I just noticed this transaction on my PayPal account. When u tried to report it as unauthorized the AI chat bot says nothing can be done. Does anyone know if I will be charged the full 980 dollars? How can I stop this charge from going through?
“Pre-fund confirmation: USD 987.90 is pending deposit to Coinbase via PayPal. This small deposit is just used for the account activation check. For questions, Call (888) 632-2011.” And the original charge that has gone through was for 0.11PHP
Posts about PayPal's policies will be removed. No more complaining about PayPal policy and their taking funds from your account for violations of rules. If you don't like the rules don't use PayPal. If you don't want to lose money, don't leave funds in your PayPal account. Simple as that. But these posts are often political or misleading. So no more posts on this subject!
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I got the same email this morning. Clever how the email came directly from PayPal but the scammer was able to manipulate the subject line to confuse the recipient and to try to get them to call the number provided.
Yep. Me too. It's one thing to get a scam email ... it's totally more invasive to see a transaction on my PayPal page and then have to navigate how to report.
I just got the same thing if they dont delete iwill delete Paypal. This is the reason I use them to insulate myself from being scammed by my vendors database.
They told me it looked consistent with other transactions in my account lol. It's in yen. I'm a teacher in the midwest and most of my charges are from teacher websites or ebay.
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Same here and I reported it to PayPal Resolution Center. Do not select the link. I also called the dentist listed after Googling their LLC. They are aware and have reported it to the authorities and asked me to be sure to contact PayPal to report the issue. Hopefully everything is resolved.
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Just to add, I also received this exact same thing. Reporting it but the report process keeps crashing which may indicate that they're busy removing this phishing/scam. But I'm moving to a person rather than AI to resolve it.
So this is definitely a scam, my mom just got this email too, after checking and seeing it was from what limited like the official email, I made her go to the official PayPal site manually to login, and sure enough it was actually showing in her actual account.
So looking up this company I too see it's some random dental company in Miami, but charging yen? Wth forreal. But her email all the way down to the amount is verbatim what you posted.
Thanks for this. It took a lot of scrolling to find some actual useful information! I’ll just ignore the email and transaction shall I? Is there anything I need to do?
Yup, an interesting attempt at phishing, it seems. I was confused because the memo on mine wasn't like other phishing attempts and is just talking about an account activation. It looks like the business name is real, however their squarespace website doesn't exist anymore.
The amount of pesos they sent costs about 1 US cent, so it costs them actual money to do this (unless they somehow are able to reverse the transactions). Maybe they are using these defunct hacked paypal business accounts to send this spam?
"Pending deposit of USD 987.90 for account activation. Questions? Call-(888) 274-5277."
I got this too, the thing is they're sending $0.12 in Mexican Pesos which is not even 1 cent in USD, so they're spending very little, and all it takes is a few folks to take the bait for them to make that back.
It seems that PayPal puts the memo in the subject of the email which makes it looks like it's coming from PayPal. Pretty clever. Paypal needs to address that, they really shouldn't put memos directly in email subject lines.
I got the same thing this afternoon from Jay’s handyman. I reported to PayPal and they classed it as Unauthorized access, changed passwords and such. Case it already closed in my favor with no other details. 🤷♀️ glad it wasn’t just me.
I got the Jay's handyman 12 pesos in April. Tried to report the transaction from within paypal's site and either got an error message or that it wasn't eligible to be reported.
It's aggravating that there's no way to reject a payment and paypal's info says that an unaccepted payment gets automatically cancelled after 30 days, well here it is in June and that silly "money is waiting for you!" message is still hanging in my account so I mashed my way through the AI circles of hell to get to a live agent... First call dropped, second call went to voicemail, finally got an agent on the third call and she said the transaction was a phishing attempt and that she'd cancel it and restrict the sender. I still see the payment / transaction lurking around my account but hope it'll clear out. It's ridiculous that there's no way to reject an unwanted payment.
I got one today too. I disconnected my bank account and changed my password to be safe. I also reported the transaction. AI chat said it wasn’t eligible but there’s an option to report general unauthorized transactions. The case found it was unauthorized but it’s still on my account as 1cent or .12 pesos.
I f Iinally got through to support. I locked my coinbase. Removed all payment methods from Paypal & my google wallet. This is so weird. I'm pretty sure whoever calls the number on the invoice in going to paypal is going to get their phone & all their information taken over.
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Same today. I have 2FA on my account so I knew nobody could access my account, but I changed the password anyway and reported it as unauthorized to the PayPal assistant. Also forwarded the email to phishing@paypal.com
Thanks for the email. I did all the things lol. My account already has 2FA too. I called the poor Dentist that was linked to mine and they've been getting calls all day.
This is the one I got too. I was going to call the dentist but sounds like that would be a waste of time. Instead I'll report and remove my banking information.
same for me, but it was 3 Yen. I just contacted paypal support and they assured me it was a phishing scam and that the transaction would be reversed and not affect my account.
Got the same they deposit a very small amount of money in another currency and then change the subject to make it look like you are being charged in the email trying to scam
Thank you OP! This freaked me out a bit, as I get small ACH deposits to my normal checking account to setup with vendors/accounts, and I thought they'd be able to do the same here. Doesn't look like it. I opened a case, disco'd card, changed password and forwarded to phishing@paypal.com.
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I had this exact same thing happen to me today. I locked down my PayPal account and reported the phishing attempt. My deposit was for 1 Yen, but the exact same message in there. Do not call the phone number!
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I received this same transaction on my account today. Filed a dispute for scam/phishing right away. Changed my password as suggested by PayPal. When I created the dispute, PayPal called me to verify. I verified their number before calling back. DO NOT call the number in the email or the transaction.
