Received invoice from one seller which I didn't make any purchase. Is it a scam?

[MichaelCHK]

Hi all. I received a notification from PayPal that someone sent me an invoice to make a payment of USD 500 for purchasing a anti virus software which I didn't make. Could I just leave it like that with out paying or how do I cancel or report this?

[Victoria999]

Came here because I received two large fraudulent money requests yesterday on different email addresses, both supposedly for antivirus solutions. Initially it threw me because I had actually just bought that AV and the request came from the service address at paypal.com and showed in the 'bills to pay' section of my account.

However, the second was to an email address that has no paypal and was identically formatted.   I've cancelled the one that appeared in my account and sent both emails on to phishing@paypal.com.  

I guess this is variation on the old scam of sending an unsolicited invoice through the post : annoying rather than dangerous unless you fall for it and pay the bill.

[Ceedee3]

I can’t see where I’m able to cancel the request payment….. if anyone can help please.

[GratefulSea]

Yes, you're right, if you don't do authorize any action, nothing will happen and, I'm told, the scam notice will disappear from your account activity after 30 days.  The same thing happened to me a couple of weeks ago, and though it was an obvious scam, I was confused and concerned that it was showing on my PayPal page. I posted my question in this forum and since then have been astonished about the number of similar stories that have poured in. PayPal has been silent on the matter.  

In contrast, today I got an email from Amazon that read:

Stay safe from scammers this holiday season by getting to know their most common scams:

• Order Confirmation Scams. These are unexpected calls/texts/emails that often refer to an unauthorized purchase and ask you to act urgently to confirm or cancel the purchase. These scammers try to convince you to provide payment or bank account information, install software to your computer/device, or purchase gift cards.

  Remember, if you received correspondence regarding an order you weren't expecting, you can verify orders by logging into your Amazon account. Only legitimate purchases will appear in your order history - and Customer Service is available 24/7 to assist.

  • Tech Support Scams. Scammers create fake websites claiming to provide tech support for your devices and Amazon services. Customers who land on these pages are lured to contact the scammer and fall prey to their schemes.

    Remember, go directly to the help section of our website when seeking help with Amazon devices or services. If you do use a search engine, use caution. Legitimate Amazon websites contain "amazon.com" such as "amazon.com/support".

    Here are some important tips so that you can identify scams and keep your account and information safe:

    1. Trust Amazon-owned channels. Always go through the Amazon mobile app or website when seeking customer service, tech support, or when looking to make changes to your account.
    2. Be wary of false urgency. Scammers may try to create a sense of urgency to persuade you to do what they're asking. Be wary any time someone tries to convince you that you must act now.
    3. Never pay over the phone. Amazon will never ask you to provide payment information, including gift cards (or “verification cards”, as some scammers call them) for products or services over the phone.

       If you receive correspondence you think may not be from Amazon, please report it to us. For more information on how to stay safe online, visit Security & Privacy on the Am...

       Additional resources:

       • Tips to determine if an email, phone call, text message, or webpage is really from Amazon.
       • Amazon offers Cybersecurity Awareness Training free to individuals and businesses around the world.
       • If you're concerned about your account security, go to Protect Your System for tips and recommendations.

         --end--

         I think it would be very easy for PayPal to send out something similar, even if they can't prevent these fraudulent postings from showing up.

[PayPal_Olivia]

Hi everyone!

Thank you all for your posts regarding fraudulent invoices that you have received! 

We know that it's confusing and frustrating to receive these invoices, and PayPal has been working tirelessly to address the issue, through steps such as investigation of accounts that are identified as fraudulent through customer reports, investigation of accounts that we have detected ourselves prior to receiving reports, developing new proactive measures to prevent a great deal of the fraud that would otherwise happen, and providing as much information as we can to aid everyone in identifying and avoiding the invoices that do get through. 

Please take a look at the pinned accepted solution on this thread from @PayPal_RebeccaN. I've just now updated that post to include the following additional information:

A new feature has been added that will let you report a fraudulent invoice directly from within your account while canceling the invoice, as long as that cancel function is showing. This will help PayPal identify suspicious seller accounts much more quickly and will help protect others.

If the option to cancel the invoice doesn't appear, you can still ignore and avoid the invoice, and forward the accompanying email to phishing@paypal.com to allow our teams to act to review the sending account.

To learn more about how the fraudulent invoice scam and other scams operate, please take a look at this Help Center article. 

Thank you all for being vigilant and skeptical about the invoices received!

Olivia

[cmor7]

Olivia, I appreciate your reply but the problem is this: People are receiving pretty scary requests for money and the only recourse that a massive company like Paypal can offer is to go on a community group to see if someone else can help you! That is pretty shocking I'm afraid. Paypal "assistant" is a complete waste of time and the automated phone number was of no help either. There should be a dedicated phone line for people in this sort of situation - we should not have to be left panicking about fraudsters taking money from our accounts. On this thread alone, myself and another poster have said we are closing our accounts so maybe Paypal should think about caring about customers more. 

[purpleoperacat]

I've been sent a fake/Scam payment request. It shows on my PayPal account on the website. Is it safe to just ignore it? Do I need to do anything to cancel it?

[rameshpkumar]

I have the same issue. Received 7 money requests today for $599.99 each for KASPERSKY LLC and another one a week ago. Really worried about the security and what we should do when we get it.

[Grnpebbles807]

I had the same type of request, asking for payment of MS Office 365. I declined the payment and I’m hoping that was the right thing to do.

[LucAgainstScams]

Someone made a Paypal money request and included a "phone number" if the transaction is "unauthorised". This is clearly a phishing/social engineering attempt, probably aimed at the vulnerable. Where can I send the details so that the address and number can be blocked/reported?

Awful, awful parasites, preying on other people in this way...

[kernowlass]

@LucAgainstScams 

Scam money request or invoice that shows in your Paypal account..

Scammers harvest email addresses and send out money requests or invoices hoping that some of those email addresses are linked to an open Paypal account.

The unsuspecting recipient is given a fake Paypal phone number in the 'notes' section added by the scammer.
If you did call that number (DO NOT) to query the transaction the scammer tells you that they need to access your computer / Paypal account to cancel that transaction for you.
They will then hack your computer or Paypal account.

Paypal never put phone numbers on emails or in money requests/invoices, they tell you to contact them via help/contact bottom of their website pages.

If there is a cancel option then cancel it, if not ignore it and it should time out at 30 days.

Paypal are now putting a report option in your paypal account to report the fraudulent accounts.
As long as you don't click to pay it then no money would be transferred.