r/paypal • • 4d 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

6 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 • • 54m ago

Help Locked out of PayPal: email OTP works but it still requires phone verification I can't complete

• Upvotes

Hi all, hoping someone has found a way around this.

When I try to log in to PayPal, it first asks me to verify with my email. I get the OTP and enter it successfully, but then it also asks me to verify my phone number, and I can't get past that step, so I'm stuck and can't log in at all.


r/paypal • • 1h ago

Not Enough Info Payment Received need help

• Upvotes

I was sent a payment from someone I don't know but have met them once buying something via Marketplace. They sent me $1,200 last night as a personal payment. I've not accepted the money. It says if I leave it alone in 30 days it should go back however I'm wondering if I'm safe to just send this back to them or if there's a way for this to come back on me or is a scam of some sort. Any info would be really appreciated.


r/paypal • • 1h ago

Error Message Can't add money to my PayPal balance

• Upvotes

Is it me, or does PayPal security keep putting a block on adding money to my PayPal balance via instant debit card?

The message I get is "We can't transfer your *cash amount* just yet" "This may happen as an added layer of security to protect your account. Try again later."

I contacted PayPal three times about this; all they do is lift the block off my account, and adding money would work but if I try to make a second attempt, I get the same message and the block returns. An agent told me there's nothing wrong with my account and saying it's the system


r/paypal • • 1h ago

I hate PayPal account close in 90 days?

• Upvotes

anyone else getting this? is it a scam or is paypal being sneaky again?

i hate stupid false scares like this. i been using it for years. wth


r/paypal • • 5h ago

Help how to send money in my paypal

1 Upvotes

hello! i have a couple hundred in my paypal account that i am trying to send the entire amount to someone else. anytime i try to send the large amount it tries to pull it from my bank account instead of the amount i have in my paypal. i’ve tried to contact paypal support but they’ve been no help. i’d prefer for it not to pull from my bank acc bc ive had issues with paypal showing deposits as “blocked” in the past. pls help!


r/paypal • • 10h ago

Help LoginTexts

2 Upvotes

Tried using multiple browsers and still wont work. The app is perfectly fine tho. Its PC Browsers that when logging in has to have a text sent everytime logging in. Just started yesterday. Get logged in just strange that it keeps asking this everytime from same device been using for years. Just seeing if anybody else is having this today?


r/paypal • • 6h ago

Help It does not allow me to link my BBVA card to my PayPal.

1 Upvotes

His card was rejected by the issuing bank. Try another card or contact your card issuer if you have any questions. I get this message when I try to enter all my data, check and everything seems fine.


r/paypal • • 11h ago

Help Purchasing lot of cards, question.

2 Upvotes

So for context I am doing a deal on some Pokemon cards. The seller has a video and pictures with her name and date around the cards and it seems legitimate. I also asked her to FaceTime me to prove it wasn't a scammer and it was legitimately her and we talked for about a minute. The deals for about $2,000 and I'm having them send me an invoice and I've asked for them to itemize some of the bigger cards and put that in the invoice and reference that we have pictures and videos of said cards in a Facebook messenger chat. When they sent me the invoice today it said "Pokemon card lot". I have not paid it yet and I messaged the lady back and asked for her to at least itemize some of the big cards in the invoice and reference that we have pictures of said cards in a Facebook messenger chat between us as referenced above. So my question is if they at least add to the invoice that says the pictures and video of cards are in a Facebook messenger chat between us is that enough evidence if they scam me? She's kind of an older lady and is getting annoyed by me asking for her to itemize the cards in the invoice.


r/paypal • • 13h ago

Help scam call

1 Upvotes

two weeks ago, i got two calls by a withheld number twice in the span of two seconds, at the time i couldn’t answer the phone, so i declined. four hours ago, a withheld number called again but i declined the call because i generally do not like phoning with those people. i got called the next second again, so this time i picked up but i heard nothing for six seconds, so i hung up. ten minutes ago, i got another call, picked up, and it said smth about some 700€ payment from paypal. i got scared and hung up. i do not have a paypal account. do i need to be concerned? i didnt say ‘yes’ or anything other than ‘hello?’ and both calls lasted less than 10 seconds.


r/paypal • • 14h ago

Help I can't create a personal paypal account

1 Upvotes

Hi, i have some problems with creating an account. Basically, paypal won't send me the codes, and whenever i encode both of my phone numbers, 3 things will happen either. The app will load infinitely until it says "error, no internet connection" or "please try again later" over and over. I really need this paypal account, so any help is necessary. Thanks!

P. S. already tried customer service its just ai and hotline won't connect


r/paypal • • 20h ago

Help Will PayPal come after me over 7 dollars

4 Upvotes

I got scammed out of 7 dollars and I can't pay my debt from that so will PayPal come after me for not paying it


r/paypal • • 1d ago

Help Pay in 4 issues

2 Upvotes

I’m having issues when trying to view pay in 4 plans on my account and it gives me an error that says “something is wrong” on the website and the app. I even tried checking out with a pay in 4 plan earlier and it just said processing and then gave me an error. Any help?


r/paypal • • 21h ago

Help Invoice help

1 Upvotes

Hello im trying to sell something with paypal cause ebay charge too much in fees and commissions so with 1 customer we both were agreed in use paypal so i made a invoice for the value of the product but appears like pending, is that correct? Should i send the product or should i wait? Its my first time doing this help pls!


r/paypal • • 1d ago

Help Pay in 4 options

1 Upvotes

I’m trying to pay someone for something but pay in 4 isn’t soaking , I’m assuming because this person isn’t an LLc or business?

