PayPal account out of the blue?

[JoeWras]

I do not have a PayPal account... Correction: apparently I do. What the heck?

I started getting these emails about my PayPal activity, but I have no record or memory of getting a PayPal account. Now I have paid via PayPal for certain items on Etsy or Ebay that had no other option, but this was only using my credit card with PayPal as the conduit.

Could I have accidentally checked a box saying "Create an account" when I did this?

What disturbs me is I "recovered" my password (which I never gave them) and I had to send a text to my phone or email, which they had a record of. I did so, and now have a recorded password.

There has been no activity on this account. It was still waiting for email link verification, actually, to finish setting up the account. The only linkage to it is one of my two credit cards that I use.

Did I just check that stupid box accidentally and they had all this info? Or did I get signed up by the credit card company?

This is a bit unsettling. I really don't want the account, but perhaps it is best to claim it for now. I don't want to link my bank to it.

 

[disneysteve]

Could I have accidentally checked a box saying "Create an account" when I did this?

If you had done that, you would have needed to proceed to set up the account, entering your personal info, creating a password, etc.


You do not need to have a PayPal account to make a payment using the PayPal system.


You do, however, need to have an account if anyone sends you money via PayPal. Is it possible that at some time in the past there was a situation where someone sent you money via PayPal and you needed to create an account in order to access the funds?

 

[JoeWras]

If you had done that, you would have needed to proceed to set up the account, entering your personal info, creating a password, etc.


You do not need to have a PayPal account to make a payment using the PayPal system.


You do, however, need to have an account if anyone sends you money via PayPal. Is it possible that at some time in the past there was a situation where someone sent you money via PayPal and you needed to create an account in order to access the funds?

No, I never got money from PayPal. I have made multiple payments through PayPal, using my credit card (as you mention) without creating an account, or so I thought.

I did work with PayPal as treasurer for a non-profit where we did get incoming. I set that account up. I'm wondering if I practiced using my email all those years ago (about 10), then forgot.

Just weird, and a bit disturbing, making me wonder about my memory.

 

[RobbieB]

Might be a scammer.

My paypal account has been blocked due to "suspicious activity" for months now, but it still works anyway.

 

[Done]

It’s also possible that the messages you’re seeing are phishing attempts to try to hack actual PayPal accounts. Don’t use the link or button in the email.

Try to log into paypal.com directly using your email address or phone number. If you don’t know your password, click ‘forgot password’. This will tell you if you do have an account and allow you to manage it.

 

[MichaelB]

No, I never got money from PayPal. I have made multiple payments through PayPal, using my credit card (as you mention) without creating an account, or so I thought.

I did work with PayPal as treasurer for a non-profit where we did get incoming. I set that account up. I'm wondering if I practiced using my email all those years ago (about 10), then forgot.

Just weird, and a bit disturbing, making me wonder about my memory.

It’s possible when you set up the original PayPal account as Treasurer you added your email and phone as alternate or secondary contacts, and now PayPal is trying to drum up new business.

Not recalling this 10 years later is not a memory issue. The time to worry is when you ask a question and someone says “you just asked that”.

 

[Aerides]

Lots of paypal scam/fake emails look really really legit. Please of course don't click any links in any of these, and go directly to paypal yourself in another tab.

 

[easysurfer]

I'm not following exactly. Don't you need a paypal account if you paid for stuff via paypal?

I've bought stuff at Home Depot and paid by paypal. But in order to do that, I established a paypal account in the past.

 

[JoeWras]

Might be a scammer.

My paypal account has been blocked due to "suspicious activity" for months now, but it still works anyway.

I don't think so. I ignored all links in communications and went directly to PayPal to recover my password from my email for this unknown account.

I looked in my spam folder and there are scam mails there about getting sent PayPal cash. I'm not talking about those.

 

[JoeWras]

I'm not following exactly. Don't you need a paypal account if you paid for stuff via paypal?

I've bought stuff at Home Depot and paid by paypal. But in order to do that, I established a paypal account in the past.

No, you don't in some situations.

