New PayPal Refund Scam

[tofuprd]

Hello.

I was in involved in a new scam and want to let everyone know.  Long story short, I purchase something from an online forum.  The seller was ok with PayPal Good and Service, so it did not throw me any reflags.  I asked the seller to send an invoice, paid with Good and Service.  The seller then ask me ofr a screenshot of the payment to verify and my phone number, which I thought was used for shipping.  I did  I later found out that the seller was a scammer since the item was also sold to another person on the forum.  Also another member purchased something else from the same seller.  We later found out that the forum seller account was compromised.  We of course file a dispute on the transaction on PayPal.

The "what the #$% moment" came the next morning.  I received some weird notification on my PayPal App with message as "APP_OPS_FMT".  I clicked on it and it loaded the PayPal app.  I didn' think much about it.  An hr later, I received an email from PayPal that my dispute status changed and I was disputing $6 dollars.  My dispute was not over 6 dollars, but over $$$$, since it was a high priced item.  I then proceed to login to my PayPal and saw that the seller accept the dispute of $6 dollars and that was the amount to be refunded, and the dispute was closed.    I called PayPal, and they ask me to talk to my CC company.  I did not authorize or change my dispute claim!!!  Not sure how that happen, but I am guessing this could be an inside job.  I have 2 factor authentication set up as well as really random password which could not be cracked, so I am sure my account was not compromised.  I am not sure how they were able to change the status unless someone at PayPal did it.

I called PayPal the 2nd time and asked what happen.  They say they will escalate this matter.  But I feel that PayPal is not safe anymore.

Any input?  

[bkwt]

Wanted to chime in and mention I was the victim of this exact same scam. After I paid the seller, they requested that I provide a screenshot of my transaction as payment proof, and my phone #. I didn't think much of it and provided both, but a few hours later, I was notified by PayPal that I had submitted a Dispute, and was requesting a $6.00 refund, followed by the seller promptly accepting it. I immediately started changing all my PayPal credentials at that point. I also noticed that the log in devices history listed a new device with a label of "b06" that I know wasn't mine, and so I killed its access. I also tried to submit a 2nd dispute to PayPal saying that my account might have been compromised, but they in turn denied anything wrong, and automatically closed my own legit dispute. It seems clear that the intent of doing such a small refund in this scam, is to be to lock out the ability to easily submit a Dispute for the full amount of the transaction.

I've had no choice thus far but to go through my credit card company to attempt to reverse the transaction. Thankfully it was proven that the seller was using a hacked account where the password was compromised, and was posting fake sales posts, so I don't think I'll have an uphill battle with my CC company. 

In any case, it's pretty disturbing that there now seems to be a backdoor way to access anybody's transaction, if the scammer is given your transaction details and/or your phone #. Thankfully it doesn't seem like their access extends to the entire PayPal account, but I would love to know if this has been going on elsewhere recently.

I've used PayPal for over 20 years now without incident, this is the first time my account has ever been compromised this way, and I admit it has shaken my trust in PayPal. Especially given their faulty Dispute system that seems to be "one and done". 

[LCala]

The same exact thing happened to me. Scammer got me to send my phone number and the PayPal confirmation email. It didn't seem like there was any identifying or usable information on a receipt! Next day I notice "I" have filed a refund dispute for $6 of my $750 purchase, which was then immediately approved by the seller (aka scammer). Somehow the Transaction ID and your phone number are enough for the scammer to file a dispute in your name, which they then approve because they know after a dispute has been closed you can't file another one. I had to file a chargeback with my credit card bank, because PayPal of course said there was nothing they could do. PayPal is now showing my dispute case is reopened for a full refund (less $6). But who knows if the scammer is long gone and if I will get my money back. PayPal, you *must* fix this security loophole.

[bkwt]

My scammer tried to also upload a fake tracking # that was a re-used number they found that was delivering to a local business in my city, in order to continue perpetuating that the transaction was legit. Thankfully that ended up backfiring on them...after I confirmed with FedEx that the tracking # did NOT go to my address and nothing was delivered, I told PayPal to contact FedEx themselves to verify that the tracking # address didn't match mine. They confirmed the same, and that was enough to get them to initiate a full refund. 

[LCala]

PayPal seemed to be taking my dispute seriously and had even placed limitation on my account, which they said was the standard protocol for when your account might be compromised. And now they denied my refund. How could they possibly believe the scammer when this is so obviously a scam??? I’ve heard how PayPal is terrible for years and always thought people were being dramatic. Nope, it seems they really are that heartless and stupid and are totally fine with scammers stealing peoples money as long as they get their cut. Edit: The dispute was closed because the “transaction is ineligible for PayPal Purchase Protection.” I don’t know how is isn’t, it fits all of their terms. That response seems to be their catch-all for “we don’t want to deal with this anymore.”