Scammed on PayPal? How to Try to Get Your Money Back

Paid a scammer through PayPal? Report it to PayPal right away and ask it to reverse the payment, as the FTC advises for payment apps. Your chances depend mostly on who sent the money and whether it went as Goods and Services or Friends and Family. Here’s what to do now, what PayPal’s own rules say, and where to report it.

1. Paid a scammer through PayPal? Report it now

Log in yourself, through the app or by typing paypal.com into your browser (PayPal). The FTC says to report it through PayPal’s Resolution Center or call PayPal at 1 (888) 221-1161.

• Open a case. Go to the Resolution Center, click Report a Problem, select the payment and choose what happened (PayPal).
• Say it was a scam. PayPal’s user agreement asks you to tell it immediately if you think someone is scamming you.
• Use only PayPal’s contact details: its Contact page or 1-888-221-1161. PayPal says not to return automated calls or trust caller ID (PayPal).

2. Check whether the payment can still be canceled

PayPal’s user agreement says you can cancel for a full refund unless the recipient has already received the payment, but most payments arrive within seconds. Select the transaction in your activity and look for Cancel, or call PayPal.

• Pending or unclaimed. This can happen when you pay an email address or phone number that isn’t on a verified PayPal account. Click Cancel under the payment in Activity. If you can’t, the recipient has 30 days to accept or deny it; PayPal cancels payments still pending or unclaimed after 30 days and refunds your original payment method (PayPal).
• Completed. PayPal says canceling is generally not an option because the other party already has the money.

3. Lock down your account if you shared anything

Shared your password or a one-time code, or let someone into your computer or phone? PayPal says to change your password and update your security questions right away. Then turn on 2-step verification under Settings > Security. PayPal says it never asks for your password, or for that code by phone, email or text.

Check for payments you didn’t make, and call your bank’s fraud department and your card issuers too, as PayPal’s report-fraud page suggests. See also what to do after a remote-access scam, clicking a phishing link or giving a scammer your bank account number.

4. Stop contact and save the evidence

Don’t send more money, even if the person promises a refund. Before you block them, take screenshots of the payment details, their name, email or phone number, and every message, listing or invoice. Note any case number.

Can I get my money back from PayPal if I get scammed?

Maybe. PayPal separates fraud from scams: fraud is when someone gets into your account without permission; a scam is when you authorize a payment but don’t get what you expected.

What happened	What may apply	Deadline
Someone else sent money from your account	PayPal’s protection for unauthorized transactions	Tell PayPal at once; 60 days from the statement
You paid a seller with Goods and Services	Purchase Protection, if the item is eligible	Dispute within 180 days (30 days after delivery if “not as described”); escalate within 20 days
You sent a Friends and Family payment	No Purchase Protection	Report it anyway, right away
A card funded your purchase	Possibly a dispute with your card issuer	Your issuer’s deadline

If someone else sent money from your account

PayPal’s user agreement defines an unauthorized transaction as money sent from your account that you did not authorize and that did not benefit you, such as a payment by someone who stole your password. When that protection applies, PayPal says it will cover the full amount if you cooperate and follow its procedures.

• Report it. In the Resolution Center, click Report a problem, choose the payment and select “I want to report unauthorized activity.” PayPal says it will email you within 10 days (PayPal).
• Don’t wait. Report it more than 60 days after the statement, and you may not get back money lost after that, if PayPal can prove it could have stopped it.
• Expect an investigation. PayPal’s error-resolution terms promise a decision within 10 business days, or up to 45 days if it credits your account meanwhile (90 for new accounts). If asked, confirm in writing within 10 business days to PayPal, Attn: Error Resolution Department, P.O. Box 45950, Omaha, NE 68145-0950.

Tricked into sharing your login or a code? PayPal’s agreement says that if you give someone your login information and they use your account, you’re responsible. But the CFPB’s guidance on Regulation E, the federal rule for electronic transfers, says a consumer fraudulently induced into sharing account information “has not furnished an access device”, so transfers made with it are unauthorized: for example, when a caller posing as your financial institution gets your login or a texted code. The same guidance says person-to-person payment providers that hold consumers’ accounts are financial institutions under Regulation E. So tell PayPal exactly how the scammer got in.

If you paid with Goods and Services: Purchase Protection

PayPal Purchase Protection may cover the full price plus original shipping when an item never arrives or is “Significantly Not as Described,” such as a different item, a counterfeit, or a used item sold as new. PayPal decides at its sole discretion, though you may be able to appeal with new information.

1. Contact the seller first. PayPal requires you to try before filing a claim.
2. Open a dispute in the Resolution Center within 180 days of paying if the item never arrived. If it isn’t as described, the limit is 30 days after delivery or 180 days after paying, whichever comes first (PayPal).
3. Escalate it to a claim within 20 days, or the dispute closes automatically and can’t be reopened. PayPal often asks you to wait 7 days after the payment date (PayPal).
4. Respond on time to requests for documents. For items not as described, PayPal may have you ship the item back at your expense.

