Bussiness Account upgrade fee "On Hold"

[celestialbubble]

I have an issue, I was to receive 300 USD for work that I'm doing, but I got an email saying that I needed to upgrade my account and sent my client an email that THEY needed to send 200 USD more and they did without asking me. I tried to send them back the 200 USD to refund it, but now those 200 USD are on hold and my account still says it's a personal account still. Is this how the upgrade works or is this an issue with the accounts? Will I get the 300 USD my client paid me and will they get the 200 USD back after the "On Hold" stops?

[sharpiemarker]

@celestialbubble 

You’re being scammed.

PayPal does not require that you upgrade to a business account in the first place and it is free to upgrade to a business account right in your account settings. Nor does PayPal asks you to ask your client to pay an extra exorbitant amount and refund it in order for you to get paid.

Do you really see a record of payment for the 300 USD in your PayPal account in the first place?

Even if your payment is subject to a PayPal hold, you’ll still see a record of payment for the 300 USD in your PayPal account.

[celestialbubble]

I didn't see anything. And why I got panicked and weirded is because I got an email from Paypal saying. The email seemed legitimate but now I'm not sure anymore...
"

We encountered a little problem crediting your account.

You received a payment of $300.00 USD from (XXXX) but we have a problem crediting your account with that amount, because the status of your account is not a business user which makes your account limit as this amount is above your limit.

We won’t be able to credit your account until your account limit has been expanded.
 

Note: You have to take this urgent step to expand your limit.

You’re to contact the sender of your account (Bryan [removed]) to send an additional payment of $200.00 USD to your account, to expand your account limit, as soon as this is done, the total sum of $500.00 USD will be credited to your account.

An alert has been sent to (XXXX) also, in regards to the additional payment he/she has to send to your account.

Note: You’re to refund the $200.00 USD back.

We appreciate your attention to this matter.

[sharpiemarker · Accepted solution]

@celestialbubble 

Yeah, that is a scam email. PayPal does not ask you to do those things. It’s not how PayPal works. You’re not required to upgrade to a business account and upgrading is free! Nor are you asked to ask sender to send more money and refund them in order to get your payment. Why would PayPal ask you to do all these steps just to get paid, makes no sense. To lift account limits in general all you do is verify your account (link a card or bank account) and/or verify your identity which is free to do and nothing to do with the process of receiving a payment. You’re not asked to ask sender for more money and refund the sender later. It’s so absurd! If PayPal really does need you to do something, you will see an alert in your account to go to the Resolution Center.

Look at the true sender email address of that email and it’s probably some gibberish email address and not from PayPal at all.

When someone really pays you, you’ll see a record of payment in your PayPal account fairly instant, period. Otherwise, it’s just an email that means nothing.

[celestialbubble]

Thank you for your opinion. I know now that it was a scam and I'm happy that I'm not the only one. 
Your answer truly helped me bc as a student I try to make my living somehow while studying. I will try to fix this somehow.
Again, you are a blessing for helping me. Thank you ❤️

[sharpiemarker]

@celestialbubble 

You’re welcome.

Been using PayPal since ‘05 and whenever a payment is sent, two things happen: you get an email with basic info of: who paid, how much, for what, when payment was sent, transaction ID number and you see a record of payment in your account.

If you only get an email, something is wrong thus you do not provide goods and services until you see payment in your account. Or if an eCheck is sent, you’re notified by PayPal to wait until eCheck clears.

PayPal automatically deducts their service fee so the rest of the payment is there in your balance. Because of increasing fraud or risk, PayPal started putting holds on payments but you still see record of payment while a payment is on hold.

You do not pay fee upfront before you see the payment, like these scammers want you to do.

Anytime you are unsure, ask other users here before proceeding.

Good luck & stay aware.

[naznaznaz]

Hi, i am sorry for the sudden reply. But can i ask you? After you report the problem did you get your money back? Thank you so much

[Pir3Mich1]

I got the exact thing too but got scared when I got an email that this person pay me $300.00 USD and I have a total sum $800.00 USD pending... the in the end the email says this "Final Note: Failure to make the refund means your Name and Address will be forwarded to the Law Enforcement Agency, which may result in an Arrest."  

I got this email after the email that I need to upgrade my Pay Pal account

I panicked and scared because of the arrest part and because I am still quite new with taking commision through Pay Pal... if this is indeed a scam and I ignore his Instagram DM, he will highly terror me by calling the police