Introduction
I spend a lot of time in PayPal community forums helping people with their PayPal questions. In the passed few weeks, I have seen lots of posts related to a particular PayPal scam that fraudsters are using to trick sellers into shipping products even though they never made a payment.
In this article I am going to discuss the details of the procedures the scammers are using with details about how and why it works.
Video
PayPal Pending Payments for Shipment Tracking
PayPal, along with most all payment processors, has procedures in place to help avoid fraud and protect buyers.
There will be times when you are selling online that a payment you receive will be held in a pending status. PayPal will request that you enter a tracking number to verify that you have indeed shipped the product before they will release the funds to your account.
Sometimes the funds will be released as soon as the tracking shows the item is on its way. Other times you will have to wait until the tracking shows delivered before the cash will be cleared to your account.
This is completely legitimate, and many payment processors follow similar procedures.
How Do PayPal Scammers Take Advantage of This?
Unfortunately, PayPal scam artists have been using this procedure to trick sellers into shipping merchandise that they have not paid for. Here’s how it works.
Initial Contact
The PayPal fraudster will reach out to you directly via email or some sort of a direct chat system. They will talk with you for a while about your product(s) to build your trust, so that you will feel comfortable with them as a buyer.
At some point they will tell you they would like to buy your product, and that they are sending you a PayPal payment directly. They will ask you to check your email inbox for a PayPal notification that they have sent the payment.
Fake / Spoof PayPal Email
The fraudster will then send you a fake email that looks like it came from PayPal. This email will include PayPal branding, and will be formatted very similar to other PayPal transaction emails you may have received previously.
If you look closely, you will often find grammar mistakes and other signs that the email is a fake. In most cases it will come to your SPAM folder, and the fraudster will typically make it a point to ask you to make sure to check your SPAM for the notification.
This email will explain that you have a received a payment that is being held in a pending status. It will also include a link to a page where you can enter your tracking information. Once again, this is completely fake, but will be built to look and feel like an actual PayPal page.
Their goal is to make you feel comfortable about this process. If you have seen this process with a legitimate payment before, you may be quick to assume this is just another instance of the same thing. This is exactly what they are hoping for.
How Do I Avoid This PayPal Scam?
The easiest way to avoid such scams is to NEVER click links from emails like this, and NEVER trust them.
If you ever receive such an email, close it, and open a separate web browser yourself. Go directly to www.paypal.com and log in to your account.
From there, check your Activity Log. If you have received a transaction of any kind, regardless of the payment status, it WILL show up here.
If you do see a transaction here, click into the details of it. This is where you would see any details about requirement for shipment tracking, and this is where you would click a link to enter such information.
If you do not see a matching transaction in your Activity Log, then you did NOT receive a payment! Do not let the fraudster trick you into thinking you cannot see it simply because it is pending. This is exactly how they trick people!
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How to Report PayPal Scams?
Once you have verified that this is indeed a scammer, it’s help to report this to PayPal.
I typically ignore the scammer from this point on, but feel free to troll them a little bit if you have fun doing that sort of thing. 🙂
If we all educate ourselves a little bit on how to avoid such PayPal scams, and we report instances that we find, hopefully we can help keep others from running into this problem.
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This adviced really saved my ass. thank you!!
So happy to help! Please share so others can learn about this and avoid the same problem. That’s the best way to fight these scammers!
I am waiting on a item purchased through paypal over a week ago. The tracking shows delivered on June17th. I didn’t order until June 20th Has anyone experience this this before?
I’m sorry, but it sounds like you’re in the midst of a scam! Fraudster sellers will get you to pay them, and then enter bogus tracking information into the system. The tracking is usually something that was shipped to your area, but has nothing to do with you, of course. The problem is PayPal’s automated system will lookup the tracking, see it delivered to your postal code, and accept it.
You need to file a dispute with PayPal, but don’t file “item not received.” I would file “item significantly not as described.” I would say in the comments of that dispute that you can tell it’s a scam because the tracking shows it was shipped before you ever ordered, so you want to get ahead of it and get the dispute filed right away.
That is assuming you have contacted the seller and there isn’t some reasonable explanation from their side. This is happening a lot, though, and almost certainly a scam. What did you buy? Where did you buy it from?
I have a pending invoice and waiting for my money to be released. I shipped the products worth £600 and was asked to provide tracking number of the shipment. The email looked very professional and I trusted it! Now I’m left without money and product has been shipped! What should I do??
Call the carrier as fast as possible and ask them to reverse shipment on the order. They’ll charge a fee for it, but they’ll return the package back to you.
I bought something thru paypal it was a sMsung page tho I thought and my paypal says completed ive never got a email from the merchant or paypal how do i no if its a scam or if my package gave been shipped
Well, if you are the buyer then this particular scam article/video would not be applicable. If you purchased something and you have not seen any feedback about payment receipt confirmation, shipment confirmation, and they aren’t replying to you when you try to contact them, then I would go ahead and file an “item not received” dispute.
What is the name of the site you posted the item?
Yes I have just experienced the same thing. The only difference is I just ordered mine last night. There was a usps tracking number in my email the next morning. Tracked package with the number and it said it was delivered the day before I purchased it.
You’re actually referring to a different scam than what I’m covering in this video. I was literally just about to create a new video about the Scam you are referring to, and I was going to point out that PayPal seems to be adjusting to account for this in their new user agreement going into at the end of this month. More details on that available here: https://www.angelleye.com/paypal-policy-and-user-agreement-updates-for-july-2020/
Which site did you post the item?
ive order something on 07/01 on ebay and had to pay with paypal and i’ve sent a few messages to the seller( seems like a new seller didn’t know that til after i bought it) on when will it be shipped? and not a single message back should i dispute it or wait.. im feeling like they are not legit. i really want want i bought have no time for scams!
