Published:
February 22, 2026
•
10
min read
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By
Patrick Coughlin
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If you have had a PayPal account for any length of time, you have almost certainly received an email that claimed to be from PayPal but was not. That volume raises an obvious question: why PayPal? The answer is not about security flaws. It is about the specific characteristics that make PayPal useful to legitimate users - characteristics that scammers have learned to turn to their advantage.
With over 430 million active accounts across more than 200 countries, PayPal has one of the largest user bases of any financial platform. In the United States, roughly 78% of online shoppers have used PayPal at least once. Scammers can send generic PayPal phishing emails to a broad audience and expect a meaningful number of recipients to engage.
PayPal has spent over two decades building one of the most recognized and trusted brands in digital finance. When you receive an email from PayPal, your default reaction is to take it seriously. A scam email from "PayPal" starts with a built-in credibility advantage. Security researchers note that PayPal phishing emails consistently achieve higher click-through rates than phishing attempts impersonating less familiar brands.
Because Friends and Family payments have no buyer protection, no dispute process, and no chargeback option, they are effectively irreversible once sent. Scammers consistently steer victims toward F&F payments. PayPal explicitly warns users not to use Friends and Family for purchases from people they do not know, but the feature's name carries an implication of trust that scammers leverage.
PayPal's buyer protection helps legitimate users but also creates a tool for fraud against sellers. In chargeback scams, a fraudster purchases an item, receives it, and files a dispute claiming the item never arrived. The seller loses both the item and the money.
PayPal communicates heavily through email - payment confirmations, shipping updates, dispute notifications, security alerts. This creates an ideal environment for phishing. Users conditioned to engage with PayPal emails have one more fake message blend into legitimate ones.
PayPal connects to thousands of platforms, expanding the surface area for scams. Compromised PayPal credentials have value beyond the account balance itself - they can access linked bank accounts and connected marketplace accounts.
PayPal remains one of the safer ways to pay online when used correctly. Never use Friends and Family payments with strangers. Verify every notification by logging into your account directly. Enable two-factor authentication. Know what PayPal will and will not ask for. PayPal will never call to process a refund, ask you to install software, or request your password through email.
Not sure if a PayPal message is real? Use Savi Security's Scamwise tool to check any suspicious email, text, or notification in seconds. Scamwise analyzes the message against known PayPal scam patterns and tells you whether it is legitimate or a scam - before you click or respond.
Received an email or text claiming to be from PayPal? Before you click any links or call any numbers, paste the message into Scamwise for a free, instant analysis. Scamwise checks it against confirmed scam formats so you can verify before you act.
Patrick Coughlin
Patrick Coughlin is a cybersecurity and technology expert with over two decades of hands-on experience at the intersection of technology, intelligence, and security. He has built teams, products and companies to protect governments and Fortune 500 enterprises from the most sophisticated cyber threats. When his mother was targeted with an AI-powered impersonation scam, the threat became personal. Soon after, Patrick, along with his brother Ryan, founded Savi Security to help protect individuals and families from scams and fraud in the AI era. Patrick lives in Los Angeles with his wife, son and dog.
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