Can someone request more money from my account

[Falkenburg]

Hi Community,

I want to make a donation to a Ukraine charity. The organisation looks genuine but I have no way of really knowing.

If I donate and they are not legitimate, I understand that I would probably lose that donation.

However my question is: What is to prevent the organisation from requesting even more money from my account - either by altering this transaction somehow or perhaps by creating future illegal transactions.

I don't understand how PayPal transactions function. Is it impossible for the non legitimate organisation to request more money?

Thanks,

Mike.

[ali_3]

Hi @Falkenburg,

Welcome to the PayPal community! I understand that you are making a donation to a Ukraine charity. Please review the PayPal Ukraine website. It says, "Ukrainian customers can now send and receive payments between family and friends, and we are temporarily waiving our fees for all Ukrainian accounts. Exchange rates and third party fees may still apply". 

If you are donating a payment, the recipient will receive it as a goods and service payment which is currently not available for Ukraine. You can only make personal payments to a PayPal customer in Ukraine. They would not be able to request any invoice or donation. If you see a PayPal checkout option on the charity website which is genuine you may proceed with that.

If you are accepting a donation or invoice request, only the amount you send shall be captured by the recipient. For another payment, they need to send you a new request. Furthermore, you might want automatic payments on your PayPal account. Sometimes, the charitable institutes may set a recurring payment option and you can cancel it anytime. You can learn more about how to identify one and cancel it. 

What is an automatic payment and how do I update it?

I hope this helps!

- Ali

[Falkenburg]

Hi Ali,

Thanks for your message. I do appreciate you taking time to respond.

Sorry, but I'm confused by your reply.

I think you are saying:

- I can only currently donate to private recipients.

- I cannot currently donate to a charity organisation.

However you then say if I see a link on a (genuine) charity website then I can proceed. How is this possible, if I can only donate to private recipients?

Also, my main issue is that I don't fully know if the charity is genuine.

I think you are also saying that:

- The recipient can only receive the amount I am sending.

- They cannot alter this amount.

- They cannot request and receive a second amount.

So the process is that I have to 'send' an amount to them - they cannot 'take' an amount from me (unless I send it).

Is that a fair representation of what you are saying?

I apologise for not understanding you clearly 🙂

[PayPal_Martin]

Hi @Falkenburg

Basically, in this case it depends on where the recipient (charity) is based. At the moment it is only possible to receive and send personal payments on Ukrainian PayPal accounts, using our friend and family payment options. So this would indicate the charity you are considering is not based Ukraine but in a another country collecting for this cause. As there are so many charities collecting for this , it can be very confusing and you are right to be cautious. You can always check the charity online, most countries have charity registers one can check. I can see you are based in the UK, you can check the Charity Commission website. 

If you are still unsure , I would suggest you choose a well known charity to give yourself peace of mind.  You can also donate using our PayPal Giving Fund, which has many charities registered who are helping out with Humanitarian causes in Ukraine. this is explained here https://www.paypal.com/uk/webapps/mpp/givingfund/home. Using this service you are guaranteeing that the funds go to a registered charity and no fees are charged to the recipient. 

I hope this clarifies the issue.

Martin

[Falkenburg]

Hi Martin,

Thanks for taking the time to answer my post.

You've answered the first part - thanks for that.

What about my second part? In it I said:

"I think you are also saying that:

- The recipient can only receive the amount I am sending.

- They cannot alter this amount.

- They cannot request and receive a second amount.

So the process is that I have to 'send' an amount to them - they cannot 'take' an amount from me (unless I send it).

Is that a fair representation of what you are saying?"

Do you believe this to be a true representation of how the PayPal transaction occurs?

Thanks,

Mike.

[PayPal_Martin]

Hi @Falkenburg

They can only request further payment if you set up a billing agreement or subscription with them. But you would need to agree to this when making the initial payment . If you are asked to agree to terms and conditions it is best to read these before confirming. You can cancel any such pre-approved payment agreement as follows https://www.paypal.com/uk/smarthelp/article/how-do-i-cancel-an-automatic-payment-i-have-with-a-merch... 

So most individual donations are not linked to such billing agreements and once you confirm the payment it cannot be altered.

I hope this answers you query.

Martin