How Am I Receiving These Payments?

[Gyrosknife]

Over the past few months, I have received PayPal payments that I did not initiate. Each one is from an existing customer who claims to have gone through my website to place an order, put an item in the cart, checked out, and paid with PayPal. The order is not showing up on my website's ecom CMS, it's not showing as processed via my online payment processor, the product description is typed in (they don't match exactly how the products are listed on the website), and no shipping is added. How are customers able to send me money, type in a price and a description and have it be considered a legitimate order? The only way I'm finding out about these 'orders' is through an email confirmation (a different email than I use on my website).

Can someone help me figure out how to turn OFF the ability for people to do this? Thank you in advance for your help.

[emilynghiem]

It sounds like a scam (if it isn't an honest error). Anyone can send money to anyone using their PayPal, but you don't have to accept. 1. If the person is honestly trying to buy something, maybe they are trying to bypass online, send you the description "in their own words" and try to pay you to ship it. Don't ever sell buy or ship anything outside the system that protects you. So ignore these outside transactions and just email instructions to the Buyer to go to your website and buy there. You can send them the link and explain you only sell and accept payments and shipments through that website 2. If you sense this is a scam, report it to both the website and PayPal and all systems affected. They may recommend you BLOCK any spam or scam account that is doing this, but one by one specifically blocking only that address causing outside transactions. 3. DO NOT accept payments DO NOT click any links DO NOT download attachments from any such unidentified spam or scam accounts. This could be a hacking phishing email.