Stupidly got scammed

[lilmermaid11]

I recently went through paypal for an item I saw online and was told I had to pay through friends and family since the person did not have a business paypal for goods and services.  This seemed to make sense at the time which now I realize was very dumb of me.  Paypal is pretty much telling me to take the loss and do better next time.  It's looking like this is all I can do but is there any corporate or higher up number I can call to maybe try to get a little sympathy and plead my case?  I find it a little silly that the only dispute that can be done for friends and family is unauthorized access.  Scam should at least be an option and if money can't be refunded these people should at least have their accounts reported in some way.  

[kernowlass]

@lilmermaid11 

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.