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What are they and how to protect yourself from PayPal scams

Cybercriminals are the order of the day waiting for someone to fall for their scam networks that include PayPal. Clearly the company has nothing to do with it, since their transactions are secure, unfortunately they are the people they use it to defraud a transaction that appears to be legitimate.

What kind of scams are there and how to avoid them

The cyber security company kapersky, points out that there are different scams: one of them is “payment in advance” to defraud PayPal users. Victims are notified that they are owed a certain amount of money, which could be due to an inheritance, the lottery, or some other compensation.

whatever the story, the victim has to make a small advance payment first (through PayPal, although it can be another means) and, perhaps, fill out a form with personal data to receive the money. Of course, the sender of the message disappears and any revealed personal data ends up in a database that may be sold on the dark web.

How to avoid this scam: Do not transfer money or reveal personal information to strangers. Most of these types of messages present many red flags: overly generous earnings or compensation, misspellings, a sender address that seems more appropriate from a robot that of a person, etc.

Another scam are assumptions “PayPal account problems”. Initially the fraudster sends an email where he states that he is from the company and that something is wrong with the recipient’s account; to solve it he only asks that it be done click a link and log in.

Although it seems simple, it is one of the most common scams and is known as phishing, where they pose as real and trustworthy entities to deceive victims. By giving the login details, the attackers can use them at will to make expenses on behalf of the victim.

How to avoid the scam: Find the errors in the message and the differences between the address that appears and that of the official website. always remember that PayPal would not report this type of problem with poor wording; applies to other sites like Twitter, Facebook and more.

The third scam is ”refund for overpayment” or overpayment, in which a buyer makes payment to the seller, but sends more than the selling price. The buyer claims that it is a mistake and requests a refund of the difference, but immediately after receiving it, he cancels the original transaction.

How to avoid the scam: In the event of an actual error, it is safer for both parties to cancel the erroneous transaction and allow the payer to start over, resubmitting the correct amount and double-checking the figure. If they refuse, you should contact PayPal support immediately.

The following scam pointed out by Kapersky is related to the “delivery and cancellation of payment”. in this tactic scammers posing as buyers and ask a seller to ship the products using their favorite delivery service. The criminals they change the delivery address and then file a complaintsaying that the merchandise never arrived.

Another possible form of scam could be that the parcel company was a facadewhich would allow a dishonest buyer to recover their money using existing legitimate mechanisms for goods shipped in good faith.

Finally, this type of scam can be perpetrated by address substitution: The buyer provides a false address and, after several unsuccessful delivery attempts, the company asks where their purchase should be delivered. That way, they receive the package, but file a complaint against the seller claiming that they received nothing. Given the numerous reports of failed delivery, PayPal may believe the scammer.

How to avoid the scam: Only use delivery services that trusted people have previously tried. Never send anything before receiving payment and be sure to save all receipts.

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