PayPal account was limited after I sold something for my first time.

[SeanHealy2026]

So I sold a laptop for 630 dollars. I made a fresh account since I never really used PayPal. PayPal asked for some information like statements from the bank and my ID. Sent buyer and PayPal proof of shipping and the buyer sent his payment. He aparantly sent an extra 200 dollars so the total amount was 830 dollars. To refund I had to send him 200 dollars out of my account. I don't know why PayPal couldn't have just taken it off but who knows.  This was all done through PayPal because I had them emailing me to do it and I made sure that it was their email so I knew it wasn't a scam. A few days go by and the payment is still pending. All of a sudden I get and email saying my account is being permanently limited. I dont know if I still have my money or if its even in my account. Im hoping to receive an email after 180 days but if their is another solution I would greatly appreciate it. 

[kernowlass]

@SeanHealy2026 

It was a scam with fake paypal emails.

You never pay any upfront fee as a seller.

Ignore scammers that send fake Paypal emails telling you that you need to pay an upfront fee to verify/upgrade/or any other reason to 'accept' a payment.

You would certainly never have to send funds via another payment processor/bitcoins/ or tokens/vouchers of any sort.

Any fee is auto deducted by Paypal at the same instant the remainder of the payment is credited to your Paypal account balance.

No funds in your balance = you have not yet been paid, even pending/held payments will still show in your Paypal account activity.

[SeanHealy2026]

I made sure to check if the email was real. Is their anything I can do to fight against this?

@kernowlass 

[kernowlass]

@SeanHealy2026 

They would not have been genuine paypal emails as that is not how paypal works.

Sadly as none of the transaction was done on paypals actual site then nothing paypal can do for you unfortunately.

No funds in your balance means you have been paid nothing, even if pending or on hold it would still show in your paypal account balance and activity, and you NEVER pay money to receive money.

[SeanHealy2026]

@kernowlass 

Ill copy the email in here and check if you think its real

 We are deeply sorry for the late accreditation of your account as there was a recent update in our s... but our verification shows that the total payment deducted from ********* account was $830.00 USD instead of $630.00 USD.

******* has authorized us to contact you for refund of the additional payment of $200.00 USD.

   The sum of $200.00 USD is needed to be paid to our PAYMENT PROCESSING DEPARTMENT. We want you to know that the payment made by ********[Removed. Phone #s not permitted][removed] color="#000000">is now ready to be credited to your PayPal account but we can't credit your account until we receive eBay gift cards worth of $200.00 USD. You are to proceed in getting the cards from the STORE and reply us with pictures of them so that our PAYMENT PROCESSING DEPARTMENT can verify and proceed in crediting your account with the total amount of $830.00 USD. 

  We are terribly sorry for this mistake on our side but be rest assured that your total funds is safe with us. Please note, this is the only way we can transfer the funds back to ********. Here on our database, we shall credit your account with the total amount of $830.00 USD once we receive proof that you purchased the eBay gift cards.

  Kindly visit the nearest STORE around you to purchase the eBay GIFT CARDS of $200.00 USD, scratch them, activate it and send us pictures showing the valid PIN for redemption and the purchase receipt from the store.

It looked real to me but I guess not

[kernowlass]

@SeanHealy2026 

Screams SCAM to me, can't believe you think its real !!

Why would paypal want you to pay with Ebay (a totally separate company) gift cards !!

100% SCAM. 

[SeanHealy2026]

Well Ebay is owned by Paypal so thats why I thought it seemed real... anyways thanks for your help. I will have to watch out next time. Do you have any tips on how I can avoid this if it comes up again

[kernowlass · Accepted solution]

@SeanHealy2026 

Ebay is not owned by Paypal, they split companies totally in 2015 !!!

The best tip is if there are no funds in your paypal balance then you have not been paid.

[MS_84]

Have you already shipped the laptop also?

[SeanHealy2026]

Sadly, yes I have.