donation scam

donationscam
Contributor
Contributor
Purchased an item and seller made it as donation. I didn't notice it was being sent as a donation and not a purchase and now paypal wont refund my donation, because it wasn't a purchase payment. The website no longer exists to contact anyone about the purchase. Bottom line I guess is Paypal supports scammers. If you want to use your Paypal account to scam people, just do it as a donation and Paypal will protect your scam. I would not recommend Paypal to and friend or family members. I will also be shutting down my account and never using Paypal again. No limitations on donation scams.
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2 REPLIES 2

KimfromMA
New Community Member

This exact scenario happened to me as well.  I purchased a pair of shoes from a seemingly legitimate UK website and it wasn't until I received the PayPal notification via email that I was made aware that the transaction was categorized as a donation.  I received no email from the seller other than one that listed the transaction and item purchased.  I never received the item.   It did not take long for me to realize that this was likely a scam.  The same day I made the transaction a debit card that I link to this account was hacked - out of the UK.  I attempted to get a refund from PayPal and they refused - because it was a donation.  I am livid.  I am going to contact my bank as I found the website and have two separate email addresses -  but I have a feeling I am out of the money.  

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donationscam
Contributor
Contributor
Yeah, paypal actually tried telling me that i clicked the donation button and it was my own fualt. I contacted my bank and got my funds back about 3 months after my scam purchase.
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