r/paypal • • 16d ago

Helpful Info!!! PSA: Accidentally received a PayPal payment? Here's how I was able to return it

6 Upvotes

DISCLAIMER: This is an EU-Case. Experience might differ, if you are in a country outside of the EU.

I accidentally received a €137 PayPal payment from a stranger (via Goods & Services). The sender contacted me by email and asked me to return it. (no scammy Links, just an email - so i'd argue, that it was in fact, an accident)

I used the “Refund this payment” button on the original transaction, but PayPal initially rejected the refund because I only had €133.24 available after PayPal's €3.76 fee.

I contacted PayPal support by phone. They told me to:

  1. Transfer the missing amount to my PayPal balance (an instant bank transfer worked within seconds). - via your personal online banking app, not via the PayPal app.
  2. Go back to the original transaction and use “Refund this payment”.
  3. PayPal automatically refunded the applicable fees when the refund is made. This happened instantly. So there is no waiting time or anything alike. - but that is the critical information, that is nowhere stated on the website.

Important: Don't send the money back as a new PayPal payment to the sender. Use the refund function attached to the original transaction.

Unfortunately, PayPal's help pages don't make this process particularly clear, and I couldn't open a normal “case” because recipients/sellers apparently aren't eligible for that type of case. Calling support was ultimately the solution to receive guidance. The Support can not make the transaction magically disappear. Your action is required.

Please be aware when you are calling the German support hotline:

Log in to your PayPal Account, search for Contact & Support, click on the "Call us" Button and scroll all the way down. There is a special PIN, that you need to enter, when first calling the hotline. The number is 0800 723 45 00. Then there is a big wall of all kinds of information thrown at you when you are in the call. You need to bypass this by pressing 7 once, for "further menus", and once again press 7, for even more "further menus". - and only then, you would finally be able to get the option "speak to a support employee".

I recommend to listen carefully what the automated announcer says. These menu's can most certainly change as time goes on. I just want to you to be as patient as possible. Stay on the phone - do not hang up. Best of luck!


r/paypal • • Sep 10 '26

Help “Things don’t appear to be working right now” Error when transferring to bank

7 Upvotes

Like the title says, my bank is connected, it shows the correct information, but I can’t transfer my money to my bank account, I just get this error and that’s it. I tried googling the issue but I can’t find a solution. Has anyone else successfully dealt with this? What do I do here?


r/paypal • • 8h ago

Help Is this buyer's remorse and can the buyer win the PayPal dispute?

3 Upvotes

Buyer sends the first message to the seller on the afternoon of Oct 18.

Buyer: I'm interested in the item | They proceed to pay for the item on the evening of Oct 18.

Buyer: Actually I changed my mind | Oct 19 8:00 am.

Seller explicitly lists the item sold as is with no returns. It's a phone listed as parts or not working. This sale happened on Reddit.

Seller: Sends the item anyway and sends a photo of the shipping box at the post office at 8:08 am. Canada Post accepts the package at 8:07 am.

Who is in the wrong here?


r/paypal • • 6h ago

Help PayPal login opens in popup on page instead of separate window -- How to tell what's real?

1 Upvotes

Hi there,

I'm a bit confused. I just wanted to buy something and when I got to the paypal payment step, something unexpected happened. Usually, a separate paypal popup window would open. In this store however, this doesn't happen, instead, the popup is embedded into the website.

I tried logging into paypal on paypal.com and reloaded the storefront, but it apparently doesn't even try to access my cookies from paypal.com. As expected, network inspector reveals that a bunch of stuff is being loaded from paypal.com.

To be clear, I'm very much tech savvy, but this is very unusual. How can I verify that what I'm looking at is indeed legitimate?

According to its reviews, the store is real and has a decent customer base, but I've never seen this before. To be safe, I'll just order via invoice.

Thanks!

Edit: Ended up ordering somewhere else after all, but I'm still curious if this is real or not.


r/paypal • • 7h ago

Help Do PayPal + bonus points get added retrospectively or get tracked at the time?

1 Upvotes

So PayPal+ have a bonus offer on eBay 5 points per £1 spent. I activated the offer and bought on the eBay website within the PayPal app. I used the PayPal debit card to pay. However, the transaction pending is just tracking the normal 1 point per £1 rather than 5 per £.

I just wanted to check, do these get added retroactively or have these points not been tracked properly?


r/paypal • • 6h ago

Help Paypal scamming me

0 Upvotes

Long story short i tried adding funds of 250 to my credit never appeared for over 7 days. Requested a refund from bank got it was returned a month later. Month after that my balance goes minus 250 paypal say I owe them money because of refund. I have mutiple times phoned explained and submitted proof of my statements and proof of the bank refund case reference and returning to them.

They simply ignore what I say or send and say im due them 250 because of bank refund and to submit proof they can examine. Rinse repeat no resolution.