Hi Nicole,
Yeah, that’s a tough one. What is the item? Does the seller have any feedback at all? Are you able to find the item elsewhere? If I were in your shoes I would probably cancel the order and request a refund. In the very least that would get the attention of the person so they will reply. If so, ask them to get on the phone so you can talk to them. You can figure out very quickly when talking to somebody if they are legit or not.
What about PayPal sellers that take payment immediately and then don’t ship? I ordered a couple of timely items from a seller a week and a half ago, and he was paid immediately. His ad online promised shipment within 6 days. About 5 days after ordering, I received notice of shipping bug it was really notice of the USPS shipping label being created. Six days later, according to USPS tracking, they have still not received the package for shipping. How long should I really give this guy before I take action?
Just depends on the overall feeling you are getting, I guess. Are they being responsive, and communicating well with you about the situation? What are they saying about the delay? If they aren’t being responsive, or they aren’t providing reasonable information about what’s going on, then file an “item not received” dispute with PayPal.
Hi so I don’t know if I’m being scammed on not so someone bought something from me I posted it today I had a email from PayPal saying send proof of postage and tracking number before they can realises the payment I then had a email saying the buyer had to send me a additional £600 as I don’t have a primer account apparently the buyer have done that but it’s saying it’s 99.9% compete and waiting for a confirmation number but now they are saying I’m to send the buyer £600 back before they can release a payment of £1420 in to my account ……..l am I being scammed
If you do not see a transaction in your PayPal account activity log then you are being scammed. Just ignore them and move on to a legit buyer.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! You saved me just in time from shipping something very special, valuable, and sentimental to someone who had not paid me. I cannot thank you enough!
So happy to help! Please share the info so others can learn about this and avoid the same problem. That’s the best way to fight these fraudsters!
What should one do if they have been scammed, can they retrieve the item or charge to buyer?
Did you ship something to a scammer? Is the item still in transit? If so, contact the carrier and ask them to reverse shipment. If the item has already been delivered there really isn’t much you will be able to do. You have shipped your item to some random stranger that has nothing to do with PayPal or any other 3rd party platform. Police in that jurisdiction won’t be able to do anything but file a report, and it would cost you a lot more in time and cash to try and make anything happen from this than the amount you have lost. I’m sorry to say, but in that case, you’ll need to chalk it up to a learning experience.
I am trying to sell an item on ebay, this guy has messaged me saying that he will buy it for a higher price then listed. Found this a bit dodgy. I mistakenly gave him my email. Then i got an email from ‘paypal’ in my spam account asking to send the tracking information before the funds can appear. I checked my paypal account and theres been no activity. Does this mean this email is a scam ? How do i know if the funds are real? Does ebay also send me an email?
Thanks!
Trust your gut! Yes, this is a total scam. First, never trust an email. Always go directly to http://www.paypal.com yourself (never click links from emails to login) and go into your activity log. If you do not see the transaction there, then no transaction occurred. Simple as that. Just ignore this person and move on with your day. 🙂
Yesterday one guy contacted me directly, and wants to pay via PayPal. I uderstand the part where I shouldn’t trust only email. What if there is payment in my paypal account, but is there a way he can manage to cancel it?! I mean, if he pays but when I can be sure that money indicated I PayPal is safe from scam?!
If you see the transaction in your PayPal account activity log, open it up and check if it’s covered by Seller Protection. If Eligible, ship to the exact address provided. If the item is over $200, make sure to use signature required for delivery, and make sure to use trackable service. If the buyer tries to claim “item not received” you will have a tracking number proving that it was delivered and signed for at his address. If he claims “significantly not as described” then he may get his money back, but he would have to return your item back to you and prove that with return tracking. Make sure to do plenty of due-diligence on your buyer before-hand if you have any reason to believe this might not be legit.
I nearly just got scammed and then i had a feeling to google if the process was legit. You saved me thankyou so much. Should i be concerned they have my email address?
So happy this helped! No, I wouldn’t worry them having your email. Just as long as you never clicked any links from emails they sent and logged in to your PayPal account. If you did that log back in directly and change your password right away.
I was victimized by the way thanks for the update
Ah, sorry you didn’t see this before it was too late!
This is what they sent me
Read to the end to see what I did, it is so funny
Dear Anthony {withheld}
This is to tell you that the funds of $1,500.00 USD is “APPROVED” in your account and it is on pending with us until you get us the shipping tracking number as we need to have the tracking number for us to verify it before the fund can be credited fully into your account. As soon as you get the item shipped, get back to us with the tracking number so that we can verify it and carry on in crediting your account.
Your funds are pending – please process this order
Payment details
Amount (pending): $1,500.00 USD
Transaction ID: #U-7YD44086U8203792D
Seller’s email:anthony {withheld}
Sandra Lundbeck B0766
4995 Buford Hwy, Suite 106
30071, Norcross, Georgia
Phone: (404)-933-7224
United state of America
Transfer Status
a
Transfer On Hold..90
Money On Hold.
PAYPAL ACCOUNT:anthony{witheld}
AMOUNT…………………………………………….$1,500.00 USD
COUNTRY…………………………………………..UNITED STATES
Transfer Current Percent% : 90% Done…
Important Message From PayPal: Transfer On Hold… Required Details “STN” (Shipment Tracking Number) Required.
Please do not reply to this email. We are unable to respond to inquiries sent to this address. For immediate answers to your questions, contact our customer representative at :- Tracking-release@mail.com
Learn More PayPal Protection
PayPal
%100 security guarantied
Thank you for using PayPal!
