Paypal inactive fee

Brie

I've received an email today saying that Paypal have taken a fee due to me having an inactive account.  I'm a tad surprised as I don't recall ever setting one up.  Nothing has come out of any bank account or off any credit card but it wouldn't show if it's happened today.  I guess I could dispute anything that pops up but I didn't know if anyone else had had this happen.

(happy to be redirected but I couldn't find a paypal type category!)

FatherTireseus

PayPal are now charging an inactivity fee if an account has no activity in the previous 12 months.

However if you’ve never set one up, my first thought is, is it a scam email.  Does it address you by your correct name, or just something like ‘Dear customer’ or ‘Dear PayPal member’.  They might be trying to get you to log in via a false link in the email and capture your username and password. I’ve had scam PayPal emails in the past, I knew they were a scam as I had a PayPal account but with a different email address to the one the scam email was sent to.  Given the number of PayPal accounts out there, the scammers must figure there is a reasonable chance of hitting an email account with a PayPal account linked to it.

Given PayPal first started charging inactivity fees in mid December 2020 it’s quite possible it’s a scam trying to capitalise on the anniversary of the first charging date.

Would be interested to know if the email actually does contain your correct full name as genuine emails to me from PayPal do always include my full real name.

Daliah

Closed my Paypal account of 16 years today as there is nothing it offers me that I cannot very easily get from anywhere else. 
The end.

LaHostessAvecLaMostess

Brie said:

I've received an email today saying that Paypal have taken a fee due to me having an inactive account.  I'm a tad surprised as I don't recall ever setting one up.  Nothing has come out of any bank account or off any credit card but it wouldn't show if it's happened today.  I guess I could dispute anything that pops up but I didn't know if anyone else had had this happen.

(happy to be redirected but I couldn't find a paypal type category!)

The money comes from your PayPal balance, and if there isn't enough to cover it, it'll just take whatever you have left, taking nothing if there is nothing in your account.

maxsteam

Brie said:

I've received an email today saying that Paypal have taken a fee due to me having an inactive account.  I'm a tad surprised as I don't recall ever setting one up.

If you don't have a PayPal account, it's a scam email. If you click on the link, you will confirm your email address and you can expect more scam emails. The link will take you to a site with PayPal logos where, if you had a PayPal account, you could give your password away and the scammers could then empty your PayPal account and take funds from any cards linked to the account.

sausage_time

From the on-line help...

Only PayPal accounts with no activity in the previous 12 months will be charged an inactivity service fee. The fee will be £9, or the remaining balance on the account if less than £9. Accounts with zero balance won’t be impacted and this charge won’t result in any negative balance.

I hardly ever use my account now, but the balance is zero.  So I'll probably just let it fester.

Brie

Well it looks legit...hoovering my curser over the email gives me what looks like a paypal address and there's nothing in it to click on a link - it says log onto your account.  It gives my correct name but so do scam emails too at times. 

But there wouldn't be a balance if an account exists as I've never sold anything.  I might have used one to buy some apostle spoons on ebay maybe 10 years back - that's the only thing I can think of.  

But if they aren't going to try to claim money from whatever account or card might have been linked to anything I won't get too worried about it all.  I can't imagine that it I set anything up I would have linked anything with much money available just in case.

When I have the time (aka not fussing around on MSE forums) I might see if I can access something.

Thanks all for the reassurance.

born_again

Brie said:

I've received an email today saying that Paypal have taken a fee due to me having an inactive account.  I'm a tad surprised as I don't recall ever setting one up.  Nothing has come out of any bank account or off any credit card but it wouldn't show if it's happened today.  I guess I could dispute anything that pops up but I didn't know if anyone else had had this happen.

(happy to be redirected but I couldn't find a paypal type category!)

Well Mr Lewis did warn about this last year...

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2020/10/paypal-to-introduce-p12-yr-fee-for--inactive--accounts---act-now/


>>>From December 16, 2020 PayPal will introduce an annual fee of up to £9 for users whose accounts have been inactive for at least 12 consecutive months.<<<

If you got the email today, then it will come out at some point next week. How will depend on the payment methods you have set up 👍