Free PayPal Money Scam – How Does It Work and How to Spot It

Everyone enjoys receiving free money. The only problem is, it rarely happens. In fact, if you get a message telling you that you’ve won free money, it’s likely to be a scam. Unfortunately, this is all too common for people who bank online with services like PayPal.

In this article, we’ll take a look at the PayPal free money scam, explaining how it works and how you can avoid it. Remember, you can always check the Scam Detector site for more resources on scams, including our comprehensive list of PayPal scams.

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How the PayPal Free Money Scam Works

If you receive a message saying you’ve received free money on PayPal, it’s more than likely a scam. These emails are sent to tempt readers into clicking a link in the email. The link will either send malware to the user’s computer to gather data and/or take the user to a fraudulent website. If the email recipient then types their PayPal username and password into the fake site, they’ve inadvertently given access to all their funds to the malicious actor.

In some cases, these scams will simply ask for a small amount of money in order to “free up” the funds. This processing fee may be as little as $10, but if 100 people pay it, that’s an easy $1,000 for the cyber thief.

How to Spot These Types of PayPal Scams

Spotting a PayPal free money scam is fairly simple. After all, if you weren’t expecting to receive money, there’s no reason for anyone to be sending you any. People will rarely give you money for no reason, so any email that suggests you’ve received free funds should be suspect.

Here are some other tips:

Check the sender — does it look like an official PayPal.com email address?
Look for spelling and grammar mistakes in the email.
Don’t click the link in the email — login via the app or the official website and look for notifications there.
If the email is asking for money (that you know you don’t owe) immediately disregard it as a scam.

Ask yourself if you were expecting to receive money or if you have entered any cash-based competitions lately. If not, there’s no reason you should be receiving emails like this unless it’s a scam.

How to Report the Scam

PayPal users can report fraudsters via the Security Center in the app or on the official website. If you’ve already been scammed within the PayPal system, you can raise a case within the Resolution Center. However, if the scam took place on a fake site as many do, PayPal may not be able to help. That’s why it’s important to be discerning and work from the adage that if it looks too good to be true, it probably is.

Protecting Yourself From Scammers

Learning about scams like this one helps you stay one step ahead of fraudsters. Keep yourself in the know by subscribing to Scam Detector’s Scam Alerts. Our regular update emails help you protect yourself from scammers and fraudsters, improving your online experience.

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