The PayPal Team
I knew this was a scam right away so what I did was some research into the address they supplied, then CALLED the property Owner and informed them the tenants at the address and suite number they supplied was being used by criminals and fraudster’s, then told the property owner I will be calling the police and the police fraud department will come see you, then go to see the fraudsters so expect the police sometime this week.
It might be a good idea you evict these people on the grounds of their criminal activities.
The property owner then informed me this is NOT the first time this happened.
The very same thing happened a little while ago they told me.
I did not ship the items the scammer wanted to buy.
Do the same, contact the property owner/landlord and let them know whats going on and do call the police and send them to the address supplied.
Unfortunately, it happens SO often. Doing what you did is fine, but it honestly doesn’t help much. The people running the scams aren’t actually at those facilities or related to them in any way, and police in those jurisdictions really can’t do much other than file a report that gets filed away and never touched again. The best way to fight these guys is to spread the knowledge so people understand how to spot these things. If they stop having success with it, they’ll stop doing it.
Hello (My name)
You received a payment of $250 CAD from Mr OOO (email adress)
Thanks for using PayPal. You can now send any items. To see all the transaction details, log in to your PayPal account.
It may take a few moments for this transaction to appear in your account.
I received this mail. Is this a scam? Or not? This mail from Service@intl.Paypal.com
Can you help me ..?
And Unfortunately i already send the package to him..
And after i received this e-mail.
Hello, (my name)
We encounter little problem while crediting your PayPal Account. You have a pending payment of $250.00 CAD but we have a problem crediting your account with that amount because the status of your PayPal Account is not a business user which makes your account has limit and this amount seems to be above your limit, this will not make us credit your account until you expand your limit.
You have to take this urgent step to expand your limit. Contact the last payer of your account (his name) (his email adress) to send in an additional payment of $800.00 CAD so that your account limit can be expanded, as soon as this is done, we will fully credit your PayPal account with the total sum of $1,050.00 CAD.
Note: An alert has been sent to (his name) (his email adress)) in regard to the $800.00 CAD additional payment he/she has to send to you, we will secure this transaction with high priority that neither the payer nor the payee will lose fund in this transaction
So, i really confused..
Oh, bummer! Is the item still in transit? You could call the carrier and ask them to reverse shipemnt.
Yes, that looks like a scam email. I would ignore it.
Hello! I bought something from a seller, sent the money. I see a label created but it says “awaiting information from Carrier” carrier says she sent it priority and should be here soon, my USPS app also says waiting for carrier information. What does that mean if she says she did send it??
USPS is a bit tricky because they don’t have great tracking in general. Sadly, that’s something that scammers can take advantage of. With UPS/FedEx, for example, when they pick that package up they scan it, and from that point on you know the seller did indeed give them a package to deliver. With USPS even when they pick it up they don’t always scan it, and you never really know.
I tried to sell an iPhone on gumtree and this “buyer” messaged me asking for my email immediately, after saying that he will make the payment through PayPal I said I don’t have it, he said that he was able to still use a bank transfer so I sent my bank details, after this he said I should have received a confirmation email and told me to check all folders in my email, I still didn’t receive anything so I told him to send the confirmation directly to me, he then forwarded this and said I must send the tracking number PayPal@fundverifier.com – I’m just wondering if this is a scammer or not.
Yes, this is absolutely a scam! Do not ship anything to this person!
ordered on 07/01yes today is 07/02 seller has not not responded to anything i have said. or even provided tracking number( how long should that take??). i believe the seller is new, so idk if they wait to send until they have received payment or what. not feeling they are legit. what should i do?
Yeah, again, I think I’d submit a refund request and move on from it. If the seller reaches out at that point and makes you comfortable and confident in them, maybe give it another try, but unless this is some rare item you can’t get elsewhere I probably wouldn’t waste my time with it.
Nobody will answer the phone smfh I’m definitely about to get scammed already sent them item and give them the tracking and my money is pending and they told me in the first email as soon as i send the tracking number they would have the money in my account then a hour or so later they responded back saying there’s gonna be a 2 to 3 day delay because of when the package is going to be delivered and it’s supposed to be there towwmorrw and I’m the seller I don’t have seller protection and I want my item back if I can still get it is there a way I can get seller Protection someone help!!!
Is your item still in transit? Call the carrier and ask them to reverse shipment so that it comes back to you.
Exactly same happened to me today 17th aug 2020, but luckily after getting the police involved I was able to stop my shipment from being posted to USA from UK. Had to call everyone to stop it, as soon as I founf out I was a scam.. PayPal payment was in pending..
Sounds like there probably was not actual payment at all. For future reference, you don’t need to get police involved to stop a shipment. You can just call the carrier, and if it’s still in transit, you can request a “stop shipment.” They’ll send it back to you instead of delivering to the original shipment address.
Hello there,
I am selling an item on eBay which the seller then requested I contact them directly through my email. They also asked if I could email an email address called onlinepaymentservices1@fastservice.com. I am unsure if this is legitimate or not. Any help?
That’s a scam. Ignore them and find a legitimate buyer.
How long do a received funds hits your account
You will see the transaction show up in your activity log instantly. Depending on whether or not there are any holds, the available cash could be instant or could take some time.
Hi. I sold a pair of headphones to someone via PayPal today. They paid via goods and services and confirmed the payment after I showed that I had posted the item, but I can’t see any transactions in my PayPal account. Is this normal?
The sender cannot confirm your payment. YOU must confirm your payment by checking your PayPal account activity log. If it’s not there, no payment happened! Sounds like they sent you a fake email. NEVER TRUST EMAILS! If your item is still in transit, call the carrier and ask them to put a stop shipment on it, so that it will come back to you.
Placed an order May 2020 , still under review seller not responded to any massages but PayPal has been paid my order , August 08,2020 sent me email confirming that my order was shipped but for some reason I’m unable to track my order
If you aren’t happy with the service from the seller, and you haven’t received your product, I would certainly file an “item not received” dispute.
