friends would certainly not rip me off.

 

Yes they could implement it OR you could READ the user agreement part on buyer protection BEFORE you start buying so you are aware of how you are protected.

 

They can't "file a dispute" but they can ask the seller to refund you. However if the seller refuses then paypal will not do under their buyer protection scheme.


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kcflanders
Contributor
Contributor

Surely you are aware of people trying to avoid Paypal fees by requesting someone send the payment thru Friends and Family???

So do you feel if someone is naive enough to fall for that they simply should have no recourse? 

What argument do you have against the solution I proposed?

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kernowlass
Esteemed Advisor
Esteemed Advisor

Yes i am aware of people trying to evade fees, and if they asked me to send via friends family to evade those fees i would say NO.

 

Why would I agree to someone trying to scam paypal by not paying their fees when they are selling goods?

 

Yes i am afraid they would have no recourse, if  i can read buyer protection rules before buying and seller protection rules before selling then why can't everyone else?

 

I have no argument against the solution except if folks are buying goods then they should know not to use that option.


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jzajoy1
New Community Member

these replies honestly make me lose hope in this world and annoys me so much because just because you don't, doesn't mean nobody else does. lots of people pay through friends and family to a business to save money because most of the time, they're not scammers. occasionalyl there are scammers however and the author of this question/post had valid and common questions

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