Attempted Fraud with charge request and cancel with "Call PayPal immediately at..."

[Goosse-1962]

When I woke up this morning, I found a text for a PayPal charge for a large amount. I get such things by text and email almost daily. However, I also had a message from the PayPal app. Since I normally use the app only to get notices, I used my computer to login to my account. and found an entry which included:

... "debited successfully. Didn't make this order? Call PayPal immediately at" ... listed a phone number and continued with "PayPal has canceled a money request" ...

I didn't notice the last part at the time and called PayPal through the site. The only transaction I could report was a legitimate one for a much smaller amount. I continued with opening a case. Then I looked at my email. I found that there was a money request followed by what now looks like a cancelation by the seller with the message above indicating that the debit was successful and to call the indicated number if didn't place the order, which I hadn't. 

Is this a phishing attempt to get me to call the number, like I suspect, or did PayPal recognize it and cancel the request?

P.S. I don't use links or phone numbers from unsolicited emails and texts. I login to my account or go to a verified website for details and contacting.

Thank you for any help and have a Terrific day!

[wajp]

I had the same problem. My message was: $599.99 debited successfully. Didn't make this order? Call PayPal immediately .... phone number. I diddnd't call the number and I couldn't create a problem report because the debit was canceled. My balance just happened to be 0 at the time so no theft this time. Still wondering whether the debit would have go9ne through if I had a positive balance!

[artfudd]

Same here.. posted before seeing that others got the same thing. 

[PayPal_Bindu]

Hello @Goosse-1962 @wajp and @artfudd 

Thank you for writing in the PayPal Help Community!

I can see how receiving an unknown money requests would be concerning to you! These are ongoing scams where you receive an invoice or money request through PayPal, and the note asks you to call their fake service number. You wouldn't be charged if you didn’t purchase the item in question. If you receive a suspicious invoice or money request, don’t pay it and don’t call any phone numbers stated in the invoice note or open suspicious URLs. You can cancel the money request and here's how : Can I archive, delete or cancel an invoice?
 

In some cases, you will have the option to directly report the money request to PayPal while canceling the invoice as long as the cancel option is reflecting. If the cancel option is not reflecting, you can still ignore the money request and report it by forwarding them to phishing@paypal.com and PayPal will investigate it for you. I would also recommend reviewing these articles to Know more about common scams and how to report them :

What are common scams and how do I spot them?
How do I spot a fake, fraudulent, or phishing PayPal email or website?
 

I hope this information helps,

Bindu 

[Goosse-1962]

Update:

The email response from PayPal for the case I opened that I mentioned in the original post was less than satisfactory. No fraud was found on my account. The email stated that they attempted to call for more information. It never rang through. It didn't even show as a missed call. I don't know if they just said they called, or if Google's system determined that it was from a number previously used as spam/fraud and auto blocked it. It isn't worth the effort to check as I have no easy way to correct it if it is. (This isn't the first such call back from a vendor that failed. 2 others were from call centers that also did spam.)

My takeaways are:

* PayPal has limited phone support.

* For future issues attempt a method other than calling by phone.

* Look closely at messages. If they are for requests that are canceled, then just ignore the messages. This is just another attempted phishing tactic.

I hope this helps others with similar issues and have a Terrific day!

[JMSeven]

This happened to me too, a request for a substantial amount of money and the request was immediately cancelled. It still shows on my account as a canceled request (I took screen shots) but I can't report it because Paypal doesn't "see" it once it's canceled.  I DID mistakenly call the number that was printed under the note "Don't recognize this seller?  Call...". I thought it was a Paypal number.  The person who answered sounded like they were in a call center.  They asked for the email address associated with my account. I said "I'm not comfortable providing that over the phone".  They hung up on me.  Clearly, the whole process is a phishing scam, but it's difficult to report to Paypal because the money request was canceled and their reporting process won't recognize it as a transaction.    

[JMSeven]

Oh, and I forgot to mention - I did try to report it to Paypal by phone.  They sent an email a couple days later saying the couldn't find anything wrong, and that email also said that they had tried to call me the same day for more information, but since they could not reach me they closed the ticket. But I don't think they did try to call - my phone was with me all day and it did not ring, and there was no record of that call attempt in my phone history.  

[racemup]

Don't recognize the seller? Quickly let us know has canceled a money request. Looks phony to me. Why can't I include the phone number in this post? This is ridiculous. :-(overall