Hi i sold something on offerup and the buyer claimed to deposited the money in my cash app which never showed and cash app claimed it will be there in 1 to 3 days so i contact cash app and they said September 8th which all still seems suspicious..so i set up a pay pal account and asked them to send the money there and it took a day or two and they sent it and its showing pending but went to my spam folder. Shouldnt the logo say paypal instead of being blank? I need answers so i can stop my shipment tomorrow to have it returned to me immediately
NEVER trust an email. Log in directly to your PayPal account, and check the activity log. Do you see the transaction there? If not, it didn’t happen. The fact that it went to spam is highly suspect.
This helped me from getting scammed thank you ! . I got an email in my spam folder saying that I had to put in tracking . You can tell they are scammers because they try and push you to check the email and send it to your inbox .
So happy to hear you didn’t get caught up in it! Please share so that others know about this and can avoid the problem as well. That’s the best way to fight these scammers!
I have a pending payment pending on routing number. The message is on my PayPal acct. my question is ;
Can the buyer cancel the payment after I send the item?
If I send the item , it’s gone and it’s on it’s way to the buyer.
Do you see the actual transaction in your PayPal account activity log? If not, then no payment happened. If you do see it there, click into the details. It will tell you if it’s covered by Seller Protection. If so, ship it to the exact address provided on the payment with a trackable carrier like FedEx or UPS. You can print your label out of PayPal to make that simple. Then you’ll be covered from unauthorized or “item not received” disputes.
Thank you all soooo much! You saved me from getting scammed. I am so grateful that someone took the time to post the information to expose the scammers.
So glad it helped! Please share so that others know about this and can avoid the problem as well. That’s the best way to fight these scammers!
Hey. My PayPal request went straight to spam and it’s not showing in my activity log at all and the person has put someone else’s name claiming it’s a cousin who is going to pick up the parcel when it’s posted. Do you think I’m being scammed
Yes, sounds like it. If you don’t see a transaction in your activity log, then no transaction occurred.
Hello I sent services to a client. They sent the money and paypal withheld it saying it was high risk and unusual. I have added tracking information and said the order has been processed. I am now just wondering if the payment can be made available in my account soon because initially paypal said it will take 7 days
There are many variables involved with those things, but the tracking showing delivered is a big one. It doesn’t usually take but a few business days after that for it to release, if not sooner. Does the tracking already show delivered? How many business days has it been since it was delivered?
Hey Drew. I think my girlfriend and I just fell victim to this scam trying to sell her MacBook Air. Do you know what can we try to do to get the item back for pursue this person for the money/MacBook?
If the item is still in transit you can call the carrier and request a stop shipment. They’ll reverse the shipment so that it comes back to you. Hope that works out for you!
I’ve just had the same thing happen to me. Listed a MacBook air on eBay and had a user from USA ask for a buy it now price. Agreed on £900, then had two ‘PayPal’ emails saying I had been paid. I went to the post office to send to a Luton based address, only to realise there were no funds in my Paypal. Luckily i have managed to stop the shipment and reported it to the police (which they have advised all of us to do using action fraud website, so they can build a case).
I just re-listed my mac and within minutes had a message in almost the same format from a new user, again, from the USA, asking me to ship to Italy.
Of course, in hindsight I should have checked my Paypal account, but this is clearly a very large scale scam with numerous accounts participating. Also, both accounts have got a number of positive feedback from eBay.
Please be extra careful everyone!
Glad you caught it in time!
Hi unfortunately my son has had the same problem but were too late and the parcel got delivered to belgium. It was a drone he was selling for £550.00. The 1st email was very convincing, the 2and had grammatic errors. I kept telling my son no activity from buyer showing up in his paypal account. Is there anything he can do to get the money back.
Ugh, so sorry to hear this. Unfortunately, there isn’t anything I know of that’s going to help. There is no actual transaction in the PayPal system related to this at all, so of course they can’t do anything. Getting police to help with this sort of thing is very difficult, especially over different jurisdictions. The time/money involved in trying to get anything done at all would likely be more than what you’ve lost at this point.
I hate to say it, but you may have to chalk this one up to a learning experience. NEVER trust emails. ALWAYS check your PayPal account for an actual transaction in the Activity Log. If it’s not there, it did not happen.
I got this email from paypal but think its also a scam as I do not see anything in my activity for paypal on my account and it should be there even if pending/hold correct?
This receipt confirmed that you have received a merchandise payment of $8,550.00 CAD from the buyer of your goods Martin Owen (martin.owen1990@gmail.com). The money has been deducted from the buyer’s account and the money is now secured by PayPal. However, this transaction is pending as we are responsible for the hold on the money. We have placed the money on hold for security reasons due to the rate of online scams recorded last year (2019). PayPal in conjunction with The FBI and The NSA has innovate certain preventive measures to secure and protect both buyer and seller from fraudulent activities as it was brought to our notice regarding the online scams going on.PayPal in conjunction with The FBI and The NSA reserves the right to ensure that this transaction between you and the buyer is legitimate and 100% safe and secure for both buyer and seller.
In order to complete this transaction to get your account credited with the total funds on pending, You are required to send an upfront shipping payment of $950.00 CAD via Money Gram Money Transfer to the shipping company agent in charge of the shipping and handling of the goods bought from you to confirm that this transaction between you and the buyer is legitimate and valid before we credit your account. We will credit your account immediately after we receive the Money Gram confirmation from you to confirm that the shipping fee has been sent to the shipper.