PayPal usually decides within 14 days, but some cases take 30 days or longer.

Not covered: Friends and Family payments, gift cards and other cash equivalents, vehicles, investments, donations, payments to government agencies and items bought for resale (PayPal), plus real estate, including rentals. Non-delivery claims fail if the seller provides proof of shipment or delivery, and generally exclude items you pick up in person, with some QR code exceptions.

If you got scammed on PayPal Friends and Family

This is the hardest case. When you send money, PayPal asks you to choose “Sending to a friend” or “Paying for an item or service”. For the first, PayPal says:

• “Personal payments aren’t covered by PayPal Purchase Protection.”
• You can’t report a problem for payments sent as Friends and Family, and PayPal encourages you to keep working with the recipient for a refund.
• Friends and Family purchases aren’t eligible for Purchase Protection, so you may be unable to get your money back.

PayPal warns that a seller who pushes Friends and Family may be a scammer who knows your payment won’t be covered. Report it to PayPal anyway: the FTC says it’s always worth asking whether there’s a way to get your money back.

If a card paid for it

If you used a debit or credit card through PayPal to buy something, PayPal’s Purchase Protection terms say you may be able to dispute it with your card issuer, whose chargeback rights may be broader. The trade-offs, as PayPal describes them:

• You must pick PayPal or your card issuer, not both at once.
• If you go to your card issuer, PayPal closes its case, and you can’t file with PayPal later.
• If PayPal rules against you, you can still try your card issuer. If PayPal’s delay makes you miss the issuer’s deadline and recover less, PayPal says it will reimburse the rest of your loss.

If a card funded a Friends and Family payment, ask the issuer whether it can help. If the scammer also has your card number, see what to do if you gave a scammer your credit card number.

PayPal scams to watch for

PayPal itself warns about these patterns:

• Fake invoices and money requests. They can come through PayPal itself, for things you never ordered or with an alarmist note and a fake customer service number (PayPal). Don’t pay and don’t call. Cancel or report it from your Activity (PayPal).
• Fake PayPal emails and texts. Real PayPal emails use your first and last name or business name, never “Dear user” (PayPal). Forward suspicious emails and texts to phishing@paypal.com, then delete them (PayPal).
• Fake PayPal support. PayPal says it will never call you from 1-888-221-1161 to ask for your personal or account information (PayPal). Its agents never ask for passwords, codes, or card and bank numbers, never access your device remotely, and never ask you to send money to “verify” your account (PayPal).
• “Accidental” payments and overpayments. A scammer sends a fraudulent payment, calls it a mistake and asks for it back (PayPal user agreement), or “overpays” and asks you to wire the difference. If the money came from a stolen card or account, it can be withdrawn from your account. Log in yourself to check whether money really arrived (PayPal).
• Shipping tricks, if you sell. A buyer asks you to use their shipping account or prepaid label, or reroutes the package, then says it never arrived. PayPal says to ship only to the address on the Transaction Details page (PayPal).

How to report a PayPal scam

After PayPal, report it to the government. Agencies use reports to investigate and bring cases, but they can’t resolve cases for individuals.

1. FTC: report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
2. FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center: if any part happened online, file at IC3.gov. IC3 doesn’t investigate cases itself, and you won’t hear back from it (IC3). More: what happens after you file at IC3.
3. CFPB: if you have a problem with how PayPal handles your claim, you can submit a complaint. The CFPB says most companies respond within 15 days.
4. Your state attorney general: find your office on the Find my AG page.
5. Local police: use the non-emergency number or website (CFPB), and ask for a report number.
6. If you’re 60 or older, or helping someone who is: call the National Elder Fraud Hotline at 833-FRAUD-11 (833-372-8311), Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern (Office for Victims of Crime, IC3).

The report-a-scam tool and the scam recovery checklist can help you keep track.

Watch for the follow-up scam

The FTC warns that scammers buy, sell and trade lists of people who have already lost money, then offer to get it back for a fee. Government agencies and legitimate organizations never ask for money to help you get a refund. IC3 says it never contacts people directly and never asks for payment to recover lost funds.

If a “PayPal agent” contacts you about your dispute and asks for a code, a “test” payment or a software download, stop. PayPal says such requests are never legitimate. Log in yourself to check your case.

What varies

• How you paid. The payment type, and whether a balance, bank account or card funded it. Compare Venmo, Cash App and Zelle.
• Timing. Pending payments can sometimes be canceled, and the 20-, 60- and 180-day windows keep running.
• Your account and cards. Business accounts have some different rules (PayPal user agreement), and PayPal Credit and PayPal-branded cards have their own fraud lines (PayPal).
• The terms. The user agreement checked here was last updated September 14, 2026, and the Purchase Protection terms on January 26, 2026 (PayPal).