Fraudulent Paypal Order?

[subcitizen]

Hi. Thanks for looking at my post! I recently received an order payed with a paypal account. I'm not sure if it's fraudulent or not. Is there any way to find out?

The reason I believe it's fraudulent is that it's from Indonesia. I've received a number of orders from there and they were all fraudulent. What makes this different is that it's payed with Paypal and not a credit card. Another reason is that it's being sent to someone else's address in the U.S., and it's being payed for using someone else's paypal account that is an unconfirmed address.

It just all looks fishy. When I called Paypal they were useless!!

Is it possible to fraudulently pay for something using Paypal? I thought they were pretty game-proof. How can I investigate this to make sure it's for real?

Thanks for your help!


Jason

[Dubbya]

If the shipping address is verified by PayPal, you're covered by their fraud protection and it's on them to ensure that it's legit.

If you're just not sure, send an email to the email address provided in the PayPal payment notification message and ask for a telephone number. The phone number should match the address and name in a reverse lookup in the White pages.

Remember, you can cancel a transaction at any time before you ship product. There's nothing that says you're obligated to do business with anyone you don't want to do business with.

If you're just not comfortable with the order, follow your gut. Just issue a PayPal refund and tell the buyer you don't ship outside your country.

Always make it clear where and with whom you're willing to do business. I only ship to addresses in Canada, so automatically, I delete any email messages or quote requests from anyone or anywhere that seem suspicious.

.02

[subcitizen]

Thanks for your help Dubbya. The shipping address is unconfirmed. And if they give me a phone number, it'll be to Indonesia. I don't want to cancel it if it's a legitimate order. Hence, my dilemma.

Is there any other ways to verify Paypal orders? What else can I do?

Thanks again,

Jason

[cw1865]

I would be wary of any order from the Third World. Take the US Address and jam it into google. Good chance you will find a freight forwarding company. Sometimes though you can be surprised. I had a gentlemen call me from South Africa with an order to be shipped to his wife in Poughkeepsie, NY...it threw my fraud flags up; I wasn't taking the credit card. I wrote back demanding a wire and actually received it - so, go figure.

[ArthurNYC]

If it looks like a bad order ... it generally is.

We pick up 90% of fraud orders by looking at the orders ... it is generally obvious. People trying to rip you off assume that you aren't going to look at each order and theirs will slip through.

Cancel it ... I would.

A

[subcitizen]

Thanks for your input ArthurNYC and cw1865. I check the shipping address. It looks like it could be a residence. I don't want to cancel if it's a legit order. I just wish I could do some more investigating, first.

How do you have someone wire the money?

Thanks for your help!

Jason

[SuperHatz]

I know Paypal and credit card companies are re actively protective in cases of fraud.

But, in my opinion, it is our duty to help verify suspicious orders and protect the freedoms we enjoy.

You should verify the request. Hold that trans # and amount in your account for at least 90 days.

The shipping of a product is your decision, which I would base on value.

If high net cost, then verify order some way, some how.

I have had fraud come through my Paypal and even though I am protected - I am eager to assist in
the discovery of fraud, because in the case of fraud - we all lose.

Just My 2 cents.

[feiman]

If the address is unconfirmed and they want you to ship to Indonesia, cancel the order and refund the money. That combination is pretty much guaranteed to get a chargeback.

[clumberman]

If the shipping address is verified by PayPal, you're covered by their fraud protection and it's on them to ensure that it's legit.

If you're just not sure, send an email to the email address provided in the PayPal payment notification message and ask for a telephone number. The phone number should match the address and name in a reverse lookup in the White pages.

Remember, you can cancel a transaction at any time before you ship product. There's nothing that says you're obligated to do business with anyone you don't want to do business with.

If you're just not comfortable with the order, follow your gut. Just issue a PayPal refund and tell the buyer you don't ship outside your country.

Always make it clear where and with whom you're willing to do business. I only ship to addresses in Canada, so automatically, I delete any email messages or quote requests from anyone or anywhere that seem suspicious.

.02

We deal in the luxury goods business and if you looked at our on-line order system, you'd see about 98% of ALL our credit card transactions, U.S. and abroad, are bogus. We simply refuse any non-U.S. credit transactions and don't take PayPal. PayPal may tell you the card is legit, but if the card information is hacked, and it 100% verifies with the bank's information, PayPal will NOT stand behind it, as we found out to the tune of about $40,000. We are out the cash and the merchandise. Never, EVER forget that if you get a bad card, you are out DOUBLE; cash taken from your account AND the merchandise. Because I work for this company, MY PayPal account was suspended and I was told in no uncertain terms that I would need a court order for them to tell me why I was suspended. PayPal's (and eBay's) protection isn't worth the paper it's printed on; oh wait, it's worth even less 'cause it's only transient pixels on your screen. Screw 'em. Only take wires for anything outside North America, if you can.

[SnerdeyWebs]

We sell across the globe everyday and if anything looks fishy then it's best to protect your business and refund the order. But, 1st we'd send an email to the buyers email address.

The original Paypal owner will contact you as they will ask why it was refunded or I did not order this.

If you have a Paper trail like confirming the order, verify the shipping address etc... Paypal is looking to insure you did your part to protect the process.

Once someone makes a claim your out of luck without some proof other than the order itself. You'll be out the money and the product.

We never ship without a personal email to the buyer. Don't rely on the emails from Paypal to protect your order. We've been known to call Germany and with broken English we're able to verify the order. We use Lingo for these calls

Good luck and great question!