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Home / Guides / Payment Scams / PayPal Friends and Family Scam: Why Sellers Ask for It
Payment Scams

PayPal Friends and Family Scam: Why Sellers Ask for It

PayPal says using Friends and Family for a purchase is a scam warning sign and those payments are not eligible for Buyer Protection.

· · · 2 min read

Quick answer: A seller who asks you to pay by PayPal Friends and Family is showing a scam red flag — PayPal itself says so, and those payments are not eligible for Buyer Protection. Use Goods and Services for any purchase, and report a scam payment promptly through PayPal's Resolution Centre.
Key rule: verify through an official route you opened yourself, not the link, number, app, or payment details supplied by the suspicious message.
On this page
  1. What the scam looks like
  2. What PayPal currently says
  3. When Friends and Family is appropriate
  4. If you already paid

What the scam looks like

A seller asks the buyer to choose PayPal’s Friends and Family payment type for goods or services, often offering a discount or saying it avoids fees. The item then does not arrive or is worthless, and the buyer discovers the payment is outside PayPal Buyer Protection.

What PayPal currently says

PayPal UK says eligible Goods and Services payments can receive Buyer Protection. Its help pages list Friends and Family payments among transactions that are not eligible and describe a seller insisting on that method as a scam red flag.

PayPal’s current scam-reporting page specifically describes item-not-received and low-value-item scams in which a fraudster persuades the buyer to use Friends and Family.

When Friends and Family is appropriate

Use it only for genuine personal transfers to someone you know and trust, such as sharing a bill or sending a gift where no purchase is taking place. It should not be used to buy an item or service from a seller.

If you already paid

Report the payment promptly through PayPal’s Resolution Centre using the scam-payment route if available for the transaction. Do not falsely describe an authorised payment as “unauthorised”; explain exactly how the scam worked.

PayPal states that a PayPal-to-PayPal Friends and Family payment is not entitled to reimbursement under its APP Fraud Rules or Buyer Protection Programme. If the payment was funded by a linked card, you can ask the card issuer whether a chargeback is available, but PayPal’s role and the type of transaction can affect the outcome. Do not promise recovery.

If money was lost through fraud, report at reportfraud.police.uk or on 0300 123 2040 in England, Wales or Northern Ireland; in Scotland, call Police Scotland on 101.

Frequently asked questions

Is a Friends and Family purchase covered by PayPal Buyer Protection?

No. PayPal UK lists Friends and Family payments as ineligible.

Is Goods and Services protection automatic for every purchase?

No. The transaction and item must be eligible, the account must meet PayPal’s conditions, and the dispute must be filed in time.

Can my card issuer reverse a linked-card payment?

Possibly, under card-scheme rules, but the issuer must assess the transaction and PayPal’s role. It is not guaranteed.

Sources checked

Think you’ve spotted a scam? Use the AI scam checker for an automated second opinion, or report it to Report Fraud for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, or Police Scotland on 101 for Scotland.

Reporting routes in this guide are checked against our verified canon of official UK sources — Report Fraud for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, or Police Scotland on 101 for Scotland, the National Cyber Security Centre, and the consumer service for each nation — by an automated accuracy gate before publication. Editorially updated by , Founder & Editor, on 2026-07-13. Read about how Beat the Scam writes guides.

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