PayPal: fraud or scam

Collect

• transaction ID
• scammer's messages or emails
• FTC or police report number

Steps

1. Report the payment through the Resolution Center (unauthorized activity, or a dispute for a purchase that never arrived).

   OnlineResolution Center (disputes, claims, unauthorized activity, account limitations) Sign-in required

2. Forward fake PayPal emails to PayPal, then delete them. Do not click links in them.

   EmailForward suspicious PayPal emails (phishing) phishing@paypal.com

3. Report the scam to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov. PayPal's fraud page also lists IdentityTheft.gov and the FBI's IC3.

   RegulatorFederal Trade Commission +1-877-382-4357

More contacts for this issue

Facts you can cite

• Contact

  PayPal says to contact it only through the Contact page in the Help Center or by calling PayPal Customer Service at 1-888-221-1161.

  Source: paypal.com, verified 2026-10-12

• Policy

  The PayPal User Agreement has an arbitration agreement. To opt out, mail a signed written notice postmarked no later than 30 days after you first accept the agreement to PayPal, Inc., Attn: Litigation Department, Re: PayPal Opt-Out Notice, 2211 North First Street, San Jose, CA 95131.

  Source: paypal.com, verified 2026-10-12

Rules in force

• Electronic Fund Transfer Act error resolution and unauthorized-transfer liability (Regulation E)
  12 CFR 1005.6; 12 CFR 1005.11; 12 CFR 1005.2(m) (Regulation E)

  For debit cards, ATM transfers, ACH and other electronic fund transfers from a consumer account (including P2P payments that meet the EFT definition), the consumer has 60 days after the statement is sent to report an error. The institution must investigate within 10 business days, or within 45 days if it provisionally credits the account within 10 business days. Liability for unauthorized transfers is capped at $50, $500 or more depending on how fast the consumer reports.

  Source: consumerfinance.gov, verified 2026-10-12

  12 citable points

  • Limit

    If the consumer reports a lost or stolen access device within two business days after learning of the loss or theft, liability is limited to "the lesser of $50 or the amount of unauthorized transfers that occur before notice".

    Source: consumerfinance.gov, verified 2026-10-12

  • Limit

    If the consumer does not report within two business days after learning of the loss or theft, liability is "the lesser of $500 or the sum of" up to $50 of transfers in the first two business days and later transfers the institution shows would have been prevented by timely notice.

    Source: consumerfinance.gov, verified 2026-10-12

  • Deadline

    An unauthorized transfer that appears on a periodic statement must be reported "within 60 days of the financial institution's transmittal of the statement" to avoid liability for later transfers that timely notice would have prevented. The institution must extend these time limits to a reasonable period when extenuating circumstances (for example extended travel or hospitalization) delayed notice.

    Source: consumerfinance.gov, verified 2026-10-12

  • Process

    Notice of an unauthorized transfer may be given in person, by phone or in writing. Written notice is considered given at the time the consumer mails it. Lower liability under state law or the account agreement controls.

    Source: consumerfinance.gov, verified 2026-10-12

  • Policy

    An unauthorized EFT is a transfer from the consumer's account initiated by someone other than the consumer without actual authority and from which the consumer receives no benefit. It does not include a transfer by a person to whom the consumer gave the access device (until the consumer tells the institution that person is no longer authorized), a transfer made with fraudulent intent by the consumer or someone acting with the consumer, or a transfer by the institution or its employee.

    Source: consumerfinance.gov, verified 2026-10-12

  • Policy

    Errors covered by the error-resolution procedure include an unauthorized EFT, an incorrect EFT to or from the account, an omitted transfer on a statement, a computational or bookkeeping error, receiving the wrong amount of cash from an ATM, and a request for documentation or clarification about a transfer.

    Source: consumerfinance.gov, verified 2026-10-12

  • Deadline

    The consumer must give notice of an error no later than 60 days after the institution sent the periodic statement on which the error first appears. The notice must let the institution identify the consumer's name and account and say why the consumer believes there is an error. If notice is oral, the institution may require written confirmation within 10 business days.

    Source: consumerfinance.gov, verified 2026-10-12

  • Deadline

    The institution must investigate and decide within 10 business days, report results within 3 business days after it completes the investigation, and correct an error within 1 business day after it finds one. It may take up to 45 days only if it provisionally credits the disputed amount within 10 business days. It need not provisionally credit if it asked for written confirmation of an oral notice and did not receive it within 10 business days.

    Source: consumerfinance.gov, verified 2026-10-12

  • Deadline

    Longer periods apply in some cases: 20 business days instead of 10 for transfers within 30 days after the first deposit to a new account, and 90 days instead of 45 for point-of-sale debit card transactions, transfers not initiated within a state, and new-account transfers.

    Source: consumerfinance.gov, verified 2026-10-12

  • Process

    If the institution finds no error, it must give a written explanation and tell the consumer of the right to request the documents it relied on. If it debits a provisional credit, it must notify the consumer of the date and amount and honor checks and preauthorized transfers for five business days after the notice.

    Source: consumerfinance.gov, verified 2026-10-12

  • Policy

    P2P (CFPB guidance, not rule text): the CFPB's Electronic Fund Transfers FAQs state that any P2P payment that meets the definition of an EFT is covered by EFTA and Regulation E, and that when a consumer is fraudulently induced into sharing account access information with a third party, the resulting transfer by that third party is an unauthorized EFT.

    Source: consumerfinance.gov, verified 2026-10-12

  • Process

    CFPB guidance (Electronic Fund Transfers FAQs): an institution must begin its investigation promptly on an oral or written notice of error and may not require a police report or require the consumer to contact the merchant first. Consumer negligence, such as writing a PIN on the card, cannot be used to impose greater liability.

    Source: consumerfinance.gov, verified 2026-10-12

If that fails, escalate

Go up one step at a time. Keep the reference numbers and dates from each contact.

1. Customer service

   ChatPayPal Assistant chat and Contact Us page

2. Written complaint

   OnlineResolution Center (disputes, claims, unauthorized activity, account limitations) Sign-in required

   Open the dispute, then escalate it to a claim within 20 days.

3. Written complaint

   MailWritten notice of errors or unauthorized transactions PayPal, Attn: Error Resolution Department, P.O. Box 45950, Omaha, NE 68145-0950

   Written notice for unauthorized transactions and electronic transfer errors.

4. Federal regulator

   RegulatorConsumer Financial Protection Bureau +1-855-411-2372

5. State agency

   Your state’s financial regulator. Find it in the list of state agencies (also as JSON: states/<code>.json, for example states/ny.json).

6. Arbitration

   The PayPal User Agreement has an arbitration agreement with a 30-day mail-in opt-out.

Watch out

Related

• Fraud or scam at other companies
• How PayPal complaints actually go (dossier, checked 2026-10-12)
• Payment apps and money transfer services — how complaints work
• PayPal: dispute with a merchant through the bank
• PayPal: unauthorized charge
• PayPal: account frozen or closed