Fraud? Paypal invoicing me for something I don't recognize

[fjdo234]

I have a PayPal invoice that says "A Payment of $1449.00 has been debited from your bank account for purchasing an iPhone 13 pro max. This charge amount will be displayed on the account statement as a payment to "ETECPAY". Please Contact us if you have any question for this order. Call Our Support Number [Removed. Phone #s not permitted] Also, We have attached an invoice of $49.99 for the service of iPhone. Which you have already taken from us. Thankyou for your Business."

I got it as an e-mail. Suspicious it was phishing, I logged into PayPal myself. I have an incredibly long password with 2-factor authentication. That's where I found this $49.99 invoice from PayPal for a VAT charge with this note. No one in my household has made this purchase. I tried to report it as fraud, but Paypal said it was unavailable for this type of transaction. What do I do? I'm quite scared on this.

[Chynz]

I have had an invoice today too of £43.43 but I have not purchased anything and I can’t contact them until tomorrow. I think it is fraud as I can’t see anything on my statment or activity

[kernowlass · Accepted solution]

@fjdo234 

If its a spoof then NEVER USE ANY LINK OR ANY PHONE NUMBER.

Firstly if the email/text addressed you as ''Dear Member'' / ''Customer'' / ''Client'' OR your ''email address'' then that confirms its a spoof as paypal would address you by your full name eg Dear John Smith.

Secondly if there was a link OR attachment in that email/text to ''cancel'' any transaction or ''confirm'' any details then again it would be a spoof.

Also if they ask you to call the number in the email then it would be fake paypal agents trying to scam you for money to 'fix' something. 

If there was a problem with your account Paypal would not ask you to click on an unsafe link in an email / download an attachment OR phone them on a number in an email, they would direct you to log in normally and go to the resolution or the message centre for more information.

More info here >>
https://www.paypal.com/us/selfhelp/article/how-to-spot-fake-emails-faq2340/2
https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/security/suspicious-activity

[fjdo234]

Thanks for your replies.

I believe this was a genuine E-mail from Paypal. What I'm reading on the reddit is that the fraud part is the invoice. They are using PayPal's system of sending invoices to send a fraudulent invoice, with a malicious phone number to call if there are questions.

I used the Paypal website entered in by myself to confirm I saw this invoice in activity. Unfortunately, Paypal did not let me dispute it. However, I could cancel the invoice, which I did. But I did this on the Paypal website, not on the E-mail, which only had the link to View the invoice. 

It's just unfortunate that Paypal doesn't have a way I can report it to them.

Here's the link to the Reddit thread that explained it:[removed]

[fjdo234]

Sorry, but I disagree that the reply by kernowlassn is a solution. This was a legitimate email from PayPal, by a fraudulent invoicer, as I wrote in my above post. This was not a spoof. Further, there is no solution on how to report this to PayPal.

[Alejandrah]

I just received the same exact email and just checked in my PayPal account and it’s a legit transaction from PayPal and it’s a fraud! I have not purchase an iPhone! Now, I will contact my bank and what should I do with PayPal?

[sharpiemarker]

@Alejandrah 

An invoice is a request for payment. Not that you paid but check your account activity in PayPal and bank/cards for any unauthorized transactions just in case.

Must be the latest in abuse of PayPal features as I am suddenly seeing an uptick of these cases. A bad actor clownin’ by sending fake invoices from a PayPal account. Sending a PayPal invoice triggers an official PayPal email being sent. You can block the sender with the Contacts list on Send and Receive page of your PayPal account.

If you want to report the invoice sender for fraudulent behavior, give them a call:

https://www.paypal.com/smarthelp/contact-us

Click “Message Us” or “Call Us” option on the bottom.

Don’t know what good it will do, the sender may change the email address soon after sending. Let’s just hope paypal can trace the account from the invoice.