There is a new scam in town where people befriend young men, primarily, and ask them to purchase a game using PayPal.
The so-called “friend” deposits money into the PayPal account, the game is purchased, the licence codes handed over and then the “friend” issues a chargeback with PayPal. The “friend” now has his money back and can sell the licence codes for the game to somebody else.
The young man now has a negative balance and PayPal and, because of his age, he can’t report this to PayPal because he has opened account fraudulently. If he doesn’t pay the money back there are long term ramifications regarding his credit history and his ability to get finance in the future. The consequences are potentially far-reaching.
It is incredibly important that we talk to young gamers about the friends that they make online and how even if you feel like you know somebody not to get involved in this kind of deal with them.
The scam is small fry compared to some of the other scams that go on but it’s really important that we teach our young people not fall for them.
Ref:
- What happens if I don’t pay neg balance?
- Paypal negative balance
- Not Paying Negative PayPal Balance, No SSN, But…..
Other, similar scams:
- what happen if i dont pay paypal negative balance – thread starts over and over as new victims join
- Paypal negative balance 10k, help !! – older thread and bitcoin but the same kind of scam
- -1800$ Negative balance on Paypal !! – selling goods
And still it goes on.
https://forums.digitalpoint.com/threads/i-need-help-and-advice-for-negative-balance.2783090/
This is the bit that really pisses me off… why do they think the bank/Paypal should take the fall because of their poor decisions?
My son had a game friend for over ten years…. then last year the friend scammed him. He was mortified that an online friend would steal his account after such a long term friendship. He had never met this person in person, but they practically grew up together online, spending a lot of time and sharing through the internet. You just never know who is going to turn on you, but in your article, those are the ones you should be especially suspicious of. I’m gonna pass this on to my son, he’s still a little gullible and reckless.