How I got scammed in Paypal!

Hello dear read friends, how are you all doing? I hope you are warm on this cold and rainy day.

Something great happened today, I got a free $5 from PayPal and I am so happy because it is not every day that you will be given a monetary blessing so I appreciate it a lot. And I tried to log in to my partner's PayPal account so we can see if he has the free $5 too but too bad I forgot the password. I will deal with it later.

My story for today is how I got scammed in PayPal and this happened way back in 2019. I didn't tell my partner, I dealt with the stress alone until we had an argument. One important piece of advice: please do not trust anyone who offers big incentives for those who have PayPal and Gcash or Paymaya because it is a scam.

I have mentioned before that I was pregnant and since my partner didn't have a job, I had to work. I worked part-time as a chat moderator. The pay wasn't that much but at least I have something for my check-ups and laboratories. But one day, the client pulled out so I was jobless.

I saw this tempting offer on Facebook. I already knew the red flag but since I badly needed money, I chatted with the person named Jen. She told me that they will give me as much as 10,000 for the transactions. All I have to do is give my PayPal password and Gcash MPIN so she can process the transactions. My gut told me not to do it but I wanted to pay my PhilHealth so I gave my credentials.

The first amount that I received was 30,000. Someone sent me money to my Paypal account, then Jen would log in and transfer the money to my Gcash. The authorization code was sent to my phone so I would stay late just to process the transfer. PayPal then sensed a suspicious activity in my account and froze the money so I sent them my proof of billing to lift the hold. It started to become inconvenient.

There were transfers of 5,000 then 3,000, then 20,000.

I know how money laundering works and I couldn't believe that I am allowing them to do it. I wanted to stop but I think it was too late.

Then one day, the person who sent 30,000 opened a case against me so I contacted Jen. I told her what would happen because I used to work with eBay and I know how PayPal worked and she contacted her boss but her boss didn't bother. I felt rage that time but I was also blaming myself because I was blinded by the money, by my need.

The people who sent me money all opened cases against me. I am just glad that I was no longer working because I didn't have any balance in my account otherwise, I will be giving my money for nothing. In short, there were cases opened against me for I think, more or less than 60,000 and the money I got for the service fee was only 9,000. So much for the service, yeah? I lost my PayPal account and my credibility.

Then Jen advised me to declare that my account was hacked so the cases won't be taken against me and all the other stuff but it was too late. I learned my lesson, the hardest way, and I was so freaking stressed out being 5 months pregnant.

So whenever someone offers a too-good-to-be-true payment to you, be suspicious. Here is how they appear on social media:

• They will announce if you want to earn big money in a short time

• All you need is to have PayPal and Gcash

• The PayPal account should be verified and at least 1 year old

• There should be at least 100,00 pesos worth of transactions

• The Gcash account should be fully verified

Once you have all these, they will get your PayPal password and Gcash MPIN and perform a sample transaction. You will get your very first payment and you will be happy, not knowing what lies ahead in the next series of transactions.

These people will not only scam you but PayPal as well. The cycle is like this:

• They will send money to your PayPal account

• You will send the money from your PayPal account to Gcash/PayMaya then from Gcash or PayMaya to someone else's wallet

• Then the buyer who sent the money will open a PayPal case against you

• You will be advised by PayPal to work it out. Would you pay them with the same amount for the money you never personally received?

• You can try reaching out to the buyer who doesn't have a valid email address. Believe me, their email addresses bounced back when I tried sending them emails

• PayPal will then decide the case in the buyer's favor

• PayPal will refund the buyer and will try to take the money from your balance

• You will have a negative balance

• Losing the case will negatively affect your account

• The buyer now has their money and PayPal's refund. A great way to earn, isn't it?

I was crying alone, Jen tried to console me by not getting the last amount of money sent to my PayPal account. There was I think, 19,000 pesos. She told me that she will not allow her boss to get the money and she changed the PayPal password. She said that the money was now mine and I can do whatever I want with it. How could I transfer all of it when my account was frozen? So I let it be. Now, I couldn't access my PayPal account anymore.

So my friends, please be made aware and be very careful of making some transactions with strangers online. Protect yourself and your financial details. Everyone is a target.

I now have a new PayPal account which is used for personal reasons. I could not make a business account anymore but I am okay with it. I am not working for now anyway and I have a Payoneer account as well. I will use it next time I work from home.

Have you been a victim of online fraud or scams? What did you do? Share your experience below and let us help in spreading awareness about it.

And to everyone- from my sponsors to commenters, I really appreciate everything that you do guys. You all keep me going.

Have a blast!

Glessa

The lead image was from Unsplash.com and the rest of the content is mine
January 21, 2022