Received a suspicious PayPal email or text?
Fake PayPal messages can look convincing. They may claim that a payment was made, an invoice is waiting, your account is limited, or urgent action is required. Before clicking a link, calling a phone number or opening an attachment, check the message carefully.
Common warning signs of a fake PayPal message
- Unexpected payments or invoices. Be cautious when a message refers to a purchase, invoice or money request that you do not recognise.
- Pressure to act immediately. Scam messages often claim that your account will be restricted, charged or closed unless you act quickly.
- A suspicious link. A link may look legitimate while actually leading to a different website designed to steal login or payment information.
- A phone number inside an alarming message. Fake invoices and payment notices may tell you to urgently call a supposed support number controlled by the scammer.
- Requests for sensitive information. Do not send passwords, card information, banking details or one-time authentication codes in response to an unexpected message.
- Unknown attachments. Avoid opening an unexpected attachment until you have independently verified where it came from.
How to check a PayPal message safely
Do not use the link or phone number supplied inside a suspicious message. Instead, open the PayPal app yourself or type PayPal's known official website address directly into your browser.
Check your real account activity there. If the payment, invoice, account warning or request does not appear in your PayPal account, treat the message with caution.
Not sure about the message you received?
Paste the suspicious text, upload a screenshot, or check a saved email with ScamAssessor. It looks for common scam signals and explains what it finds.
Check it with ScamAssessorWhat ScamAssessor looks for
ScamAssessor examines combinations of warning signs rather than relying on a single word or phrase. Depending on what you submit, it can look for suspicious payment requests, urgency, impersonation, risky links, domain lookalikes, unusual sender information and other scam indicators.
ScamAssessor provides a risk assessment, not proof. A low-risk result does not guarantee that a message, person, website or payment request is genuine. Always verify sensitive requests independently.
If you think the message is fake
Do not click its links, call phone numbers supplied in the message, open unexpected attachments, or provide passwords and authentication codes.
If you already sent money or exposed banking, login or identity information, contact the relevant bank or payment provider using independently obtained official contact details.
PayPal also publishes official guidance on recognising and reporting suspicious messages: PayPal Security Centre .