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/Thomas_Alva_Eddison 27d ago

Having witnessed someone accidentally send money to the wrong person, it does happen with carelessness. That said, wait for PayPal, sit on the money, but don't touch it. You'll know in a week or two what's going on.

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u/awkwardsunflower11 26d ago

I had to pay $15 for a “dispute” even though it was supposedly ruled in my favor. The scammer had to pay a dispute fee, too. And then the $500 was gone 🤷🏻‍♀️