You are safe and secured to send the shipping fee upfront from your pocket as we have The FBI and The NSA monitoring this transaction to ensure the legitimacy of this transaction and to ensure you total security and safety and for you to be rest assured that your account will be credited once confirmation of the shipping fee payment has been received from you. So therefore, your money is safe with us and we will credit your account with the total funds on pending immediately after we receive the Money Gram confirmation from you to ensure that you have sent the shipping fee up front to the shipping company.
You are required to transfer the money to the shipper’s name and address info below via Money Gram Money Transfer and after the money has been transferred you are required to get back to us by replying directly to this help center email address with a scan copy of the MoneyGram receipt or the info on the MoneyGram receipt which are, Reference #, Sender’s Name and Address and Amount Sent for verification and confirmation of the MoneyGram transaction and after we receive the Money Gram Info then your account will be credited with the total sum of $8,550.00 CAD.
Yes, it’s a scam. Check your PayPal account activity log. If you don’t see a transaction there then no transaction happened.
I’ve just had exactly the same experience using Schpock and trying to pay via PayPal. There doesn’t seem to be a way to report this to PayPal – anyone know how?
I’m not sure I understand. This scam is typically run on people selling an item. You said you were trying to pay…??
You have received a payment of $500.00 USD from Melane Smith Please process your order right away.
This payment is now deducted from the buyer’s account but temporarily unavailable until we receive the shipment tracking number confirmation of the postage from you for the verification process. This money will be available to you once the shipment tracking number to our email to us (Click Here) or reply to this notification email with the shipment tracking number
Seller Protection for Merchants.
We know selling online securely is a challenge for the seller(Merchants) Our Seller Protection Policy will protect your online sales, minimize claims and charge back and help prevent merchant fraud. Go ahead, and complete this transaction by shipping off the package as we stated in previous emails.
If you have any question about your payment contact us at our representative on: Click Here
Click Here To Enter Your Shipment Proof
OR email it directly to us on Click Here for speedy verification process and clearance of your funds.
Thanks,
PayPal
CAN SOMEONE LET ME KNOW IF THIS IS LEGIT?
Seems to be a scam. Any time you get something like this, close the email/message and go directly to http://www.paypal.com yourself. Log in to your account, and if there is any issue you’ll see info about it there. Never click links from emails or other types of messages to login to your account.
Hello. I was selling an item on eBay and have gotten emails stating that the buyer had to expand my PayPal account by sending $500 and in return I had to send scratched off eBay gift cards in the same account. I am getting emails from PayPal stating that this is standard policy and that the buyer of my item accidentally sent another payment of $500 and that I am obligated to pay them back through more eBay gift cards. I have tried getting ahold of PayPal but no luck ! The PayPal email says that the payment is pending to my account once I send the gift cards again. But there is nothing pending directly to my PayPal account . What do I do
Hi Tiffany,
This is a scam. You should ignore things like this.
Hi Drew, please can you help me. It’s the first time using PayPal and I’m unsure if the buyer of my private selling item is legit.
I’ve set up PayPal and am selling my camera to private buyer, I have sent a request with the amount to the buyer on PayPal and received an email stating that I have received payment, however on my PayPal account it shows 0.00 and underneath “pending request”
The buyer said that I should send the copy of waybill to the email adress I have received from PayPal before the funds will show up in my PayPal account.
The email adress used the inform me that I’ve been paid is intl.paypaser@post.com
I’m sorry for the delay replying. I hope you figured out that this was a scam and did not follow through with their request. NEVER trust emails, text messages, etc. Always log in to paypal.com directly, and if a payment was made to you (even if it’s pending) it will show up there.
A friend sent me money I didn’t sell anything but it’s on hold saying all this stuff about tracking shipping it to him he was just sending me money to help me what can I do to get this money i need it asap
When somebody sends you a payment they would have the option to set “no shipping required.” If they do this, then it would not fall into this hole you’re in now.
To fix it now, if they log back into their account and click into the transaction details, they should see a little link to verify they have received their goods. If they click this link it will release the funds right away.
Hope that helps!
This almost just happened to us. The buyer wanted us to ship the item in the next 15 minutes( before ups closed) even though the closest location is 30 minutes from our home. They offered to pay shipping for next day air to top it off.
The payment system they used to try to scam us was Venmo. The emails they were sending looked like Venmo emails but if you drop down the list to see the sender, it was sent from: onlinevenmonotifications@gmail.com
and we never actually got a notification from Venmo. Well I checked all of my old emails from Venmo and every email I ever got was sent from an @venmo.com account.
If anyone ever gets one of these emails, make sure to check the senders email. Venmo will be ****@venmo.com and paypal will be ****@paypal.com
If you get an email other than this, contact the payment center to discuss it
Glad you didn’t fall for it!
I received two emails, this is one of those.
We hereby inform you that the total amount of $2,200.00 USD has been paid to your PayPal account by (Porter Group) and is currently pending with us. Your account will be credited immediately after the delivery has been verified.
Thank you for using PayPal!
The PayPal Team
Copyright © 1999-2021 PayPal. All rights reserved. PayPal (USA) Limited is authorized and regulated by the Financial Services Authority in the United States as an electronic money institution. PayPal FSA Number Register: 226056.
PayPal Email ID PP7812
If you don’t see any transaction in your PayPal account then no transaction happened. Simple as that. I hope you did not ship anything…??
Hi, I am selling your camera on Facebook marketplace it have a buyer that’s interested who was from Missouri but wants me to send it to an address in Nigeria for a study abroad. I sent her my payment request link from PayPal and she told me that she sent me the funds so I checked my email and received an email from: “customer.agencyonline@yahoo.com” I was looking for a PayPal email address but this does not look like an official PayPal email address. It also said that the funds would not be released until I provided shipping or tracking information for the item And sent it back to that email. The email also said that one I send the tracking information the funds will be released. I am a little skeptical on sending this even though I see it as a pending amount on my PayPal activity because earlier in the day I experienced a similar potential buyer that became very aggressive and sent me an email but from a different email address saying that the funds would not show until they sent the item and I’ve always been told that PayPal will give the seller the money first so I should always have the money before I send the item in the first person was a scam due to the amount of car medical errors and other information in the email that did not make sense now I am questioning if this potential buyer is also a scammer or not. Any advice on if this is legitimate or not? I would hate to be a victim of fraud like this because I am so skeptical about the stuff.
