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?

[Sturthi]

I was scammed too.....I had no idea...helpless feeling......what a nice loophole for thieves to use..... My 16 year old son was ripped off for a hard earned $320.....

we we even traced the guy......got his name....email....and phone number.....

that's crooked period!.....not dumb....I'm new to PayPal.....never heard this policy...that's why I use PayPal.....for the protection buying from individuals and small companies.....don't need it with eBay etc.....don't need paypal anymore I guess

[DPCreations]

All you need to do is follow the rules for seller and buyer protection, like not using free money transfer for purchases and sales.

[Sturthi]

Wasn't trying to save any money or cut out pay pal.... That's how I was asked to pay....no matter how you or PayPal spin it it's illegal....this guy could be doing this over and over again.....**bleep** you with your condenscening attitude....u probably work for paypal

[Bahiakuldip]

How did you get the scammers information??

[Simon53612]

My son get scammed. It was by someone who regularly scams children. Children are vulnerable to this. It is fraud against minors and Paypal need to do something about it because, in effect they are supporting crime against children. The criminal at the other end even made a joke about the fact that my son couldn't do anything to get his money back because of this payment method, and because he is a minor. We also know that the person has done this to more than one person. They are still doing it right now. This is how. 1 - They pose as someone well known in social media and pay for a "followers" count so they appear authentic. 2 - They engage in a messaging conversation to establish that they are speaking to a child and to win the trust of the child. Scammer moves the conversation to a private conversation (e.g. "DM") 3 - on their site they mention that they are looking to sell something at a bargain price. 4 - the child enters into a negotiation on price 5 - the scammer then asks the child to pay there and then to secure the goods via Paypal, and steps through the settings required to make the payment (inc Friends and Family). 6 - scammer then goes quiet, and child gradually comes round to the fact that they've been defrauded. 7 - if you say anything publicly about this on the scammer's site they delete the post and block you. If you speak to them on the private communication they ignore you, reply abusively to you, or laugh and remind you that you can't do anything about being defrauded because of the policy. What disappoints me is that Paypal will not do something about this well known way for criminals to thieve from children. It isn't reasonable to expect children to understand terms and conditions even if they read them - how many adults have read and understood Apple's 70-odd pages for their store? It's also frankly very poor that a Paypal leave people and especially children vulnerable to abuse in this way.

[withershadow]

It's PayPal's responsibility to teach your children?  How about you monitor their internet activity and what they buy with their money online if they are so helpless and naive as to be taken advantage of?  What if the guy wasn't just after a few hundred bucks but trying to molest or kidnap your child?  It's paypal's job to monitor the safety of your children too?

Quit blaming everyone else for your own failure as a parent.

[Simon53612]

Hilarious. Somebody here is very angry about people who don't approve of fraud against chdren. My goodness. Since when did theft equate with poor parenting. That coo meant was the best laugh I've heard all day. Let's have some more of those please. That sort of mindless comment is proof of being raised by bad parents. What other stupid generalising maxims do you have for us? LOL.

[pixelpusher]

They do seem angry I'll give you that 😉 I'm siding on telling the kid to be more careful next time. Not paypal's fault, kids do stupid things constantly. The world is a crazy place It was a good lesson. I'm sure he will be a little more careful next time. My kids do stupid stuff, I let them figure it out as long as it's not going to harm them physically or mentally. It's just money... Work harder and learn from dumb unessasary losses. I bought a toy for my daughter that was stolen from her at school. She was really upset and wanted me to buyer her a new one. Is it the schools fault? She shouldn't have toys at school in the first place and she wasn't aware enough that people suck but now she knows. I told her no she wasn't getting another one cause she was careless with the one she let out of her sight. The problem is too many people are ready to blame their misfortune on someone else. The sooner you let them deal with it and realize they **bleep** up the better. From experience of doing a lot of stupid crap in life and my parents would always clean it up. I didn't pull my head out of my rear end till I was in my late 20s. Hard to figure that sort of thing out when your parents wipe your **bleep** for you as a man child. If they are going to play with money online like grown adults they better be prepared to loose it like one too. Just saying

[Digezy]

Happened to me last night. I've been using PayPal for years and never realized Friends and Family payments could not be disputed. After I realized I was duped I tried to start an inquiry and a banner popped up at the page with an exclamation point using different colored background alerting me to the fact I could not dispute family and friend payment.  This alert could not be missed. PayPal for sure wanted me to know. 

Paypal needs to put that information FIRST when making the payment.  Unless you remember section 13 of the User Agreement, you would not know that the transaction cannot be disputed.  It is a "sin of omission". They tell you outright after the fact the transactions cannot be disputed. They omit that information on the payment screen. I'm sure they are saving themselves a ton of money by omitting this information during the payment transaction. 

[mishy1950]

You are so right. If an Alert can be done, it should be done before the horse has bolted.  Others suffering makes me sure I should swallow my own sense of foolishness and persist with the media.  Even if I was to get my money back from the bank, having used my credit card for what i believed, coming via Ebay and Paypal provided emails, what of others?  Theonly thing for evil to occur is good men(?) to do nothing...hurt men maybe.