Scam using PayPal customer service telephone

[Haleyinthevalle]

AND THIS IS NOT NEW!! Found this lil tidbit today: <removed> Insert the phone number after backslash to see SO many complaints <removed>

[Haleyinthevalle]

I am a buyer in the process of receiving a refund from a seller. PayPal closed the case and seller contacted me asking what they should do... here is where it gets sketchy! I quickly googled "contact PayPal". It brought up a number[Removed. Phone #s not permitted](I confirmed with REAL PayPal that this is a number associated with them?) When I called them, a man answered (no automatons) and I explained that I needed to speak about an issue I was having. He asked for my name and "what was going on?". I told him why I was calling and he said "ok, I need to transfer you to our billing dept" I then spoke to a "supervisor" during this contact he asked for my name and the price of the item I was disputing. I gave him the info and told him, how about I just give you the case I'd? He took the info. He then said something to the effect of "we apologize for the trouble and we will give you a refund of 150$ for the trouble" The item was only 139.99 so I thought this was very odd! He then said I have multiple cards on file can you give me last four digits of the card where you want refund to go. I gave him the last 4 digits. He then read my phone number back to me (I never gave him this) and said he would send confirmation to me. I asked him "cant you just email it to me?" And he said he would but he had to verify through the phone listed on the account. That this was a security feature... he sends me a text message and the moment I seen it I was freaking out "Dear Paypal User Paypal has deposited funds of $150.00 in your card ending with <removed> for GOOGLE Play Card. ACCOUNT BALANCE WILL BE UPDATED SOON. Regards Paypal Support Team Dear customer your transaction has been declined due to some error code please contact paypal support team as soon as possible . Regards Paypal support team" I have canceled my bank cards, called PayPal and changed all my passwords.... I verified with PayPal that they did NOT issue a refund, contact me via cellphone or have any history of this interaction. My question is: 1. How did I end up with scammers from calling a number that is theirs? (Even verified on my phones call history) 2. How did they know my phone number? 3. How did they know I had multiple cards on file? I find this ALL very, very alarming as a consumer.

[FedUp1234]

Paypal NEEDS TO PAY ATTENTION & HELP FIX this SCAM!!!  I contacted Paypal while in the car from Google. The guy asked for my email then said for security he had to send me a verification code to speak with me, he texted me a number, I gave it to him, then he went on to say my account had a security problem it was through Google and I needed to purchase a $50 Google Play card give him the numbers off it and I would be reimbursed and gave me the name of my bank that was listed on my Paypal.  When I questioned him he got short and tried to explain again, I stopped him and said I wanted to speak with Google first.  He offered to call me back to which I said No.  It was ALL A SCAM!!  I found the email where he changed my password so it happened for sure.  I changed my password to Paypal, contacted my bank to verify nothing had been touched and went on Paypal to report it (ended up in chat) and the guy at Paypal had nothing to say except change your password and Paypal has never been breached...Really?  I have the phone number where I spoke to the scammer, a screenshot of the Google search for customer service and nobody cares/!  This was WAY TOO easy, the passwords change policy MUST be corrected.  Honestly, I want to know why this scammer didn't just send himself money while he had my account open?[Removed. Phone #s not permitted]hows differently.  

[Haleyinthevalle]

It's very disturbing how THEIR PHONE NUMBER can end you up in the hands of scammers. They removed the number on here (but read between the lines!) I assure you this is a 888 scam number. I just called it and it's a 221 busy signal 1,161 I believe these scammers have breached SOME of our info but not all of it. Either someone employed by PayPal is selling the info.. name, phone, last digits of cards on file and email etc. Or they have had a big security breach. The scammers dont have the "full" bank account info and that's where they need us... PayPal better listen up...

[FedUp1234]

I want to explain a bit clearer now that I'm not so upset...  If for any reason you call Paypal CS (I did a Google search) you could be calling directly into a SCAM.  When you get on the phone with them everything is like normal; they ask for your email (so they know who's calling, normal) then they say they need to text you a verification code for security to verify it's really you (normal) so you give them the code from the text...  And POOF that's it ALL DONE, they are in your Paypal account with all your info!  The way they do it is by tricking you into calling (cause it looks like Paypal CS) then when you give your email they go straight to your account and click on "forgot password" then Paypal sends a text with a code to CHANGE your password to you, but you give it to them thinking it's verifying who you are and then they change your password and immediately get into your account and can see all the stuff you do when you sign in!!  Could and will happen to anyone...  Paypal needs to warn its customers not to CALL them, EVER.  And we need to change our recovery settings not to text that code!  

I'm contacting Google Ads, I have the scammer number on my phone and a screenshot of the Google search.  Let me know if you need my stuff also? 

[bricon69]

I too fell prey to calling the PayPal customer service number, which I have verified is the correct number. Indian scammers answered the phone after going through prompts and 20 minutes of wait time. They asked all the usual security questions. Sent a verification code and they were looking at my account. Asked me my issue and I told them someone was acting as an imposter to receive money as me through PayPal and gave them the persons email receiving money. They then said all my accounts and information was compromised, scaring me. They told me I needed to transfer money to PayPal for safety until the issue was resolved. That it would be resolved within 2 days and they would take care of it. They gain your trust answering PayPal’s phone. Regular people aren’t thinking about how to fraud and exploit others. The code they send you via text can have malware or other things allowing these hackers into your phone. They were able to get into my banking app on my phone, download cash app and Zelle, which I don’t use. They were also able to manipulate my balance showing on my bank app to show $1500 had been removed scaring me into believing they are right. I asked how someone got such information and they told me my info had likely been purchased by hackers on the dark web due to a breach such as the equifax breach. All of this very alarming that they knew such as what they were saying were things that happened. They were able to make off with a sizable amount of money sending confirmation codes as if from PayPal. I was hacked, scammed, and defrauded due to calling a number I’ve even been advised to call on PayPal’s customer portal. I believe the scammers have since communicated with me in that portal. The one I’m on now. I have printed screenshots of such advising me to call the scam number ending in eleven twenty one. I can’t get anywhere with the help center because the transaction isn’t listed on my account. I would welcome any help available.

[bricon69]

I need any help available. I posted answering your but it went above yours. Thank you

[Revali]

Exactly....they also changed my password so I was locked out of my account

[Revali]

I had a very similar situation yesterday I rang the uk freephone PayPal customer service helpline and the agent knew everything about my PayPal account and escalated my refund request to another dept who then asked me to verify one of the card details, they knew the expiry date of the card. I gave them a wrong password for the card and immediately they tried to use it but it was declined I then got a text from my bank asking if this was me? I replied no so they rang me to cancel the card. A purchase of £674 had been attempted. The bank said PayPal has no telephone contact centre at the moment Please PayPal flag this up for others

[Haleyinthevalle]

So, a "moderator" removed much of what I said, including the website where I located the other complaints. Ehh, ok. I contacted the FTC as well as the attorney general listed in PayPal's legal mumbo jumbo..... The attorney general email they have listed is (drum roll please...) INCORRECTLY listed and I received "unable to deliver" auto response. So, I will do MORE work to locate the proper people to report this to. Ps. I have called the PayPal "guest phone number" and it's a straight busy signal.