World Health Organization COVID Fund Invoice Scam

HollowKnights2k
Contributor
Contributor

Hey world. Not sure if I'm the only one receiving this invoice but just got an invoice for $20.00 from something called the Respond Fund for World Solidarity from the World Health Organization.  Paypal won't let me dispute this invoice nor would I presume the WHO would send dubious invoices for donations through Paypal so I'm assuming it's a scam. Just curious if this is being sent out to others. Thanks!

 

 

 

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483 REPLIES 483

Dazed_d
Contributor
Contributor
not sure if it will translate my reply to Danish but please try it or hopefully someone else can translate for you
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rantypants
Contributor
Contributor

I don't understand why I can't dispute this invoice. This is **bleep**. It 100% does not come from the WHO, and they state that explicitly on their website

 

https://www.who.int/about/scamalert/en/

 

Dear Paypal, I am not paying this fraudulent $50 invoice, and the fact that your system doesn't allow me to dispute a spurious invoice is a serious usability problem.

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ChrisCooling
Contributor
Contributor

@rantypants @Folesen @Colina2 @Kellybp 

A Paypal coding bug causes the cancel button to not work on the web. To cancel any unwanted invoice: At the end of the URL after you click to cancel the invoice manually type ?action=cancel and enter. Using the website, you should then be able to cancel this fraudulent invoice.

The reason it is 'still happening' is because Paypals system allows any user to invoice any other user. They would need to disable this system to stop it. Or at least, implement additional measures to prevent this...(not allowing new users to invoice others, making this a paid feature, etc.)

 

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Colina2
Contributor
Contributor

 So what?  I have managed to cancel the invoice. However, this sort of scam should not be allowed. These people should not be allowed to generate invoices. I wonder just how much money they have managed to get from unsuspecting PayPal users thinking they are donating to a genuine cause. It is disgusting. And I am seriously thinking of cancelling my account with PayPal. I have reported this on the French media. I hope there will be a better response. 

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Folesen
Contributor
Contributor
Thanks a lot! It worked 👍
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Dazed_d
Contributor
Contributor

After a frustrating 2 days of trying to get PayPal to address the issue only to have them tell mw repeatedly to ignore it I decided to resolve this issue myself. This is my account I use for my ebay selling. I immediately removed all forms of payments first to rpevent PayPal from automatically paying the invoice. 

I tried to cancel the invoice on the Activity Screen by hitting the cancel button which has been modified by the invoice creator to only direct link to the invoice/payment screen with NO cancel option. After a brief trial & error, I hovered over the cancel button, noted the correct cancel action string. I then went to the address bar at the top of my browser & added the correct string without any spaces at the end of the address already there. I added the following

?action=cancel

 

This populated the cancel invoice box on screen & I added the following text provided by another community member SHNM - 

"I did not initiate this invoice and I do not agree to this payment.  I am canceling the invoice.  DO NOT invoice me again."

 

Invoice cancelled & now has a strikethrough "I did not initiate this invoice and I do not agree to this payment.  I am canceling the invoice.  DO NOT invoice me again."

 

I hope this helps anyone else with this issue.

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lmwalls03
New Community Member

Thank you so much, I was finally able to cancel this pending payment. I was getting so frustrated. I'm glad I turned to the PayPal Community and saw I wasn't the only one going through the same issue. Following your steps, I was finally able to successfully cancel this. I wish PayPal would have sent an email out in regards to this scam.

 

Thanks again!

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Dazed_d
Contributor
Contributor
I had a lengthy chat with several of PayPal's customer service reps. They simply did not want to tale it seriously & only offered solutions for typical issues not the Scam. I'm glad the address fix worked for you as well
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Kntt2006
Contributor
Contributor

Thank you SO much!  Worked like a charm!

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Concerned29
New Community Member
I had one this morning for $50.00
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