Received invoice from one seller which I didn't make any purchase. Is it a scam?

[MichaelCHK]

Hi all. I received a notification from PayPal that someone sent me an invoice to make a payment of USD 500 for purchasing a anti virus software which I didn't make. Could I just leave it like that with out paying or how do I cancel or report this?

[jessmac78]

I just received an email purported to be from PayPal with the subject "You've got a money request"

with this message body:

"Hi [my real, full name]

[name of person I've never heard of] sent you a money request 

Note from [name of person I've never heard of]:

We have detected some suspicious unlawfully activities with your PayPal account. If you did not make this transaction, please call us at toll free number [Removed. Phone #s not permitted] to cancel and claim a refund. If this is not the case, you will be charged $499. 99 today. Within the automated deduction of the amount, this transaction will reflect on PayPal activity after 24 hours. Our Service Hours: (06:00 a. m. to 06:00 p. m. Pacific Time, Monday through Friday)"

Below this it lists "Payment request details" including a transaction ID number that means nothing to me, and the transaction date is today's date (Nov 16). Then it says "Amount requested: $499.99 USD"

There is a "Pay Now" button below this with a link, and then the PayPal logo and the usual footer message about phishing and how how emails from PayPal will always contain your full name. I did NOT click on the "Pay Now" link, but hovering my mouse pointer over it shows a link that looks like it goes to PayPal's site. I never made any transaction today like they described, especially not in that amount of money. The message from the person I'd never heard of about the suspicious activity contains some odd grammar usually indicative of scammers. The only thing that concerned me was that they actually included my full name at the top: "Hi [my full name]" and it was addressed to me with my full name in the From field and my email address. I'm about 75% sure this is a scam, but I wanted to make sure... a bit irked they actually included my full name in it. 

Anyone else receive anything like this recently? I did forward it to PayPal's phishing department but again I'm a bit concerned they included my full name in this and URLs that actually look legit.

[kernowlass]

@jessmac78 

Sounds like a scam money request or invoice.

Scammers harvest email addresses and send out those requests hoping some email addresses are linked to paypal accounts and the unsuspecting recipient 'may' pay them not realising they are scams.

If there is a cancel option then cancel it, if not ignore it and hopefully it should time out at some point. 

As long as you don't click to pay it then no money should be transferred.

[sospwa]

Got the same message

[Loaddown]

"Anyone else receive anything like this recently?" Please read the numerous reports in this forum. PayPal has become the center for criminal scams. Subscribers are told to NOT REPLY to fake invoices. DO NOT CALL the perpetrators. Since customer service is clueless, you just have to wait it out. This is the season for the scammers, don't get confused and get taken by their obvious ploys.

[CarlH11]

Received a $439 invoice request earlier today randomly but whenever I click the details link to cancel the request Paypal tells me that something went wrong and the page cannot be opened. Am I safe to just ignore this request?

[Loaddown]

"Received a $439 invoice request earlier today randomly but whenever I click the details link to cancel the request Paypal tells me that something went wrong and the page cannot be opened. Am I safe to just ignore this request?"

Same scenario for me. "Something went wrong"

- Yes, Paypal knows a lot about how to make money, but they have no clue as how to stop these internally generated fraud invoices. It will all come to an end when their crypto connections collapse and the abandonment by subscribers takes place. It will look like what Twitter is now experiencing.

I am cutting my auto pay agreements and access to my bank and if that invoice doesn't get cleared in a month, I will go back to dealing individually with vendors. Paypal is beginning to be a scammers haven.

[TonyW5]

I have received an invoice for a TV which I didn't order. How do I report it and ensure that it is not paid?

[Loaddown]

Just ignore it. Don't reply, don't click on link. Let it rot in your activity list. PayPal will not help you. They are too busy worrying about their bitcoin.

[StevenM61]

Someone using the name of Kyle [removed] sent me a request for $499.99, claiming that my account was being used for fraudulent activity. The details of the note are below:

We have detected some suspicious unlawfully activities with your PayPal account. If you did not make this transaction, please call us at toll free number +[Removed. Phone #s not permitted]to cancel and claim a refund. If this is not the case, you will be charged $499. 99 today. Within the automated deduction of the amount, this transaction will reflect on PayPal activity after 24 hours. Our Service Hours: (06:00 a. m. to 06:00 p. m. Pacific Time, Monday through Friday)

I have heard about this kind of activity and immediately went to the PayPal website and found that the phone number listed in the email is nowhere to be found on the PayPal website. But the request does show up on my account and I want it removed without the charge.

[kernowlass]

@Loaddown 

@StevenM61 

@TonyW5 

Sounds like a scam money request or invoice.

Scammers harvest email addresses and send out those requests hoping some email addresses are linked to paypal accounts and the unsuspecting recipient 'may' pay them not realising they are scams.

If there is a cancel option then cancel it, if not ignore it and hopefully it should time out at some point. 

They often put phone numbers in the ''notes'' section so that as its a genuine paypal invoice you think the phone number is real, its not, that is how they scam you.

As long as you don't click to pay it then no money should be transferred.