Is this a PayPal scam?
PayPal: You authorized a payment of $749.99 to CryptoMart. To dispute, call 1-888-555-0133 or click: paypal-resolve.com
Usually a scam, and PayPal gives you a fast way to tell. It never opens with an impersonal greeting: its own guidance is that it never says things like "Dear user" or "Hello PayPal member", because real messages carry the full name on your account. Everything else follows from that, since a message that does not know who you are was not sent by a company that does.
How to spot the PayPal scam
- It greets you generically.Why
- There is a phone number to dispute a charge.Why
- It reports a payment or invoice you do not recognise, for an alarming amount.Why
- The link is not paypal.com.Why
- It asks for your password or a security code.Why
- It asks to install remote-access software so a refund can be processed.Why
What to do now
- Do not tap the link or ring the number.Why
- Real activity appears in your account and in the Resolution Centre.Why
- Forward the entire message to phishing@paypal.com, which is the address PayPal publishes for this, then delete it.
- If you entered your password on a linked page, change it immediately from a device you trust and review active sessions.
- If money moved, report it in the Resolution Centre and contact your bank or card issuer the same day.
What it looks like on your phone
Got a message like this? Check its link free
Paste the link it asks you to open. Bewary checks its domain and live scam feeds, and gives you a straight answer and the reason why.
The detail behind this
Why each of those gives it away
It greets you generically.
PayPal states it never uses "Dear user" or "Hello PayPal member"; genuine messages use your full name.
There is a phone number to dispute a charge.
Real disputes are raised in the Resolution Centre inside your account, not by ringing a number printed in the message.
It reports a payment or invoice you do not recognise, for an alarming amount.
Fake invoices are cheap to send and are designed to make you call.
The link is not paypal.com.
Read the domain immediately before the first single slash and ignore the reassuring words in front of it.
It asks for your password or a security code.
PayPal only ever asks for your password on its own login page.
It asks to install remote-access software so a refund can be processed.
Refunds do not require control of your computer.
Working through the steps
Do not tap the link or ring the number.
Open the PayPal app or type paypal.com yourself and look at your account.
Real activity appears in your account and in the Resolution Centre.
If nothing is there, nothing happened.
Sources and reporting
Use official channels to confirm a suspicious request and report fraud.