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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,
- This payment is not for a good transaction.
- 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?
Solved! Go to Solution.
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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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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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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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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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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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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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