19 April 2011

PayPal Private Limited pays me SGD$15 - Is this a PayPal scam?

Today I received SGD$15 from "PayPal Private Limited".

The message it came with said:

"As our way of saying thank you for choosing Paypal as your preferred secured payment provider, kindly note that we have credited SGD15 into your Paypal account as a token of our sincere appreciation. Continue to enjoy the security and ease of payment through Paypal. We look forward to your continued support in 2011!"

Payment type: Instant

That's it. Nothing else. Didn't ask me to send anything. No address, no nothing.

As per usual, there is an 'accept'/ 'reject' option.

Now that I have chosen 'accept' (which is a friggin' mistake), I'm afraid its a scam and somehow someone can get my details by me accepting the money.

Anyway, I have delinked my credit card from PayPal, so all they can get is what little funds is left inside.

I have no idea whether this is a scam and would appreciate any thoughts on this issue. 

PS: I have done some simple Google searches and have seen that PayPal does give cash rebates or cash incentives and sometimes as much as USD$100 to $1000. I'm just not sure why they would do this out of the blue.

* Edit 26 April 2011 *

I would first like to thank my OZ Former buddy Jay for offering to assist me with checking the veracity of the above. Since I received the following email directly from PayPal confirming that the above is not a scam, I didn't need to trouble Jay.

I received the email on 19 April 2011 (less than 24 hours after I filed an enquiry), but did not have time to post it before I has to fly off to Beijing.

This is the email:

Hello [my full name],


[3 paragraphs redacted; I don't want to give scammers a template to draft scam replies]


Upon checking, it might be a rebate from PayPal. It is not a scam. If
you have any further questions regarding your PayPal account, please
feel free to contact us.


[1 paragraph redacted for reason above]


Sincerely,
[redacted]
PayPal, an eBay Company

So, that's it. Case closed. PayPal does give people money, out of the blue, so it appears.

7 comments:

  1. No one can get your details by you accepting a payment. Where was this payment reflected? Only in your PayPal account? What was the payer's email address?

    As a Certified PayPal Developer, I can offer you further advice. PM me on OTCA for my email address if you want.

    - Jay(disc)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Jay. I have started a thread in OTCA asking the same question. I will PM you tonight to see what other light can be shed. Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi, look like a common Scam...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Certainly concerning, that's for sure.
    I'd definitely hit up Customer Service for some answers HD, it's not worth it to risk it IMO.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks Jay for offering to help. I have confirmed its not a scam. Have updated the post accordingly.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Same thing happened to a friend of mine, he also accepted... seems to be okay also.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks for the input Chris. Yeah, I think in this instance, its fine too. =)

    ReplyDelete

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