Invoice in PayPal account for $35 from California Wildfires Relief Fund

[O2Bfree]

This morning I got an email from PayPal regarding an invoice received in my account for a $35 donation to the California Wildfires Relief Fund. Anyone else get this?

I think this method of fundraising is totally inappropriate. I cancelled the invoice and complained about it to PayPal. Just hoping their email list hasn't been hacked. Doesn't seem like a scam, but haven't found anything specific about it yet.

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

No offense, but you logged into PayPal from a bookmark, not a link in the "invoice", right? I've never heard of this before, and I am just concerned that the email was actually from PayPal. If it is, though, please let us know if you hear anything back from them, I'm always trying to gather data on new forms of scams, it makes it easier to identify variations that use the same basic method.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

I get e-mails from 'PayPal' constantly telling me my account has been suspended due to suspicious activity. Never click on a link in these fake e-mails. Most of them get caught by my Spam filter but some do get through to my inbox. I forward them to spoof@PayPal.com, I figure they should know what the scammers are sending out.

 

[O2Bfree]

No offense, but you logged into PayPal from a bookmark, not a link in the "invoice", right? I've never heard of this before, and I am just concerned that the email was actually from PayPal. If it is, though, please let us know if you hear anything back from them, I'm always trying to gather data on new forms of scams, it makes it easier to identify variations that use the same basic method.

Yes indeedy, I logged in from a bookmark. And the invoice was indeed there in my account. A quick Google revealed that others had also received the invoice and weren't too happy about it.

https://www.paypal-community.com/t5...rect-Relief-for-35-to-help-those/td-p/2330347

Hello Community,
I received an invoice from Direct Relief for $35 to "help those affected by wildfires". I did not order anything from anyone in the US. I live outside the US. It is marked as pending, and I have no intention of paying it willingly. Is this fraud? A scam? I tried to open a dispute and was not able to. What is this? Am I obligated to pay it? Thank you all for you help. Has anyone else received this invoice? I changed my password immediately.

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

Yes indeedy, I logged in from a bookmark. And the invoice was indeed there in my account. A quick Google revealed that others had also received the invoice and weren't too happy about it.

https://www.paypal-community.com/t5...rect-Relief-for-35-to-help-those/td-p/2330347

Wow, I hope PayPal cancels all the invoices after finding dozens of people already stating that they were ambush-invoiced! Although I've never heard of "invoicing" on PayPal, is that just basically requesting money?

 

[zinger1457]

Any chance you donated to this organization in the past? I had something similar happen to me before from an organization I had previously donated to. As I recall it was a request for donation (money) sent through PayPal, can reject it outright or if ignored nothing is billed. I agree it is a very tacky way to solicit donations and a turnoff.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

This looks like a scam. Generally Paypal identifies your account through your email address, and I think all the scammer actually needs is your email address to file an invoice. I noticed odd spaces in the words "Ca lifornia Wildfires Relie f" which always makes me suspicious.

 

[cathy63]

There are PayPal invoice scams and this sounds like one of them. The scammer buys a list of email addresses and uses a bot to send a normal PayPal invoice to each one. If the email address is attached to a PayPal account that person gets a notification, if not, then they just move on to the next victim. The scammer's goal is to get as many payments as he can and then move the money out of his PayPal account before the complaints get loud enough for PayPal to take notice and shut him down.

Since anyone can open a PayPal account and send a request/invoice to anyone else just by knowing their email address, there's nothing you can do to prevent this, and it doesn't mean you were hacked. You can cancel the invoice from within your PayPal account, and you can also report them for fraud.

 

[O2Bfree]

Wow, I hope PayPal cancels all the invoices after finding dozens of people already stating that they were ambush-invoiced! Although I've never heard of "invoicing" on PayPal, is that just basically requesting money?

Maybe among other things they're hoping that older folks with foggy memories will just pay the "bill".

Any chance you donated to this organization in the past? I had something similar happen to me before from an organization I had previously donated to. As I recall it was a request for donation (money) sent through PayPal, can reject it outright or if ignored nothing is billed. I agree it is a very tacky way to solicit donations and a turnoff.

No, not that one. Fortunately it was easy enough to cancel.

 

[JoeWras]

Every time I consider getting a Paypal account, something like this pops up.

I'll wait a while longer.

 

[Aerides]

So it looks like a scam company (not even the actual Direct Relief charity), got a list of emails and sent invoices via paypal - which yes anyone can do with an email address to request money, but paypal typically filters for things that look off.

Perhaps by using the odd spacing, this scammer made it past whatever checks paypal has in place to block these. You can cancel the invoice from your own account.

I've had a paypal account since they first started - they actually paid me to join it was that early - and no issues.

 

[sengsational]

I have a separate email address thats only associated with PayPal. So if a scammer tries to use my regular email address for a PayPal invoice, it bounces.


But don't you all get "invoices" in the snail mail all the time? I do. $146 due in 14 days to protect the gas lines inside my house, for instance. OMG! the gas company doesn't cover repairs inside the house, I better pay this (not). The small print "not associated with Piedmont Energy". I'm sure people fall for those too.

 

[statsman]

I've had a paypal account since they first started - they actually paid me to join it was that early - and no issues.

Same here. DW used to spend a lot of time on eBay, so having a PayPal account was almost mandatory.

I like that I can use PayPal for purchases with many online retailers, allowing us to charge to our credit card without providing the specific credit card information to the retailer. The less places I have to give out that information the better.

You just have to be careful with return policies. You can use PayPal for an online purchase from Target, but if you return the item, you end up with store credit from Target and not a reverse charge back to your credit card through PayPal. Some retailers will do it, but Target is not one of them. Always check the fine print if you plan on a purchase through PayPal that could end up being returned for a refund.

 

[Marita40]

Just want to say that I have and use Paypal often and this has never once happened to me. Consider it a scam and report it to Paypal. I find Paypal very reliable myself and have never had an issue with it.

 

[SecondAttempt]

Just want to say that I have and use Paypal often and this has never once happened to me. Consider it a scam and report it to Paypal. I find Paypal very reliable myself and have never had an issue with it.

I also have used Paypal for years, maybe not quite from the beginning but certainly early on. I think they are reputable but I scaled way back a few years ago when I stopped using ebay much...for no particular reason.

But since then Paypal seems to have gotten a little sketchier. They have probably not gotten bad. I just think there are a lot more scams that exploit Paypal as other competitor have sprung up.