I just lost $10 to what is probably some stupid online scam

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I found out about a possible home-based data entry job. I e-mailed and asked questions and so forth. I got a long reply, and I had followed the instructions on the reply. They said that they would pay me through a PayPal account, which I've never had any sort of experience with. I e-mailed this girl back about how does this PayPal work in regards to payment, say does the money ever get through to my bank account? I have never heard of receiving payment through PayPal before, but from the PayPal site, it appears that it could be done. So, there was a start-up fee for this job of $9 to $10, and I have never heard back from this girl again.

The thing is ... Was this some sort of stupid online scam? Or was it that maybe I offended her through my e-mail questioning the use of PayPal in some way? I mean, I have no idea. Maybe she thought I didn't have enough Internet knowledge, which was sort of required for this job, by even questioning the uses of PayPal. I mean, people can be weird and think a lot of things.

Regardless, how is one supposed to know what are and what are not online scams? I mean, these home-based jobs sound pretty good, but they all seem to require some sort of payment beforehand.

- Ray M -

I've dealt with scrupilous people through Paypal before. Here is my advice to you.

Email her again kindly asking whether the payment went through. Also ask her when you are able to start the job.

If you get no response after 4 days or so, send another email urging a response.

If you get no response again after that, dispute the payment with Paypal (there is an option when you sign into Paypal), and put in all of the details. Paypal will then give the other person 15 days to respond to the complaint. If they don't, the payment is reversed. If they do, then you get another 5 days to respond, and then Paypal decides whether to refund your money.

Opening a dispute with Paypal is free and easy, it only requires a bit of time, so why not?

Worse case scenario: Paypal decides in their favour, you are out the money anyways, just like if you had never filed the complaint.

Best Case Scenarios: There is a delay, you get the job. Or else Paypal reverses the payment and you get your money back.

Make sure you give them some time to respond though before filing the complaint, in-case there really is a delay. Filing the complaint will likely get rid of any chance you have at getting the job.

Personally, I am very untrusting these last few years, and probably wouldn't accept the job, but chances are there are at least SOME valid work at home jobs. You may get lucky, who knows?

This from CareerBuilder.com:
- Be cautious of any employer offering employment without an interview (either in person or by phone).
- Be cautious of any employer who charges a fee to employ you or find you placement.
- Please investigate thoroughly any employer requesting that you transfer funds or receive packages for reshipment, especially if they are located overseas. Most of these employment offers are check-cashing or shipping scams!
- Do not provide your social security number or any other sensitive information unless you are confident that the employer is legitimate.
- Avoid vague offers as these are often scams. If the employer is not willing to specifically describe the position they are offering, you probably don't want it.
- Open a new browser window and type in www.careerbuilder.com every time you visit the site. Be cautious of links to CareerBuilder sent to you in emails…they could be phishing scams. http://www.careerbuilder.com/JobSeeker/ ... .aspx#tips

Basically if they are offering you a job and want money first its most likely a scam. Like if they want to give you money and wants money first or access to your banc account, it's a scam.
Don't pay for anything unless you're buying somethin - a product.

I don't know how you could get a job like that, Personally I'm trying my luck on the stockmarcket next year. You work from home, you can make a good income, and you can take a holliday when you want.
Of course you have to be willing to risk, and lose, your money, and you have to be good at it, reasonably good.

Good luck on finding a job.

I think you just fell for an employment scam

http://www.choice.com.au/viewArticle.as ... employment

paypal is mostly legit, they could just as easily have used a real bank account, the effect would be the same.

I'm not sure I like paypal all that much because of this
http://www.paypalsucks.com/

And the other thing paypal does (besides freezing your account for no apparent reason) is charge so many fees that you might not see any of your money at all. Unfortunately I can't find the cartoon that shows this.

As far as the employment thing, it probably is a scam. If they were a real employers, they would have interviewed you, even over the phone. If this was an independent contractor situation, you would have had to submit a bid and resume with others competing for the same position. Either way, you do not have to submit money. The only time you would have to pay money to get a job is if you use a head hunter service and most of those serve professionals, CEOs, etc. The ones used by average employees usually are paid for by the employer, not the employee.

I would suggest trying trapped's idea to get your money returned but I am not hopeful.

As far as Paypal is concerned, you have to realize that they are not consided a bank. Their actions therefore are not regulated and your money is not protected. If you really want to close the account, I would suggest that you also close any checking/credit card accounts that are attached to it and then reopen them with a new number (your bank you be able to assist you with that). Also, do not answer any email requesting your Paypal account number and password. No matter how legetimite is sounds, it is a scam.

Yes, I forgot to mention that myself, LOTS of scammers send out emails that pretend to be from Paypal requesting your account information for a variety of reasons. They are fake! If you ever think one is real, do NOT click on any links. Instead, go directly to paypal.com and see if you notice any messages for you there. Chances are you won't.

The only time I have ever received legit emails from Paypal is receipts for purchases, one notice notifying me that they were setting up a Canadian subsidiary and my user agreement would be with it from then on, and the confirmation email when I set up my account.

Be very careful using Paypal. I'm hoping the new Google Checkout will be less prone to fraud...but chances are it won't. It also doesn't seem to support consumer to consumer transactions at the moment.