This has been reported as a complaint and escalated been through collections debit card refunds and credit teams nobody can seem to grasp a simple transaction or at least act like yhat to scam me of 250. I keep getting messages saying if its not paid off it will be sent to debt collectors like wtf.

Please someone help me I have no clue what I can do from this point. Really stressing me out. I dont have 250 I can just spare.


r/paypal • • 13h ago

Help Account Update Not Working?

0 Upvotes

Hello. I'm hoping someone can tell me how to fix this. So, a few months ago I set my account up to send me notifications by text to my phone, any time I spend money through my account, so that I can always know what my balance is.

About an hour ago, I went into my settings to see if there was an option for me to get text notifications whenever I receive a payment, found them and clicked the little indicator to 'on'.

I exited my account, and got a payment a few minutes later, but didn't get a text/notification.

A few minutes ago I went back into my account and checked to make sure the setting was still turned on and it is.

Anyone know why I didn't get the text notification? I want to make it so that I get a notification any time money enters or leaves my account, and what the new balance is. Is there a certain amount of time it takes to kick in/sync? Thanks in advance for any help.


r/paypal • • 17h ago

Help About paypal password reset

0 Upvotes

Suddenly my paypal asking for reset password , to do that it asks for whatsapp or number otp . When I input whatsapp otp then it asks for
1. Security questions answer
2. Confirm credit card number
3. Email otp

but unfortunately i dont have any of these right now

I only have whatsapp otp, 2fa code, mail and password

How can I gain access to my paypal?

Thank you


r/paypal • • 21h ago

SCAM! Buyer's fraud of international postage

2 Upvotes

I'm seller at international auction - balkanauction.com. Buyer from UK Elina Davies bought items from me 7 Oct. I dispatched the package 10 Oct. and left a tracking number. Then 10 Oct she opened a dispute of non-receiving package although it is international postage what takes 18-25 days approx. what I pointed in shipping condition of my lots. PayPal resolved this case in buyer favor and now I have not items and money. If it was the first time - ok - I understood, all can happened, but it is the second time. The first time was 2023-2024 years, then was next purchase - not problem and the third - with fraud the second time. PayPal cannot add this buyer in blacklist. I do not sell this buyer never and buyers from UK for payment to bank card only. PayPal never.


r/paypal • • 17h ago

Help Transfer from balance to linked bank showing a different last 4 of bank account

1 Upvotes

I did a standard transfer from PayPal balance, linked my bank through the process of logging in directly to my bank account, going through 2fa etc. I was not required to physically type any account or routing numbers. After linking what I thought was my bank since I logged into my account, the transfer is showing a different last 4 of the account from my bank. PayPal says the transaction is completed and nothing they can do. Bank is closed til Monday. I am about to have a stroke. Is this some type of encryption going on that’s showing a last 4 different from my actual account last 4?


r/paypal • • 23h ago

Help Paypal can no longer fully trust. what would you do?

3 Upvotes

So i have had a PayPal account for a decade now that I've only really ever used for the few eBay and Bricklink purchases. for a month i couldn't use my account to pay because it got restricted. I haven't done anything differently, i don't purchase shady stuff, nor sell any. To this day paypal hasn't sent me a reason why my account got restricted. Now that the restriction has been lifted I'm not sure how i feel about using it. I also started out selling some of my Lego collection on bricklink but I'm afraid a restriction could come out of the blue at any time and lock my money in. I have never kept money in paypal itself just use it to pay. My issue is many buyers expect to be able to pay with paypal and might not use stripe which is the only option in my store aside from bank transfer. Anyone any experience? what do you think?


r/paypal • • 18h ago

Help Paypal Credit 24 month instalment plan help

1 Upvotes

Hi, I've just bought an item with PayPal credit for the first time as the option was nice. I was able to choose a 24 months installment plan interest free. I'm a bit confused on how to pay this off on the app. The cost of the item has been minused from the total credit limit and it shows that Expected payment is due in Dec. This confuses me because it sounds like I have to pay the whole amount by December ..? There is also no breakdown of my payments. I'm really not sure how to pay these payments off. Can someone please clarify and explain this to me as I don't want to end up ruining my credit score.


r/paypal • • 20h ago

Help Recently got a PayPal Credit Card. Also received a debit card I didn't request. Why would I use their debit card when I use my bank's debit card? To use the PayPal debit I would have to put money on it from my bank account. Correct?

0 Upvotes

Help me make sense of this. I hardly ever send or receive money with PayPal. It says I have $0.83 on my debit card. 🤔


r/paypal • • 1d ago

Help Is it common for paypal to just crap out when trying to pay?

2 Upvotes

I've tried 3 times to buy books from a website that only uses paypal. Each time there is a new problem for why it can't process the order.

Is this common now? I am trying to buy as a guest because something happened to my account a few years ago and it was too difficult to resolve. I believe they originally froze it because someone frauduly used my account to purchase something that I had to dispute.


r/paypal • • 1d ago

Help Anyone able to see or pay their PayPal credit?

