Paypal Scam: Friends and Family Payment for a goods transaction

[kcflanders]

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, 

1. This payment is not for a good transaction. 
2. 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?

[Bahiakuldip]

No, I didnt contact ic3.gov because i honestly feel like that wont do anything. Also, I meant keep calling PayPal and try getting the money back.

[mishy1950]

I too suffered and know how you are suffering - $1,500 +.

Firstly, PP's system wasn't showing payment had been made so I tried both G & S and F & F thinking that once bothe Ebay and Paypal had given me private sellers' email, they may then classify them as F & F - especially when that finally showed on their system - I have seen another PP employee admit their system does not show immediately.

Second, PP do not make sincere efforts to stop payment when first informed but say they have to wait on the seller's response - just giving them time to disappear into the sunset with the money.

Mostly, PP do not make a marked RED ALERT effort to warn new or elderly or IT illiterate, that F & F will NOT give the so much advertised Buyer Protection.

Ebay who own PP, run you around with form letters and 'fob offs' hoping you will just give up.

Of course they had to rebate the first %1,500+ under G & S.

Thankfully, I had paid with my Mastercard and though it took a month, they refunded the second amount.

It is not just the money, one would survive, but the helplessness of being lost in a corrupt system that no one (police) seem to sincerely care or do anything about stopping these criminals who go off laughing because the PP & Ebay systems actually help them.

[Iola_hansen]

How did you go about getting your money back? I too have Mastercard and they said since I authorized the charge they can't do anything about it

[mishy1950]

PayPal_Frank

Administrator

Posts: 1425

Kudos: 155

Accepted Solutions: 45

Known Issue: Payments not appearing on sender or receiver's account

[ New ]

‎10-05-2015 10:40 AM - edited ‎10-06-2015 06:39 AM

Update:  Engineers are reporting the issue with transaction delays was fixed late last night (around 2am ET).  Typically a transaction may take a few minutes to appear in the account activity and we are back to that normal behavior.  Thanks for your patience during this issue.

Hi everyone,

Our engineers are aware of an issue right now where payments are not immediately appearing in the account activity for both senders and recipients.  We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and our engineers are working to fix this as soon as possible.

This issue appears to be causing a delay in when the payments appear.  The transaction is initiated, it's just not appearing on the website for up to 4-5 hours in some cases (the time appears to be random).

I will update this post when we have more information and to let everyone know when the fix has been implemented.

Thanks for your patience and understanding.

- Frank

If you see a helpful post, please accept it as a solution or give the author kudos. Thanks!

[cc5]

I sent a payment thru friends and family paypal said they can't do anything as it was thru friends and family...can the police do anything

[Abbssss]

Help me please it's only three day into the new year and I'm a victim

[GOONERJJ]

Hello,

I am in the same situation and was just wondering if you had managed to get your money after this?

Thanks 

[kcflanders]

I was refunded my full payment. If you paid thru Friends and Family the only way you are able to file a dispute is thru calling customer service. I explained the situation to customer service, had the actual email where the seller requested payment thru F & F. In my case, the items were not thru Ebay. After I explained in detail what happened. The customer service rep opened the dispute, but with very little detail of what transpired and no mention of the F &  F payment request. After the seller responded, my claim was denied. At which point I called customer service again, and filed an appeal, with the same details I gave the first time. After a couple days my appeal was granted and I received a full refund. BUT, I believe only reason the appeal was granted is because I have been a customer for nearly 10 years and have litteraly thousands of transactions.

Good Luck!

[GOONERJJ]

Hello, Thanks for the quick reply! I tried to contact them and they said they couldn't do anything about it as it had gone through family and friends.. They were going to send an email to the guy and if he doesn't reply the only thing I can do is try to take legal actions against him Thanks again

[avibp]

If your cheating PayPal out of their fees, they could sue you in civil court. (contract violation)

However, when you are conspiring with the seller/buyer to cheat paypal, your conspiring to commit fraud which is a real crime (not a civil issue) and since this involves the banking industry, well... never mind.  I'll just say that I don't like felonies my self

-Just saying