Money unexpectedly in my PayPal account..

Zaphan58 · 17 Apr 2020 at 12:56

Hi all, I got an email from PayPal last night saying some money had gone in to my account from a foreign sounding name. Figuring it was spam / scam email or something I ignored it. Anyway this morning I have logged in and to my surprise the money is actually there (about £150). Now I'm reluctant to email this person still cautious of some sort of scam. Yeah I know, what sort of scam involves them sending ME money but still I'm the paranoid type. Whats the thing to do here, contact PayPal?

bremen1874 · 17 Apr 2020 at 12:58

I'd contact PayPal or just ignore it. I wouldn't communicate with the sender, and I certainly wouldn't spend it as they'll probably be grabbing it back at some point.

Lartyconshayo · 17 Apr 2020 at 12:59

i think if memory serves the scam is you send the money back instead of the sender requesting a refund then the sender says you never sent it and paypal debit you again

Rannoch · 17 Apr 2020 at 13:00

Wait 6 months then spend it.

Diddums · 17 Apr 2020 at 13:12

Guess you'd best start applying for Nigerian citizenship.

Pawnless Endgame · 17 Apr 2020 at 13:12

Rannoch said:
Wait 6 months then spend it.

If the OP uses their PayPal a lot though, then they'll want to carry on using it.

I would link a pre-paid card to PP e.g. NHS discounts card, cash out the £150 and then carry on using PP as normal. Then if PP finally gets around to debiting the £150, then reinstate that amount from the pre-paid card. If you use the pre-paid card regularly too, then just keep topping it up as normal.

Diddums · 17 Apr 2020 at 13:17

Pawnless Endgame said:
If the OP uses their PayPal a lot though, then they'll want to carry on using it.

I would link a pre-paid card to PP e.g. NHS discounts card, cash out the £150 and then carry on using PP as normal. Then if PP finally gets around to debiting the £150, then reinstate that amount from the pre-paid card. If you use the pre-paid card regularly too, then just keep topping it up as normal.

Bit of a faff no? How hard is it to watch the balance and go "uh ok, almost £150, stop spend monies". Even if you do accidentally spend it, I'm sure most folks can just transfer £150 from elsewhere and pay it.

Edrof · 17 Apr 2020 at 13:32

I would be a good boy and message PayPal about it. I have sent money to the wrong person before and I messaged the recipient - luckily they were nice enough to refund it to me.

mmj_uk · 17 Apr 2020 at 13:43

Yeah I would contact PayPal and don't rush into doing anything, if you refund it then you might find that the payment then evaporates and you'll end up in the negative?

gord · 17 Apr 2020 at 13:52

Lartyconshayo said:
i think if memory serves the scam is you send the money back instead of the sender requesting a refund then the sender says you never sent it and paypal debit you again

How would that work? I mean, PayPal would literally have the record of you sending the money back.

bremen1874 · 17 Apr 2020 at 13:55

I guess it's the difference between refunding the money (which would net it off) and sending them an equal amount of money as a separate transaction.

Lartyconshayo · 17 Apr 2020 at 14:05

gord said:
How would that work? I mean, PayPal would literally have the record of you sending the money back.

not entirely sure but def read it somewhere on this forum

VincentHanna · 17 Apr 2020 at 21:41

I read that pizza is a codeword that paedophiles use, on this forum.......doesn't make it true.

StoutMeister · 17 Apr 2020 at 21:56

Diddums said:
Guess you'd best start applying for Nigerian citizenship.

Crafty, you've prior m8

LeeUK · 17 Apr 2020 at 22:10

Yep as already advised, just sit on it and don't contact the sender. If it's dodge then PayPal will take it back. Don't go trying to send the sender the money wise you'll lose out twice.

After 6 month should be safe.

Rainmaker · 18 Apr 2020 at 01:11

gord said:
How would that work? I mean, PayPal would literally have the record of you sending the money back.

Scammer sends you a sum of money from a stolen/compromised account. They say 'Oops, sorry - can you send it back to me at newaccount because my other one is overdrawn/locked/lost'. You 'refund' them and then PayPal says "BTW, you had £150 of stolen cash in your account from stolenaccount, we want it back thanks.". Now the scammer has your £150 cash, and you're down a second £150 repaying PayPal/the original account holder for the money the scammer originally gave you. Because it's in two transactions, PP say 'You received stolen funds in transaction 1, you separately paid a totally different account £150 - nothing to do with us, you still owe stolenaccount £150.'...

Zaphan58 · 19 Apr 2020 at 09:40

Ok thanks for the advice all. I'm just going to leave it there and see what happens. I guess it could be potentially a scam so I won't contact the sender.

Angilion · 19 Apr 2020 at 15:47

Zaphan58 said:
Ok thanks for the advice all. I'm just going to leave it there and see what happens. I guess it could be potentially a scam so I won't contact the sender.

And it could be a legitimate error from someone who needs their £150 back, which is why I think contacting PayPal would be a nicer course of action to take.

Brizzles · 19 Apr 2020 at 15:58

Angilion said:
And it could be a legitimate error from someone who needs their £150 back, which is why I think contacting PayPal would be a nicer course of action to take.

This.

Takes 2 minutes to contact Paypal and explain - Then you are covered.

Zaphan58 · 20 Apr 2020 at 10:40

Angilion said:
And it could be a legitimate error from someone who needs their £150 back, which is why I think contacting PayPal would be a nicer course of action to take.

To be fair I think if that were the case they would have emailed me by now. Regardless I have contacted PayPal so I'll wait to hear back what they say.