Why am I receiving random payments? Potential Scam?

[Merlin28]

Since the 15th July 2022 I have started receiving random payments in my PayPal account. They range from anything from 0.01p to £7.00 GBP. To date, there have been around 50 payments totalling just over £85. They are all from different names but every single payment has come from the USA and every email is similar (forename surname random number at Gmail dot com). Sometimes a note is added with an order number but it isn't relative to anything at all. I only use PayPal to take the odd payment from friends and family so have no idea why all these payments are coming through. I have reported it to PayPal but they were no help at all. I know this is some sort of a scam but I cannot figure it out. I was hoping someone has experienced something similar and can help me figure out what is going on.

[PayPal_RachelK]

Hi @Merlin28,

Welcome to the community and thank you for your post!

I am sorry to hear what is happening. I know this must be concerning. You can receive payments for several reasons, for example they may have been sent to you by mistake. Your email address may have been misspelled causing you to receive payments by mistake. 

When you receive a payment from someone you don't know, the best thing to do is refund the payment straight away. This would prevent any dispute being opened against your account. This can be done by following the steps here. 

Please contact our Customer Support again to report any users you think are not genuine. To contact us, simply click here. Alternatively, you can contact us via Facebook https://www.facebook.com/PayPal or Twitter @AskPayPal.
 

I hope this helps!
 

- Rachel