After a Georgetown couple was scammed using PayPal, WUSA9 is asking about the risks of the popular way to pay online.
Here are the three things consumer advocates say you must know:
1. Do not link your PayPal to a bank account or debit card. A scammer could really take you for a ride if they can access to your account. This lets scammers drain or even overdraft your bank account.
2. Do link your PayPal to a credit card. This offers you an extra layer of fraud protection. Experts say this lets you dispute a fraud charge on two fronts. Experts say that way you're more likely to get your money back.
3. Never click on links in e-mails from PayPal. They might not really be from PayPal. Scammers can lead you to a dummy site where. When you put in your information, scammers steal it. This is called spoofing and it’s common. PayPal has 200 million users worldwide giving scammers many targets.
“We’ve seen consumers thinking that they’re working with PayPal when in fact somebody is using PayPal's logo and using it for scamming purposes,” said Sally Greenberg of the National Consumers League. “It's a complete fraud. That's something we want consumers to be aware of."