I hope you did not do this. This is clear fraud. You need to ignore them and find a better buyer.
So basically, if you log into your paypal account through your own web browse/no links, and you see a transaction/payment it’s legit right?
It’s only if they’re trying to get you to put info through an email that it is a scam?
I have a Canon Rebel T7i someone on FB Marketplace is asking me to send to New York for their daughter but wants to pay now through PayPal before I can get to the Post Office Tuesday to see how much it’d cost to ship it. $600 for the camera and they said they’d pay an extra $50 for shipping. It’s making me nervous, I don’t ship things often.
Logging in directly and seeing the transaction in your account means that there is a real transaction that occurred, yes. Whether or not it’s legit is another story, but that’s a good first step. Next step would be to check the transaction details to make sure it’s covered by Seller Protection. If so, make sure you ship to the exact address shown on the details. It’s easiest to print the label out of PayPal, and then it will use that address by default.
Also make sure to use signature required. If you follow all those steps you should be good. If the buyer happens to dispute it at that point, they would at least make them provide proof of return shipping in order to get their refund.
Thanks so much for your help and explanation, I appreciate it!
Hello Drew
Do you recognise this as a genuine PayPal email
paypalservicetrackingconfirmat@gmail.com
I received this from this email address saying “ You received a payment of £7,000.00 GBP from Strictly Communications Int’l.
It may take a few moments for this transaction to appear in your account, depending on how soon you get back to us with the Tracking Details via our link attached with “Expedite Your Fund Release” at the bottom of this receipt.“
There is no notification in my PayPal account after a number of hours – only my initial request for £7000.00 sent to the buyer
I suspect this is a scam –
Especially as I’m suspicious why PayPal would use a gmail email account.
Thanks for your help
This is garbage. They are trying to scam you. Ignore it and move on. 🙂
Is receipt.paypalnotification@gmail.com a real email from PayPal?
No, that is garbage!
Hi there, is:
service.paypa.intl@usa.com
a valid email address for payment & waybill submitting?
No, that is a scam.
Hi this happened to me is this email fake wegmanjennifer@gmail.com
It looks like a “real” email, but whether or not the person behind that is fake I can’t tell you. I can tell you that it’s not an email that would come from PayPal.
my email is
service@mypapalconsultant.com
Im assuming its fake
Yes, that’s definitely bogus.
I don’t’ think servicepaypalposting@gmail.com is legit?
Right, that’s bogus!
Is: service@payypalliverification.com genuine? I am suspicious of the double y and double l in that email address. Thanks
Yes, that’s bogus! They’re trying to scam you.
trackingmanager30@gmail.com
Is this a real email if it went straight to my scam mail?
That’s bogus.
Is service@int.paypal a legit email, I’m not sure
No, seems bogus. I would ignore whoever is trying to correspond with you through that.
I have shipped my product and awaiting payment but it isnt showing up in the activity section of my paypal account. Guess I am screwed out of my wedding rings set and the payment. please advise.
If it never showed up in your account at all, and all you saw was an email, then unfortunately it sounds like you were scammed. 🙁
If it’s still in transit you can call the carrier and ask them to “stop shipment”, which will reverse it back to you. If it’s already delivered there’s not much you can do. Without a real PayPal transaction they have nothing to do with it. 🙁
I don’t know if this is a scam but there’s this guy that wants to buy the laptop I’m selling. We contacted each other through email and he said he added an extra £100 for shipping the laptop from UK to US. The price of the laptop is £550 and I think I was supposed to use that extra £100 to ship the package through the post office, except the transaction is currently pending until I send the package. I made sure that the email address wasn’t a scam.
A scam indeed. Any time people say they’re adding extra money for shipping or any other nonsense it’s a scam.
This just happened to me and unfortunately it was too late to stop the package delivery. I’ve changed all my passwords etc. are these guys usually just after the product or do I have to worry about further scamming? I replied to the first email saying I received payment and sent receipt pictures it asked for to continue processing payment. Receipt had my address and phone number. Any help/tips would be appreciated.
I’m sorry this happened to you. I would not worry about anything further except for similar scams. Use this as a learning experience. Not a fun one, but a valuable one. Your address / phone number are probably out there a lot in general. I wouldn’t worry about them having that, other than they might try calling you to act like they’re PayPal. Same sort of thing there…simply never provide any sort of info over the phone to anybody claiming to be PayPal. Hang up, log in to your account, find your support pin, and call PayPal yourself. If there’s an issue, they’ll be able to pull it up that way.
So just to be clear, if it went to my spam folder and was not from paypal.com, it’s a scam?
If it’s in spam, it’s highly likely that it’s a scam, yes. Regardless of whether it spam or not, if you got an email for something about PayPal, don’t click links in it. Just open your browser and go directly to paypal.com yourself. If anything is going on with the account you will see it there.
Is service90@iname.com a PayPal email? I don’t know if I’m being scammed. As the activity shows up
That’s bogus for sure. Ignore whatever contact you’re getting with that.
Hello
Is this a fake email address
service@int.paypal
Thanks
Hannah
Yes, that’s bogus!
Do you know if this is a legitimate email? p_paltrackingsdepartment@post.com
That is bogus. Ignore whatever communication you are getting from that.
