HN Explorer

Ask HN: Why does PayPal protect scammers?

21 points by cheerioty ↗ HN
The account of a reputable user on a collectors forum has been hacked and used to scam at least 6 people causing a loss of multiple thousand dollars. Because the user was known and had a great history and relationship with others, a lot of people fall for it when he started to sell a few more items of his collection this weekend.

Paypal denies to investigate because friends and family was used in all cases, because the considered the member a friend.

While I somewhat get that Paypal is not legally required to make people whole, I feel not even looking the case at all is neglectance.

15 comments

[ 4.9 ms ] story [ 41.9 ms ] thread
slater
Money.
[deleted]
(comment deleted)
[deleted]
(comment deleted)
akerl_
https://www.paypal.com/us/cshelp/article/whats-the-differenc...

The whole purpose of "friends and family" is that there's less fees but no protection. If you're buying a good or service from somebody, even somebody you know, you probably shouldn't pick "friends and family".

brianjking
Not to mention that they literally include this language on the screen when you issue a payment via F&F. "If you're scammed you won't be able to get your money back."

https://imgur.com/a/TRAU35T

singlepaynews
orthogonal to the topic: How does purchase protection work on the backend? I've been trying to find something on what Ma implemented and haven't been able to.
basch
It’s insurance. Everyone who pays into it funds a pot to make those whole who lost.
mike_d
Because with F&F you are explicitly opting out of fraud protection in exchange for a free service.

If you don't like the free food, don't eat it.

cheerioty
I’m not asking for PayPal to make people whole. But when their service is used as part of a scam/crime, are there legally not bound to investigate?
maratc
I don't think they are legally bound to investigate anything, unless law enforcement asks them to.
RecycledEle
I think the claim you want to make is: PayPal was repeatedly warned, but did nothing. Anyone scammed after the first few warnings to PayPal should sue PayPal for negligence.
cheerioty
They finally escalated my enquiry on the executive level and acknowledged that they obliged to investigate. They also provided me with my rights, e.g. if i'm not satisfied with how they handle things that I can bring it up with the Australian Financial Compliants Authority. Seems to be region specific but I assume similar things are in place for other regions.
is_true
They permanently limited my account because they failed to process my ID and got my birth date wrong, I opened a case and when I told them that, they just deleted all support messages.

Paypal is just a tool to avoid giving your CC to a third party, never think about adding your bank account to your account.

[deleted]
(comment deleted)
flowzai
For users, PayPal ensures a high level of trustworthiness.