Random $100 Instant Payment

[GMSkarka]

My account (which I've had for years) just received a random $100 payment from somebody whom I've never heard of.

At first, I thought the notification email was a phishing scam, so I didn't click on any links, and just accessed my account on a separate device -- and the payment IS there.

The user is unverified, and the payment included no notes or any other information.     I've sent the user an email, asking for clarification -- but I figured I'd post about it here as well.

Is this some sort of scam?   Some backward way to gain access to my account?    I can't see how it would work, but you never know....

-Gareth

[PayPal_Andy]

GMSkarka-  Well...I wish people would send me random $100 payments. 🙂

There's a couple of possibilities here:

1. Someone typed the email address in wrong and that money belongs to someone with a very similar email.

2. Someone got access to this sender's password, got into their account, and decided to send you money.  Now that might seem strange, but this can happen if they also have (or think they have) access to your password.  Just to be safe, you might think of changing your password and running a virus scan.  Either way, if you have no idea what the money's about, you can always refund it, or contact us and we can refund it for you.

Andy

[GMSkarka]

Turns out it was #1.   A mis-directed payment.    Thanks for the response.

[MKrick]

Something similar happened to me this morning.   Someone sent me $100 out of the blue then immediately flagged it as an unauthorized claim.

I'm not sure how to resolve this in the dispute center.

My only options are:

Provide Shipping Information

I have not shipped the item and I will refund the payment.

I have refunded the payment for this transaction.

I'm worried this is some sort of scam and that if I agree to refunding the payment somehow the first $100 will disappear and then I'll lose $100 from my bank account for the "refund".

I emailed the sender and just got a reply - he says he got hacked, money was sent to several random people and Paypal is investigating.   Should I just step away and let Paypal handle it?

[PayPal_Andy]

MKrick-  That is absolutely a legitimate concern; I know I wouldn't want $100 being pulled from my bank for something that isn't my fault at all.  You could choose the 'refund' option and should be ok, but honestly you may want to call our customer service so we can take care of it from our end and make sure that there's no...accidents.

Andy