Same thing happened to me got an email also it was a fake. I knew it was also the buyer asked for my personal phone number.
Glad you didn’t get caught in their net!
Hi is this a fraud? Respond ASAP
paypalverificationunit@aol.com
Yes, that is bogus.
If the payment is showing up in my paypal account as pending is that a legitimate payment? I mailed the merchandise and then entered the tracking number but Paypal has still not released the funds? Was I scammed?
If you see it there as pending then a transaction was submitted, but it has not cleared yet. You should wait until it updates to Completed before delivering any product or service.
This article just saved me from a scam. I would lose $800. The email the scammer sent me is like this : service@paypal.com®
Thank you!
So glad you didn’t get caught! Please share so that others can learn about this and avoid problems as well. Thanks!
Can I report the scammer to the police? I have his address.
You can do that if you want, but I would be surprised if they do much with it.
I got one from
paypalserviceteam92@gmail.com
Yeah, that’s bogus!
Fund-releasepost@post.com scam or real because i got scam email from payment confirmation
That is not an email that would be coming from PayPal, if that’s what you’re asking.
I Think i had everything you just described from the below address…
intl-pay-inc@mail.com
I was moments away from posting a Laptop, thanks so much for this Video, saved my a lot of hassle!!
Glad to hear it helped! Please share so others can learn about this and avoid problems as well. Thanks!
is this a legit email ?shipmentproofmanagerdept1@consultant.com
No, that’s bogus, or at least nothing that would have come from PayPal.
Payserviceonline@post.com is correct email from PayPal for letting know the sender saying your payment pending ,already charged from buyer etc….
No, that is not any email that would be coming from PayPal.
Can you verify email: paypalemailnotification1@gmail.com. I received a email stating I have received a payment from buyer. Can you verify this is from paypal?
I cannot verify PayPal emails directly, but I can tell you they will never use gmail accounts. This is bogus.
so awesome to find this information. I ran into this exact issue this morning. I suspected it so when I found the email in spam it flagged my attention to this article.
Glad it helped! Please share so that others can learn about this and avoid similar problems. Thanks!
paytrackingdetailss@post.com
Is this a PayPal one
No, that’s bogus!
Yes got me then, they are hateful people, good job blocked the item I sold absolutely useless. I hope
Ugh, sorry to hear that. 🙁 Now you know and it’ll never happen to you again, though!
I hope I didn’t just get scammed. Recieved from awhittingham37@yahoo.com 😬🥺
Hmmmm…that’s not a PayPal email, of course.
I just received notice from someone saying I bought an Apple I watch 44 Gold Strip. Shipped and received in FL but I don’t live in FL.
I called the number on the invoice – 800-887-8320 – the guy was super rude and had all my information of where I lived. He told me that I am going to be responsible in paying the invoice.
I did google it but nothing came up at all. Then once I figured out that he says he works with PayPal. I listened for a minute and then got super rude with me. Urg.. This time of year is the worse with scammers.
Yeah, they attack in lots of different ways. Glad you didn’t get caught!
Can you verify that there are Paypal agent in USA. That is a email address to send money to for collect in US
Yes, of course there are agents in the US. I’m not sure I understand your question, though..??
Is there something to select to ask PayPal not to release funds for an item until confirmation of actual shipping is received? Not just a claim from the seller it was! Last Ebay purchase I saw the seller reported an item shipped and got paid but tracking shows it never received by the shipper. That took 3 weeks and Ebay stepping in to resolve. PayPal is useless saying I have to contact the seller to request a refund for my money They released for an item never sent!? This week I found Keen boots 70% off, free shipping if two pair purchased which I did. Then after an odd email confirmation I checked and the seller was in China using a phony “Keen” footwear logo, lied they were US made shoes, lied how long they would take to receive and has a bad fraud and customer service reputation. I sent an email to cancel the order. No reply. I checked PayPal. A day later the pending payment went through. More review of the sellers website shows instead of 3-10 days shipping time shown in their “Keen” page ad, with Covid it is 15-25, After shipping which takes another 10-15 days to start. AK is right, the web is full of scammers. What good is the PayPal guarantee if it doesn’t protect buyers from fraud? Their mandatory MasterCard ID theft doesn’t cover it.
I’m a little confused. You say there was a pending payment that was cleared and released, but did you ever file an actual dispute claiming “item not received”?
Had the same thing happen to me by Stephen Martin (stephen.martin161189@gmail.com
just tried it with me lol
Glad you didn’t get caught!
I just received a similar email in my spam listing the same phone number. Thank you for posting the phone number as that is how I was able to find your post through Google. But I do wonder who lives at that Southern Pine Trl address in Rockledge, FL where the $812 Apple computer is supposed to be delivered in my name.
Onlinepaypalbusiness00@aol.com said I need a photo of the tracking information and reply to the email with the photo.
This is bogus!
trackandtraceoo.pay@outlook.com
Is that paypal ?
No, that’s bogus!
Is Trackservice@post.com
Or Service@PayPal.intl
Legit? Thansk so much
No, those are bogus. Just don’t trust emails at all. Log in to your account directly and see if there’s a transaction in your activity log.
Is service@mypapalconsultant.com this a paypal email address
No, that’s bogus!
Is this email real info.paypalsnotification@gmail.com
No, that’s bogus!
OK, so I’m getting scammed by this. With a twist.
They actually deposited the money in my account under “Pending” status. I’m not sure how they managed to do that, or even if it’s a legit hold because I have never sold a thing using PayPal before.
However, given that they’re the second scammer I’ve caught red-handed trying to get me to send the stuff to the same address, I’m wondering just how it is they expect to crawl their money back, ESPECIALLY if I use the legit way of providing POD.