Some sellers on Ebay/Etsy don't take credit cards directly. You can pay with PayPal, but use your credit card. It is like a conduit.

When you do that, it asks if you want to save your information and set up an account. But you don't have to. At least that's the way it was the last time I tried.

Now if you are at Home Depot using their terminal, then you need the PayPal account.

 

[disneysteve]

I'm not following exactly. Don't you need a paypal account if you paid for stuff via paypal?
.

You do not need a PayPal account to send money. You only need an account to receive money.

 

[Gallaher]

Do you have an eBay account? I believe eBay owns PayPal. eBay could be spamming you or just scammers.

 

[disneysteve]

Do you have an eBay account? I believe eBay owns PayPal. eBay could be spamming you or just scammers.

Nope. eBay sold off PayPal a number of years ago.

 

[JoeWras]

Do you have an eBay account? I believe eBay owns PayPal. eBay could be spamming you or just scammers.

I do. Even though they split, I think you may be onto something here. It could be the source.

 

[ducky911]

I had a bad experience with PayPal. I got ZERO assistance when I had fraud buying experience with them. I have never ran into a buying opportunity that I could use a credit card over PayPal. Credit cards offer a lot of protection. and I like my 2% cash back

 

[jazz4cash]

I'm not following exactly. Don't you need a paypal account if you paid for stuff via paypal?

I've bought stuff at Home Depot and paid by paypal. But in order to do that, I established a paypal account in the past.

Agreed. A Paypal account is a payment conduit linked to a source of funds like a checking, savings or credit account from Paypal or some other issuer. I can buy stuff using paypal without entering my account details on the seller website. I have Paypal Credit and deposit accounts, BOA checking, and Elan Visa linked. A purchase shows up on Paypal and the linked account. Paypal uses Synchrony which is a confusing mess wrt statements and apps.

 

[disneysteve]

A Paypal account is a payment conduit linked to a source of funds like a checking, savings or credit account from Paypal or some other issuer.

Yes but you don’t need a PayPal account to use the service to send money. Anybody can pay on PayPal with a debit or credit card. No account required.

 

[jazz4cash]

Yes but you don’t need a PayPal account to use the service to send money. Anybody can pay on PayPal with a debit or credit card. No account required.

So how does Paypal know how to bill me?

According to Paypal.com, it is an account based system. There is also a warning and advice to forward suspicious emails. Here’s what it says…

“I don't have a PayPal account. Why did I get an email from PayPal that ...
PayPal is an account-based system that allows people to send online payments to anyone with an email address or mobile number. If you received an email from us, someone may have sent a payment to you. You can accept the payment by clicking Sign Up on any PayPal web page. If you don't have a PayPal account, you'll need to create one before ...”

 

[Starsky]

Sounds like a phishing scam. They can appear very convincing. Be careful and don't click on the links in the message to go to PayPal. If you need to access your account just type in the URL and login like normal. If you have a PayPal account, definitely setup two-factor authentication - SMS to your phone - so that nobody can access your account without your knowing about it. Email authentication is not good, because if your email is hacked, your PayPal becomes easy pickings...

 

[audreyh1]

Agreed. A Paypal account is a payment conduit linked to a source of funds like a checking, savings or credit account from Paypal or some other issuer. I can buy stuff using paypal without entering my account details on the seller website. I have Paypal Credit and deposit accounts, BOA checking, and Elan Visa linked. A purchase shows up on Paypal and the linked account. Paypal uses Synchrony which is a confusing mess wrt statements and apps.

Also paying via a credit card through PayPal you still get all your credit card cash rewards.

I pay via PayPal when I’m ordering online from anyone but a very few selected (trusted) vendors. The only downside is that PayPal charges the CC at the time of transaction instead of when the product ships to you. But for stuff I order this is 0 (pickup order) to just a couple of days.

I don’t worry either because PayPal only has a couple of my credit cards and thus it’s easy to handle any issue.

 

[disneysteve]

So how does Paypal know how to bill me?

You enter your debit or credit card info.