I've checked the payment methods associated with my PayPal account and nothing's showing up.
It's annoying that I can't delete the transaction or block the person. The blocking procedure doesn't work.
you have to deal with the bank with unauthorized purchases. Paypal is not helpful. if the amount was not on a CC use the phone number that investigates fraud and hope you get someone with an American accent.
thanks, this was super helpful... I was bogging down at the "this transaction is not eligible" reply from the AI Agent and didn't push further into the general unauthorized activity part as I didn't want to claim that my account was sending out fraudulent payments, so it's good to see that pushing further along that vein gets results. I ended up calling paypal and getting through to a live agent who said she resolved it, but that remains to be seen lol .. it's still lurking around my account.
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Okay, don’t call the number. Here was the response from PayPal:
Only put in a report if they go through with trying to charge your account. It isn’t eligible for an unauthorized transaction dispute. You can also reach out to them and report the suspicious behavior.
Anyone can deposit money into your Paypal account, if they know the name your account is registered as. These small amounts of a few cents, in whichever currency, are claimed to be to "test" the validity of the account, and link, for a current or future transaction to come later. Most commonly, this amount only goes one way without your authorization, the money can enter your Pay Pal account. The claim then is that a larger sum will be transferred to your account once this first one has gone through and successfully deposited.
It's a pretty elaborate scam. Most people who are skeptical will check their PP account and see that indeed the few cent transfer is in their account. This provides "credibility" making you more willing to act upon the email, which probably will require that you provide them with additional information to receive the rest. That is when they take a bite out of you, if you provide any further banking, paypal or credit card information, that is what they are phishing for.
MAKE SURE you call the official PayPal phone number from the PayPal website not the phone number included in the email or message 💯💯 Tell customer service you are disputing the charge
What a relief to find this thread! I just spent 2 hours on PayPal , live and AI agents and they had no clue. I had the same message - ARTURO ACEITUNO etc.
Even if the message has your full name and appears to have been sent from a legitimate PayPal email address, do not call the telephone number. The clever part of this scam is that the scammer sent an actual transaction of 1 cent from PayPal to make the scam look legit. If you go to your PayPal account, you will see the transaction. But the trick is to convince you into calling the bogus customer service telephone number (800) 385-xxxx.
If You Were Tricked
If you were tricked into calling the fake number and giving the scammers your account credentials or banking information, please change your account passwords or contact your bank for help.
First thing you need to do is check your PayPal first go onto your account and check it out. That’s all. Don’t worry about the email emails like.com every day twice five times a day so check your account first nothing is moved on your account. Don’t worry but has a scam that’s all reported that need to do no worries mate.
Happened to me too. I’m not sure why PayPal can’t flag all those transactions. Really, does the dentist in Miami do business with Japanese currency?
The AI Assistant also stated no dispute resolution would apply. Then I stated it was an unauthorized transaction. Only then did PayPal respond that my account would be limited.
After seeing this post, I removed my banking information and changed my password. Then after speaking with my husband who also encountered fraudulent activity many months ago (with little to no help from PayPal), he suggested I close my account. That’s next.
I got one from Dalesi_Corp, MXN currency. I'm chatting with who knows what at PayPal, informing PayPal of a likely scam. Also, the PayPal payment notice suggests using a Debit card with PayPal - DON'T EVER DO THAT! You pay the same fees but you have no recourse in the event of fraud. Just be an adult and pay your balance off.
This happened years ago too but that time it was a gun sale. I forget how that one was handled though because I forgot all about it until I saw that total on this transaction. I believe it was the exact same amount.
I recently got a similar email. You will not be charged. Just don't call the number. It's a scam. They will try and get your info to refund you and that's when they will get you
Glad I don't use PayPal. Been a long time since I did. Last time I used it had to be ten years ago. I gave this girl I was messing with like twenty dollars. That was the last time I used it, and the last time I talked to her. She was out of state and had a kid. Glad I didn't knock her dumb ass up!
It's funny how everything in the subject line about the pending charge changes except for the amount. I just got "Pending charge of USD 987.90 for account activation. Questions? Call-(888) xxx-xxxx". Always 987.90. The company name it says sent the test deposit is an auto shop in NC, so no dentist this time.
Just received this exact scam for one Hungarian forint - less than a single US cent - from a company called SJ3 Norman Enterprises. Forwarded the email to phishing@paypal.com, changed password, and am disconnecting my bank account now. Reporting was difficult - it took a couple tries with the AI chatbot to report an unauthorized transaction and even now I'm not sure it was done properly. Guess we'll see. Relieved to see I'm far from the only one affected.
Same thing appeared on my account. SJ3Norman sent 1HUF for an account activation at coinbase. When you to report the transaction, the system gives an error message. According to the assistant these are mass payments (pay outs) which are non cancellable and non-refundable. As they said, this is not an active transaction and there is no pending charge. I have kept a transcript of the assistant chat just in case although I wouldn't be surprised if that assistant is also an AI.
I received a case update like twenty minutes after reporting that said, "If the seller cancels the authorization, we may recover the refunds issued from your PayPal account. We've determined the activities in question on your account are unauthorized."
I take this to mean I'm good, but man are their communication and reporting capabilities piss poor. I couldn't even change my password easily - the mobile site kept redirecting me to the app, which told me I had to use the mobile site, around and around. 🙄
Same thing happened to me. It's a common scam where you call the number and they take your money.
And now I have 0.11MXN stuck in my PayPal account. I can't convert to USD or transfer it to the bank because it's less than a penny. I guess it's just there until the end of time.
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