If you see a pending transaction showing up in your account then you should see a reason when you view the transaction details. It’s most likely an e-check, which would take a few days to clear, and they’re hoping you’d ship the item only to find out later that the e-check failed.
so im talking to a woman who wants to buy my iphone 11 pro max and ive advertised it for $900 and she wanted to pay $920 to take care of shipping. after she so called sent the money she said she sent through goods and services and that in order for me to get the money i need to supply her a tracking number.
this is the email she sent to me from and it was found in the spam folder
service.paypalmailbox@aol.com
That’s a scam. Ignore them and find a legit buyer. Hope it’s not too late already..??
We’re scammer and we’ve a lots of trick😂
Drew am warning you not to expose our transaction, we work on our own and you’ve to work on your own too, if you try us by exposing our transaction, you’ll be in trouble
is service@intl-pay.co a legit PayPal email.
No, that’s a scammer!
Is paypalvirtuals@naver.com real?
No, that’s bogus!
What about this email? paypalonlinetransfer43@gmail.com
Bogus! Anything that is not @paypal.com is going to be bogus. Even if it is @paypal.com it could be spoofed. Just don’t trust emails. If you see something you question, go directly to http://www.paypal.com in your browser without clicking any link. Log in and if there’s something going on that you need to know it will show up in your account dashboard.
Is servicepaypal.via.online@gmail.com legit?
No, that’s bogus!
How about servicepaypal.via.online@gmail.com
No, just don’t trust any emails like that at all.
Ohh thank you for this, this just happened to me selling a camera lens. So glad I found your website before I shipped the lens.
Yes, I’m glad you didn’t get caught up in the trap! Please share this so others can learn about it as well. Thanks!
I received two emails claiming from PayPal that I have to email proof of shipping to the email address it’s from. I have never heard of that is that a thing?
Almost certainly bogus. If you do have existing sales in PayPal then it is recommended to add tracking. However, you should log in to the PayPal account directly (not by clicking any links) and then open up the transaction details for your sale(s). Within that you can click a link to enter tracking info. That’s where you would do it, and the buyer would be able to see that same info on their side, as well as PayPal’s system seeing it so that it can release funds to the seller ASAP (assuming they were in a held state.) Let me know if you have any questions or concerns about that.
I am sooo glad I trusted my gut feeling and made my research first. I’m happy I found this article before I make a mistake. Everything mentioned to check if it’s a scam, it all happened to me. Thank you!
I’m glad you found it too! Please share so others can learn about this before it’s too late for them. Thanks!
So theres someone that wants to buy something and there claiming that the moneys been send there’s an email but that’s all and this is the email address
Trackingshippmentts@gmail.com
There 2 spelling mistakes 2P 2T
I assume it’s all fake?
Yup, bogus. Ignore this person and find a real buyer. 🙂
paypalpayment.notificatons@gmail.com
Is this real or fake please need to know
That is fake. PayPal would always have @paypal.com email addresses.
This just helped me today! I got some Facebook messages about buying something I was selling that were a little fishy – they didn’t want to buy it via FB marketplace or Poshmark b/c they “had a PayPal business account” and it wouldn’t let them. Then they sent me an email that ended up in my spam folder from paypaltrackingoii@yahoo.com and that set off all kinds of alarm bells, since it didn’t show up in my PayPal. Thanks to you, I caught it and reported them.
Very glad you didn’t caught in the trap! Please share this so that others can learn about it and avoid the same trap. Thanks!
Service_paypa.l@aol.com
I don’t like the PayPa.l part of it.
Fake?
Yes, total garbage. Ignore anything you are getting from that.
Buyer from Facebook wanted to buy a item of me../
I received two emails claiming from PayPal… pretty their fake. the transaction is showing in my paypal as pending, no tracking number..
Pay Pal
You
You
paypal
Dear ******** ,
Thank you for using PayPal online service. This is an authorization letter from PayPal to confirm that Viv Hills (perfectstudio74@outlook.com) is a certified buyer, your fund of $1,100.00 AUD as been deducted from the buyer’s account and has been “APPROVED” but will remain pending on the Pending TAB in your account until the shipment reference/tracking number is sent to us for verification, We are assuring you that the money is currently pending to be credited into your account as shown on you pending TAB . Therefore, You are advised to carry on with the shipment as instructed before the funds will reflect in your PayPal account as soon as we confirm the shipment tracking number through our agent in-charge of your transaction. failure to comply with this instruction may result in suspension of your PayPal account because you will be suspected by our firewalls security department as a fraudulent seller.
These security methods have been taken due to some fraudulent sellers on eBay, Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist classified and other Auction sites.
PayPal Service
Copyright © 2023 PayPal, Inc. All rights reserved.
Email 2/
Thanks for using PayPal
This PayPal® payment has been deducted from the buyer’s account and has been “APPROVED” but will not be credited to your account until the shipment tracking number is sent to us by replying to this email, for verification so as to secure both the buyer and the seller.
It may take a few moments for this transaction to appear in your account after our verification with the tracking number.
Payment from: perfectstudio74@outlook.com
Payment to:
********
************** email
Note to payment recipient:
EXPRESS MAIL
Transaction ID: U-5JN94861YX837153E
Date: October 25 2023
Payment Status: APPROVED
Ship to:
Name: Mukaila Lawal
Address : 4258 Bluebonnet Dr Unit C2455 ,
City: Stafford
State : Texas
Country: United States
Zip-code: 77477
Description
Unit Price
Quantity
Amount
Good
$1,100.00 AUD
1
$1,100.00 AUD
Shipping and handling
$0.00 AUD
Tax amount
Total
$1,100.00 AUD
Payment to recipient
$1,100.00 AUD
This transaction will appear on your statement as APPROVED
Transaction Summary:
Total Amount of this transaction:
$1,100.00 AUD
This is bogus!