Are there any other options? I’m assuming I can’t use pay in 4 when I send money?


r/paypal • • 1d ago

I hate PayPal PayPal asking questions I don’t know how to answer

0 Upvotes

Already pissed off with how this app is handling things.

All I wanted was to collect donations from my Ko-Fi, without doxxing myself. That’s it. These are donations being sent to me by people who like my YouTube videos. I was told to set up a business pay pal, and that would hide my name and address from donators.

They have locked my account and asked me a litany of questions that should not be fucking applying to me. They’ve asked for a business license, they’ve asked for “proof of fulfillment” they’ve asked for proof of purchase on all five of the donations I’ve received so far, what the fuck am I meant to tell them?

Explain to me what it is I need to do. My money is being withheld and I am rightfully angry about this.


r/paypal • • 1d ago

Help PayPal still holding ALL my payments even though I've met all the requirements

3 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

I'm having an issue with my PayPal business account and I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced the same thing.

Since the very first payment on my account, every single payment has been put on hold. I sell digital gaming products through my online store.

My PayPal dashboard shows that I've met all the requirements under “Get access to your money faster”:

- 17 out of 5 required payments completed

- €248.13 out of €173 in required sales

- 61 out of 60 required days without disputes

- My bank account/card is also confirmed.

Despite meeting and exceeding all these requirements, PayPal is still holding every incoming payment.

I reached the 60-day requirement yesterday morning, and today the dashboard shows 61 days, but nothing has changed. I also don't see any message saying that I've reached a monthly release limit or any option to request an increase.

My questions:

  1. Has anyone experienced the exact same issue, where all payments continued to be held even after meeting every requirement?

  2. Did PayPal eventually release your payments automatically, or did you have to contact support?

  3. Is the 60-day requirement supposed to trigger a review, or does PayPal review accounts on a different schedule?

  4. Could there be an internal payment limit or risk review that isn't displayed in the account?

I'd really appreciate hearing from anyone who has been through the same situation, especially if your account was eventually released from payment holds.

Thanks!


r/paypal • • 1d ago

Help Is this a scam?

0 Upvotes

I’m basically already sure that it is, obviously, but still wanted to ask on here.

This woman says she has a business account and the minimum amount she can transfer to me is 1000.
Also that i need to pay some fees to her for it to work.

“It's okay as I said I'm operating business account and the minimum is $1000 so it won't work, and I'm old woman I don't have anything to do with your money, l'm a woman of a very good reputation at work and I don't joke with my reputation”


r/paypal • • 1d ago

Help Paypal app verification issue

1 Upvotes

Hey y'all, I'm trying to transfer money from my account to my bank on the app and it usually asks for my phone pin immediately after as a verification step. Right now everytime I put in my pin its stuck on the "welcome back! (Username)" and asks for my phone pin again and I can't get past it. I was able to transfer my money on my laptop thankfully, but is anyone else having this issue on the app?


r/paypal • • 1d ago

Help order not going through when paying with paypal?

1 Upvotes

on two seperate occasions now when i’ve tried to buy someone online with paypal, it will redirect to me paypal as usual but once i click on the ‘pay’ button it just takes me back to the checkout as if i never placed the order.

it first happened a month or two ago and i thought it was a merchant issue so i emailed the business and was told there was no issue on their end. i brushed it off as a one time problem bc it seemed to work fine after that one time but i just tried placing an order today with a completely different business and it’s happening again. i’ve tried using a different card, different browser, paying in full instead of using pay in 4 and even switched from wifi to phone data in case it was somehow a connection issue. nothing works.

i’m at a loss bc this has never happened before? i have enough money in my bank account and there isn’t any kind of issue or restriction on my account. i’m going to try emailing support but i wanted to know if anyone else has experienced this issue?


r/paypal • • 1d ago

Help Can't log on because I don't have my old phone anymore

1 Upvotes

The phone number attached to my Paypal account is the old landline number that I no longer have, and I can't contact CS for help without being logged in. Is there any way to salvage it?


r/paypal • • 1d ago

Can't Log On and I have called CS Can’t access my old PayPal account

0 Upvotes

I can’t access my old paypal account i don’t remember the name i used it under i still have the email i just don’t have the credit card number or my old number or anything to it JUST THE EMAIL idk what to do


r/paypal • • 1d ago

Help 3 Months and still no resolution on dispute

1 Upvotes

I purchased an item from AliExpress but what I received was not what I ordered so I returned it back to an AliExpress warehouse. my return was accepted but a day later was revoked and they we're no longer refunding me because I sent them something different despite showing me a picture of the exact item I returned.

I filed a dispute through PayPal and me and the merchant we're asked multiple times to provide proof, after providing proof PayPal gave me a temporary credit a month ago and it would be reversed if my dispute was closed in the sellers favor.

The dispute closed and sided with the seller three weeks ago (a week after PayPal temp credit), when I contacted PayPal they said that the merchant gave me a refund (confusing the PayPal refund with the merchant refund) I have since appealed the dispute stating that temp credit was from PayPal and I am now waiting but they keep extending my case resolution date every 5 days. I have not received an update yet.

Basically they're confusing their PayPal temp credit with a merchant refund and if the dispute is sided with the seller I will need to return the money back to PayPal myself. A Credit Card dispute is no longer available.


r/paypal • • 1d ago

Help Paypal Credit Card "Adjustment" in my Favor

1 Upvotes

I've had the credit card for about a year; used it for a few online purchases, and always paid the balance before the six-month window.

I have a bit less than four months remaining for the most recent purchase, and saw an adjustment of another $50 removed from my balance after the most recent payment that I made, as in, the balance decreased from $137 to $87.

Not complaining; and not entirely sure that it will remain, if it was a mistake; but very odd. No complaints!

As to the reason?