If you have to send money to a loved one using PayPal, then the Friends and Family option is there to serve you as it instantly sends the cash. But of course, there’s a loophole.
The PayPal Friends and Family option has limited protection against scammers, unlike the Goods and Services option. Scammers convince potential customers to pay for their services using the PayPal Friends and Family feature.
If you got scammed on PayPal Friends and Family, read further for possible ways you can resolve the issue.
I Got Scammed on PayPal Friends and Family – Here’s What to Did
Primarily, PayPal Friends and Family is not for business transactions. It is used to send money to your close contacts in a peer-to-peer fashion. The PayPal Goods and Services option is more suited for business transactions.
If you get scammed on PayPal Friends and Family, here are some things you can do:
Request for a refund from the seller
If you have been sent a knock-off of the item you purchased, the first thing you should do is to try to get a refund from the seller. If this seems like a dead-end, report the case to PayPal.
Report the case to PayPal
If you are a victim of a PayPal Friends and Family scam, you should consider sending a report to PayPal within 180 days after you made the transaction. Doing this may help get your money back.
File a police report
When you get scammed in a non-virtual space, you probably would file a police report. PayPal scams shouldn’t be treated any differently. You should consider filing a police report when you get scammed on PayPal Friends and Family. If the situation is well-looked into, it might offer you grounds for a refund.
If a credit or debit card was used, contact your card issuer
If you used a credit or debit card to fund the transaction, you should reach out to the bank that issued the card to you. There’s a probability that you get a chargeback.
No assurance taking any or all of these actions would get your money back, because, in retrospect, you went against the PayPal terms of use, but they’re worth the try.
How to win a PayPal Friends and Family dispute
If you get scammed on PayPal Friends and Family and decide to file a dispute with PayPal, it might not go the way you want. This is because PayPal doesn’t exactly allow the filing of disputes for Friends and Family transactions. However, you can report the transaction and request a refund instead.
If you try to file a dispute for a Friends and Family transaction, you are at risk of losing your PayPal account because you went against the PayPal terms of service in the first place.
Here’s how to report a Friends and Family transaction:
Sign in to your PayPal account >> go to the Resolution Center >> select the pop-up option that surfaces >> choose the transaction you’d like to report and select Report >> select Continue.
Can I claim money back through PayPal Friends and Family?
There’s a possibility that you can.
You can get in touch with the seller and request a refund. If this doesn’t work, you can still report the case to PayPal and keep your fingers crossed. PayPal would act as a mediator between you and the seller.
If you funded the PayPal Friends and Family transaction with a credit or debit card you should get in touch with the bank that issued the card and request a chargeback on grounds of a scam transaction.
Can you dispute a Friends and Family payment?
No, PayPal doesn’t allow for disputes in the case of Friends and Family payments. If you suspect that you have been scammed on PayPal Friends and Family, you can report the transaction and possibly get a refund.
Can a seller get scammed on PayPal Friends and Family?
Yes, a seller can. If a seller receives a request from a buyer to be paid with PayPal Friends and Family, this can be a red flag. It could also mean that the buyer is trying to subsidize payment charges.
Nevertheless, getting a request to be paid using PayPal’s Friends and Family is a red flag.
Read also: What Is Visa Provisioning Service?
Can you get your money back from PayPal if you get scammed?
Yes, you can if the transaction was done using PayPal Goods and Services. If you report the transaction to PayPal when you suspect that you have been a victim of a scam, you may be refunded.
PayPal would need you to tender necessary proof to aid them to look into your report and possibly get your money back. You’d need proof of the transaction, proof of communication with the seller, photographs, shipping information (if an item was shipped).
On the other hand, if getting a refund via PayPal is proving to be futile, you should contact the credit or debit card issuer and request a chargeback for the fraudulent transaction.
Getting a refund after you made a payment with PayPal Friends and Family is uncertain. The procedures highlighted in this post will offer you a shot at getting your money back.
This doesn’t mean that they would work all the time, but it doesn’t hurt to try.
Going forward, you should use PayPal Goods and Services option to make payments as it comes with buyer protection from PayPal.
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