World Health Organization COVID Fund Invoice Scam

[HollowKnights2k]

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!

[clyde72]

I an email and then found this in my account summary.

[koochikanah]

I spoke with a Paypal representative (just now), it is a legit email from Paypal.  Rep said it is nothing to be alarmed about, and account is in good(safe) standing.  I told rep to stop sending solicititing and sending this **bleep**.  Rep did not directly respond to my complaint, but instead gave instrutctions how I can block sender from contacts list, BUT the sender isnt even on my contacts list!     

[ChrisCooling]

I also spoke with Paypal Support on Twitter, and they confirmed this is a legit invoice donation request from the WHO. 

[ChrisCooling]

Who else has donated to Wikipedia? This is the only thing I can think of as to where they may have gotten my Paypal email. 

[clyde72]

So they are allowing WHO to just send everyone an invoice, whether we agreed to donate or not???

[C-Ann]

WOW! I kind of thought it was real, but then I've had a Pay Pal account for close to 20 years and this has never happened to me before and we have had many terrible disasters that needed funding within those years. Humm, what's different now, besides it being an election year? Civil unrest in the USA, anarchy, demands to defund the police, a desire for Globalization by some powerful people worldwide. What's next? You know they are not going to stop there. Better keep your eyes open and not just listen to the main stream media and the garbage on social media that can be written by anyone in any country.

[Nikkibyrd]

I just received a request from this SCAM for $35.00.  I thought my account was hacked, working on changing password, security questions and so on.  I also figured out how to cancel the fake invoice.  If this bogus organization tricks only a few people into "donating", they will make millions.  Paypal should figure out a way to block such scams.

[ChrisCooling]

@Nikkibyrd Nobody's going to make millions. There aren't that many people receiving them. Evidence indicates it is likely multiple people sending them. 

One of Paypals main features is the ability to send an invoice to anyone with an email address. As far as this particular scam, I could think of three or four ways for them to easily stop it, but it's such a small scale thing I doubt they care-also my anecdotal experiences researching this for a week lead me to believe Paypal is barely operating right now with the pandemic. 

[gummibear363]

I too just received the same message (PayPal Invoice for WHO for $35.00 "donation", which I have not and will not authorize). PayPal should NOT allow ANYONE / COMPANY to set up unsolicited invoicing. Why are they doing this? If I get another one of these bogus invoices or this is just the beginning of PayPal's new business model, I will have no choice but to cancel my PayPal account, which would be a shame as I have had it for several years, but I will cancel and will most likely never return. I have enough to worry about, don't need to start worrying about PayPal's aiding and abetting scam or unscrupulous business practices.

[SJacquel]

Ok so I successfully cancelled both invoices on my account! You have to log into your account from a computer... it won’t work from the mobile site or via the app! Go to activity in your PayPal account and you should see a cancel button... click it and it’ll take you to the invoice and a message will pop up to cancel and to send an cancellation email to yourself!!! You’re welcome