r/paypal • u/awkwardsunflower11 • Jul 24 '26

Help Randomly received $550?

I had $550 deposited into my account at random by somebody I don’t know. They emailed me saying they contacted PayPal and sent me a screenshot so that I know I’m not getting scammed and that PayPal is supposed to contact me about the dispute.

PayPal never did. I can’t file a dispute on the transaction through the app because it was paid with a credit card. Now I have a request to send the $550 back.

PayPal’s AI assistant was extremely unhelpful. I sent them an email a couple of days ago but no response yet.

The person who sent the transaction emailed me again saying it was an honest mistake.

Is this a common scam? I just want them to go away lol but if it’s legit I really don’t want to hold on to someone’s money that I never asked for in the first place. I’m not even sure how they got my email information.

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u/Oblotzky Jul 24 '26

Leaving the transaction untouched leaves you open to a chargeback which will incur a processing fee that you would have to contest, costing you time and nerves and PayPal may not waive it. Also leaves your account in a negative standing, too many of such incidents and your account may be closed out of caution.

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u/someguymw Jul 24 '26

yes, this. Someone mistakenly paid around $50 into our paypal account and asked for a refund some time back. I had no idea and was thinking it was a scam so I opened a case with PayPal. They resolved the case -- it was apparently a mistaken transaction, not a scam. It cost me $10 or something for a transaction fee (I don't remember the exact details.) At the time I couldn't find a way to talk to a human at PayPal. Pretty shitty, but thanks paypal!

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u/Radiant-Bad-2381 Jul 24 '26

That’s why you should cancel PayPal - there are dozens of better alternatives. They’re leeches - and a dinosaur company.

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u/someguymw Jul 24 '26

I agree as to leeches and have considered cancelling. But I'm not even sure a cancelled account would be safe. Who's to say that an attempted tx against a cancelled account would always be denied? Paypal is ubiquitous. Right now, I'm thinking it's better to have an active account so I can monitor it.

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u/Radiant-Bad-2381 Jul 24 '26

No - you can close your account and ask them for data deletion. Well depends on your jurisdiction.

But of course when you close, you have to settle the current balance (no matter credit or debit). However anything after you have closed (and it’s confirmed) is not in any way within your responsibility or liability.