Suddenly there is a reminder in the mailbox – even though payment was never made with PayPal. When it comes to guest payments, consumers are increasingly finding themselves in a cost trap.
Consumers are increasingly receiving reminders or debt collection letters PayPal-Guest payments that you never made yourself. In this scam, third parties use third-party data to place orders – often without those affected even having a PayPal account. According to legal platform “Lawyer.deMany people only find out about this when requests for payment or letters from lawyers have already been received.
PayPal guest payment and reminder: This is the legal situation
According to “Anwalt.de”, the problem often arises when, after a chargeback, a negative balance is posted to a so-called guest account from which PayPal or commissioned law firms to later derive claims.
No authorization, no contract: When there is no obligation to pay
According to “Anwalt.de”, those affected are often better protected legally than they are Reminders suggest. For PayPal guest payments, there is usually no contractual relationship with PayPal, as there is neither registration nor agreement to general terms and conditions. In addition, under payment services law, unauthorized payment transactions must generally not be to the detriment of those affected.
Received a PayPal reminder: This is how those affected should react
As “Anwalt.de” recommends, those affected should not pay payment requests without checking, but rather contradict the request and make it clear that no authorization has been given. In many cases, claims can be defended out of court. If the pressure to pay remains, a legal review may make sense.
This is how those affected protect their PayPal account after a fraud case
Anyone who is confronted with an unauthorized PayPal claim or reminder should, in addition to seeking legal clarification, also check their own account settings. The aim is to prevent further misuse of personal data.
- Change PayPal password and choose a safe combination of upper and lower case letters, numbers and special characters
- Enable two-factor authenticationto additionally secure the login
- Check unknown devices and sessions and remove if necessary
- Check your email address and bank detailswhether changes have been made
These steps can help avoid repeated unauthorized payments and better secure the account in the long term.
About the Author
