Scammed on PayPal? How to get a refund, and when you can't

The one question that decides your refund

How did you send the money? PayPal has two kinds of payments, and they're treated very differently when something goes wrong.

• Goods and services payment: You paid a seller or business. This can be covered by PayPal Purchase Protection if the item didn't arrive or was "significantly not as described."
• Friends and Family payment: PayPal's Purchase Protection rules list "payments sent using PayPal's friends and family functionality" as not eligible. Scammers often ask for this on purpose, sometimes to "avoid fees."
• A payment you didn't make at all: This is an unauthorized transaction. PayPal handles it separately and says to "tell us at once."

Deadlines you can't miss

• Item never arrived: Open a dispute within 180 days of the date you paid.
• Item not as described: Open a dispute within 30 days of delivery, and no later than 180 days after you paid, whichever comes first.
• Escalate to a claim within 20 days of opening the dispute if you and the seller don't settle it. PayPal says if you don't escalate, it closes the dispute automatically.
• Unauthorized payments: Report them right away.

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What Purchase Protection does not cover

Even with a goods and services payment, PayPal's rules exclude some purchases. Examples from PayPal's list:

• Personal payments, including Friends and Family.
• Real estate, including residential property.
• Vehicles, such as cars, motorcycles, boats and aircraft (with some exceptions).
• Gift cards, gambling, and cryptocurrency-related NFTs, among others.

How to file a dispute, step by step

1. Log in yourself

   Open the PayPal app or type paypal.com into your browser. Don't use links in emails or texts, even ones that look like they're from PayPal.

2. Find the payment

   Go to your activity and open the transaction. Check whether it says goods and services or Friends and Family.

3. Open a dispute in the Resolution Center

   Choose "item not received" or "significantly not as described." Give dates, what was promised, and what happened.

4. Upload proof

   Screenshots of the listing, messages, tracking, and photos of what arrived.

5. Escalate to a claim if needed

   If the seller doesn't fix it, escalate within 20 days. Mark the date on a calendar.

6. Report the scam

   Report it to ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Forward any fake PayPal emails to [email protected].

If it was Friends and Family or a scam that isn't a purchase

Your odds are lower, but still do these things. The FTC says to report it to the payment app right away and ask them to reverse the payment.

• Contact PayPal through the Help Center in the app or on paypal.com and report it as a scam.
• If PayPal pulled the money from a credit card, call the card company and ask about a dispute. Results vary, so ask what applies.
• If PayPal pulled it from a bank account, call your bank's fraud line.
• Report to the FTC and, if the scam happened online, to ic3.gov.

If the "scam" was a fake PayPal invoice or refund call

Many PayPal scams aren't PayPal payments at all. A fake invoice says you were charged, and the phone number on it reaches a scammer who asks for remote access or a "refund" payment. If that happened, the money probably left through your bank, a gift card, or a wire. Follow the steps for that method, and see the PayPal invoice scam and remote access guides.

Questions people ask