Guard Your Transaction!

There are many telltale signs of a fraudulent email:

• False sense of urgency – Many scam emails tell you that your account will be in jeopardy if something critical is not updated right away.
• Fake links – Check where a link is going before you click by hovering over the URL in an email, and comparing it to the URL in the browser. If it looks suspicious, don’t click.
• Attachments – A real email from PayPal will never include an attachment or software. Attachments can contain malware, so you should never open an attachment unless you are 100% sure it’s legitimate.
• If you are not sure whether a PayPal email is legitimate or not, here is what you do: Do not click on any link in the email. Instead, start a browser, go to PayPal and log in. If there is any urgent message for you, you will see it as you log in.

See examples of hoax and phishing emails

Here are some tips to bear in mind:

• When logging in to banking, shopping or email websites, always look for ‘https’ at the beginning of the URL – the ‘s’ stands for secured sites
• Check for the padlock symbol in your browser’s address bar
• Make sure the website URL address is genuine. Phishers often create a fake website with a similar URL to a bank or well-known business
• Do not rely on links in emails or from search engines as they could be fake. Enter the website URL address directly into your browser’s address bar

Look out for emails or SMS that include:

• Offers to pay more than usual for a product
• Requests to use or pay a buyer’s shipping company or agent. If the buyer sends money for shipping by PayPal, ensure the funds are available in your account first. Be wary of buyers who insist you pay by wire transfer
• The promise of money in return for a favour
• A promise to donate money to charity if you contact them
• Notifications of lottery wins
• Unsolicited job offers

1) Shipping service scams

What happens?

The buyer asks you to use their shipping account because they can get a discount, they have a preferred vendor they have worked with for years, or their shipping service is cheaper or more reliable. In another variation of the scam, the buyer may also ask you to wire the shipping fees to their preferred shipper.

Real reason they want you to use their shipping service

If you use the buyer’s shipping account, they can easily contact the shipping company and reroute the order to another address. The buyer can then open up a complaint asking for a refund because they didn’t receive their order. Now you aren’t able to prove that the buyer received their order and you have sent out your product, the shipping costs, and your money.

Real reason they want you to wire the money to their shipper

They want you to wire the money to a bogus shipping company so they can steal your money. After you have wired the money you will find out that the order was made with a stolen card or bank account and you may be held liable for returning the funds to the legitimate customer whose account was stolen.

How to avoid this scam

• Only use your shipping account
• Never wire money to someone you don’t know – you can’t get it back easily
• If a customer asks you to use their shipping service, review their order for fraud carefully. They may have used a stolen card or bank account to fund the purchase
• Ship to the address on the Transaction Details page

2) Package rerouting scams

What happens?

• A buyer places an order and provides an incorrect or fake shipping address
• The shipping company tries to deliver the package but isn’t able to. The buyer monitors the online tracking information and notices that the shipper couldn’t deliver the package
• The buyer contacts your shipping company and asks them to send the package to their correct address. The shipping company delivers the package to the new location

Real reason they rerouted the package

The buyer rerouted the package so they could file a complaint saying that they never received it. Because the shipment was rerouted, you can’t prove the item was delivered to the address on the Transaction Details page. The buyer gets to keep the item and, because the package wasn’t delivered to the address on the Transaction Details page, you aren’t covered by our Seller Protection programme. Unfortunately, you lost the product, shipping fees, and the money. To make it worse, you might also have to pay your shipper an additional rerouting fee.

How to avoid this scam

• Contact your shipping company and block buyers from rerouting packages
• Validate the buyer’s address before shipping
• Only ship to the address on the Transaction Details page

3) Overpayment scams

What happens?

You receive an order and your customer sends a payment that is more than the purchase price and then asks you to wire them the difference. They may tell you that they accidentally overpaid you, the extra money is for the shipping costs, they’re giving you a bonus for your great service, or the money is for the stress they’ve caused you. They may even ask you to wire the shipping fees to their shipper.

Real reason they overpaid you

This scammer may have used a stolen credit card, bank account number, or checking account to pay you. Just because a payment has been deposited into your account, doesn’t mean the money is yours to keep. If the legitimate account holder reports unauthorised activity, the money can be withdrawn from your account. If that happens, you’ll lose the money you wired to the fraudster, the product you shipped, shipping costs, and your payment.

How to avoid this scam

• Don’t wire money to someone you don’t know. A legitimate buyer won’t overpay you for an order
• If a customer overpays you and asks you to wire them the difference, consider canceling the order – it’s very likely to be fraudulent
• Don’t wire money to the bogus shipping company – it’s part of their scam to get your money
• Follow the Seller Protection programme and ship to the address on the Transaction Details page to protect yourself from unauthorised transactions

We will never ask for the following personal information in an email:

• Credit and debit card numbers
• Bank account numbers
• Driving licence numbers
• Email addresses
• Passwords
• Your full name