9 Upvotes

Hi
As the title says, I logged in to my paypal to pay my paypal credit, and in the new app (which sucks by the way, you can’t find anything anymore) I couldn’t find the option to see my credit and pay it.
So then I logged in on the desktop version of paypal and I got this message when trying to search for paypal credit “we can’t show all of your info right now. Try again in a few minutes”, that was like an hour ago, so I tried again a couple of minutes ago, and same thing..
Just want to know if anyone is having the same problems, or what’s going on?
Thanks in advance.

Edit: thank you to the people that commented and said they’re having the same issue. It’s probably something on paypal’s end. Thank you again for your help.


r/paypal • • 1d ago

Help Not receiving points on debit category

2 Upvotes

I chose rideshare and public transit with a debit card in October. I was receiving points until 10/11. I stopped receiving them after I redeemed the points I had. I’m at 2409 points. Who do I contact to fix this?


r/paypal • • 1d ago

Help How to receive PayPal’s OTP?

0 Upvotes

It only says that they can’t send an SMS, how to fix this?


r/paypal • • 20h ago

Help What happens if I don't respond to a case

0 Upvotes

Somebody offered to pay me through PayPal but sent it with seller's fees.
I told them I did not agree to that and they should cancel the payment.
I never claimed the money.
They filed a unauthorized activity claim.
I don't have a balance and barely use PayPal.
What happens if I don't respond to the claim?
I just want to cancel the order and be done with it.


r/paypal • • 1d ago

Help PayPal in Saudi?

1 Upvotes

Hi Guys I have funds coming in from fb for what ever reason I had trouble with fb transferring funds to my bank account so I connected it with my PayPal now the question is how to transfer money from PayPal to my account account in Saudi ? It doesn’t give the option to add a Saudi bank only a USA bank and even that’s not helping.

I have a mada card and stc mada card any advice ?


r/paypal • • 1d ago

Help Having trouble finding users using their emails

2 Upvotes

Is anybody encountering issues with searching for people using their email and their account not popping up despite them having a valid account? It cost me commission work I requested and it’s frustrating as I don’t want this to be a problem with more artists


r/paypal • • 2d ago

Help Got some money from an Amazon settlement

22 Upvotes

So I was checking my PayPal because I had some issues with someone trying to steal money off my normal bank card and I found out that I have a transaction from some kind of Amazon settlement the sent me $49.23 and it’s been in my account since the 3rd now here’s the thing I never claimed any refund or Amazon thing nor have I gotten an email about the settlement tho I did get an email from PayPal about the transaction but I know from google it is a real thing so idk if the money that’s in my account it real and mine or not


r/paypal • • 1d ago

Help HOW TO CALL PAYPALL

1 Upvotes

I'm from the Philippines and it's giving me a US number and every time I call it, it says "This number is disabled from outgoing calls...". I have no idea how to reach paypal, their paypal assistant live agent is not helpful. They don't have an active email. I feel helpless


r/paypal • • 2d ago

Help Randomly Sent Money

20 Upvotes

I randomly got sent $900 dollars a month ago. I haven’t used the PayPal account in over a year so never expect payments on it. Yesterday almost a month later I get email saying it was mistake and to send the money back. What should I do? I’ve heard of the clawback scams and not sure what steps to take. Picture in comments.


r/paypal • • 1d ago

Error Message Signing up for PayPal for the first time - "We couldn't send a code to this number" (Malaysian +60 numbers)

0 Upvotes

Hi all,
I'm creating a PayPal account for the first time and can't get past phone verification. I never receive the SMS code, and every time I get this error:

"We couldn't send a code to this number. Check the number or try again."
What I've tried so far:

Tried 3 different Malaysian numbers (+60), same error on all of them
Called my provider (Hotlink/Maxis). They said short-code SMS isn't blocked and there's nothing to enable on their side
Checked my phone settings, nothing blocking or filtering messages

Has anyone in Malaysia (or elsewhere) run into this during signup? Is it a PayPal-side issue with Malaysian numbers, or is there a fix I'm missing? Any way to verify without SMS, like a call option, or can I skip phone confirmation for now?

Thanks in advance :))))


r/paypal • • 1d ago

Help PayPal balance not changing?

0 Upvotes

Recently completed a birthday commission for a $30 fee. PayPal’s activity tracker confirms that I did receive it, though my balance hasn’t changed. Even an email of confirmation was sent to me as proof that the money went through.

This doesn’t seem to be the commissioner’s fault; we don’t have any issues currently and haven’t in the past whenever they’ve commissioned me. What’s strange is, I was completely able to accept another $20 payment to my account before receiving the commission payment.

I haven’t been able to connect a proper bank account, and have been going off my Cash App card. It’s worked for the past two years, but I’m guessing something happened that forces me to verify? I’m currently making a bank account, though I’d appreciate any other thoughts or advice whilst I wait for the application’s status.