How to Report PayPal Fraud: Disputes, Claims, and Agency Complaints

To report PayPal fraud, open a dispute in the Resolution Center on the PayPal website or app within 180 days of the payment, escalate it to a claim if the seller won’t cooperate, and file complaints with federal agencies if PayPal’s decision leaves you short. Speed matters at every step: the sooner you report, the stronger both PayPal’s process and federal law work in your favor.¹

File a Dispute in the Resolution Center

On a web browser, go to the Resolution Center and select “Report a Problem.” Pick the payment from your recent transactions, click Continue, and choose a reason:²

Unauthorized activity — a payment you don’t recognize or didn’t approve.
Issues with your purchase — an item that never arrived or doesn’t match the seller’s description.
Issues with the seller — the seller won’t respond or you can’t reach an agreement.
Billing errors — duplicate charges or subscription problems.

Follow the prompts, add details, and submit. PayPal assigns a case ID and emails a confirmation.³ For unauthorized transactions, expect an email update within 10 days.²

In the app, tap Activity, open the suspicious transaction, select “Report a Problem,” choose the reason, and submit. Follow-up questions appear in the app’s Message Center, and an unanswered question can stall or close the case.²

What to Gather Before You File

Most of what you need lives in your Activity log. Pull it together first so the filing goes in one pass:

The Transaction ID (an alphanumeric code in the transaction details).
The exact payment date and dollar amount.
Screenshots of any messages with the seller about the problem.
Evidence of the issue — photos, receipts, or third-party evaluations for damaged or misdescribed items; for unauthorized charges, note when you first saw them.⁴

Deadlines You Cannot Miss

PayPal’s filing windows are firm. Once they pass, the transaction cannot be disputed or reopened.¹

Item Not Received: within 180 days of the payment date.
Significantly Not as Described: within 30 days of delivery or 180 days of the payment, whichever comes first.
Unauthorized transaction: report as soon as possible through the Resolution Center. The general filing window applies, and federal law rewards faster reporting with lower liability caps.
Escalation to a claim: 20 days from when the dispute was opened. Miss this and the dispute closes automatically.⁵

If You’re Locked Out of Your Account

When someone has taken over your account and changed your credentials, the Resolution Center is out of reach. Call PayPal instead: go to the “Contact Us” page, select “Call Us,” and click the option to call as a guest to see the number.⁶

Have ready, to verify ownership:

The phone number tied to the account.
A recent statement for the linked bank or credit card.
The email address used at registration.

Every additional unauthorized transaction while you wait raises both your losses and, under federal law, the cap on what you can be held responsible for.

Escalating a Dispute to a Claim

A dispute opens a direct conversation with the seller. A claim hands the decision to PayPal. You generally need at least 7 days to have passed since the payment date before escalating, and no more than 20 days from the dispute opening.⁵

Open the dispute in the Resolution Center and select the escalation option. PayPal typically decides within 14 days, though some cases take 30 days or longer.⁷ During review, PayPal may request receipts, photos, police reports, or third-party evaluations.⁴ Answer fast; delays hurt your case.

What Purchase Protection Won’t Cover

Purchase Protection covers eligible transactions where an item never arrived or was significantly different from the description. Several common situations are excluded entirely, and knowing them up front keeps you from counting on a process that cannot help.⁴

Friends and Family payments. Personal payments are not covered. Scammers often insist on this option specifically to strip away protection. Always pay merchants using the “Goods and Services” option.⁸
Real estate and vehicles. Property, cars, motorcycles, boats, and aircraft are out. Lightweight personal vehicles such as bicycles and hoverboards are an exception.
Cash equivalents. Gift cards, prepaid cards, and gold.
Financial products. Investments, NFTs, and business purchases.
Custom-made items. “Significantly Not as Described” claims do not apply to goods that were wholly or partly custom-made.
In-person pickups. Generally not covered for “Item Not Received” claims.
Items bought for resale. Excluded.
Donations and gambling. Crowdfunding, charitable donations, and gaming entry fees.

Federal Liability Limits for Unauthorized Transfers

The Electronic Fund Transfer Act caps your liability for unauthorized transfers through services like PayPal, but the cap depends on how fast you report. The law creates three tiers:⁹

Report promptly: liability is capped at the lesser of $50 or the amount of the unauthorized transfer before PayPal was notified.
Report after 2 business days but within 60 days: if you learn your account access was compromised and don’t report within 2 business days, liability can rise to $500 for unauthorized transfers that occur after that 2-day window.
Report after 60 days: if unauthorized transfers appear on a statement and you fail to report within 60 days of the statement being sent, you may be responsible for the full amount of later unauthorized transfers that timely reporting would have prevented.

If PayPal Denies Your Claim

An appeal is possible, but only with new evidence that wasn’t available when PayPal first decided, or a showing that the review contained an error.⁴ Contact PayPal customer support to discuss reopening the case.¹⁰

If you funded the payment with a credit card linked to PayPal, you have a second avenue: a chargeback through your card issuer. The chargeback runs under your card network’s rules, and the issuer can reverse the charge even after PayPal denies the claim. Initiating a chargeback may affect your PayPal account standing.

Reporting Phishing Emails and Texts

Fake PayPal emails and texts are a common route into accounts. If a suspicious email arrives, don’t click links or open attachments. Forward the whole message to phishing@paypal.com, then delete it.¹¹

For a suspicious text:

Don’t tap any links.
Tap and hold the message, then forward a copy to phishing@paypal.com.
Block the sender.
Delete the message.

PayPal sends an automated reply confirming the report but does not follow up individually on each one.¹¹

Filing Complaints With Government Agencies

When PayPal’s own process isn’t enough, three federal agencies accept fraud complaints and can add outside pressure.

Federal Trade Commission

File at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Reports go into the Consumer Sentinel database used by civil and criminal law enforcement to spot larger patterns.¹² This is the broadest option and worth filing for any online fraud.

FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center

The IC3, at ic3.gov, is the FBI’s intake point for cyber-related crime. If your case involves a sophisticated scam, a hacked account, or looks like part of a larger operation, filing here puts the report in front of federal investigators who may refer it to federal, state, or international law enforcement.¹³

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

If you’re unhappy with how PayPal handled the dispute, file with the CFPB, which accepts complaints about money transfer and digital payment services. Submit online in roughly 10 minutes, or call (855) 411-2372, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET.¹⁴

The CFPB forwards your complaint to PayPal, which generally has 15 days to respond and up to 60 days to provide a final answer in some cases. Complaint data is published in a public database. You generally cannot file a second complaint on the same issue, so include everything the first time.¹⁴

1
PayPal US. Dispute Filing Timeframes
2
PayPal US. How Do I Report an Unauthorized Transaction or Account Activity
3
PayPal US. How Do I Open a Dispute With a Seller
4
PayPal. PayPal Purchase Protection Program
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PayPal US. How Do I Escalate a PayPal Dispute to a Claim
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PayPal US. How to Regain Access if Locked Out of PayPal
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PayPal US. How Long Does It Take to Resolve a Dispute or Claim
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PayPal US. What Are Friends and Family Payment Scams
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1693g – Consumer Liability
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PayPal US. How Can I Appeal PayPal’s Decision on My Case
11
PayPal. How to Report Suspicious Emails and Messages
12
Federal Trade Commission. ReportFraud.ftc.gov
13
Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). Home Page
14
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Submit a Complaint