safe to give someone your paypal email

PayPal is an online payment service you are probably already very familiar with. It’s used by businesses and by individuals worldwide.

However, even though PayPal has implemented tons of security features to protect your account, there is still a possibility of being scammed.

Because of this, you might be wondering: Is it safe to give out PayPal email? Well, it depends.

Naturally, you have to share your PayPal email if you want anyone to send you money, but that doesn’t mean you should give it to anyone.

It is safe to send someone your PayPal email if they need to send you money. But you need to consider that once they have your PayPal email, they could try to impersonate PayPal and attempt to scam you, or even try and hack your account as they know your email.

In this article, we’ll share a couple of things so you can ensure your PayPal account’s safety.

Can You Get Scammed By Giving Someone Your PayPal Email?

First things first, let’s answer the original question. Is it safe to give out your email to other people? In short, YES! But, there is a risk of being scammed by giving someone your PayPal email.

You can get scammed by giving someone your PayPal email, but not directly. If someone has your email, they could try and impersonate PayPal to try and trick you into handing over private information. So be careful with who you share your PayPal email with.

It can be safe if you’ve taken all of the necessary precautions. However, if you haven’t shared your information, that person can use your email to get into your account and steal your money.

You must know who you’re dealing with before sharing your personal information. We can’t stress that enough.

To make yourself safe from all of these scammers, there are a couple of things you could do:

1. Use A Strong Password

A scammer with your email isn’t necessarily dangerous. They can’t really do anything if they don’t have any other important information.

Unfortunately, many people use weak passwords that can be easily guessed. A lot of passwords are also closely related to the person using them.

To prevent the scammer from guessing your PayPal password, use these tips to create a strong password:

  • Don’t use relatable information. – Family, friends, pet names, birthdays or other important dates, etc.
  • Avoid using simple or common words. – A large percentage of people have passwords such as: “123456,” “password,” “qwerty”.
  • Create a longer password. – The average worldwide password has less than eight characters. Increasing the character number makes a password a lot stronger.
  • Mix special characters and numbers. – Example: “9@Sk.$a,!” will be considerably more difficult to guess than simple words such as “computer”.
  • Avoiding patterns altogether can considerably boost password strength. – Avoid using words altogether, number sequences, repetitive characters, etc.
  • Use multiple passwords/don’t use the same pass on various accounts. – A scammer has to get guess only one password and will be able to access all of your accounts, including PayPal.
  • Use a password manager. – If you want to use a unique password for every online account, password managers can help with that. Consider using LessPass, BitWarden, KeePassXC, or Spectre (approved by privacytools.io, a community-driven pro-privacy movement).

2. Don’t Share Your Email With Strangers

Indeed, almost every person on the internet is mostly a stranger, but that doesn’t mean you should never share your email. If you are a freelancer, you will often need to share your PayPal email to get paid. It’s a necessity

We can’t exactly tell you which people are trustworthy and which aren’t. So that’s up to you to decide.

Being careful with who you talk to on the internet will make you less subject to scams. For example, share your information only with those you’ve already built a working relationship with, you’ve gotten familiar with, etc.

Never share your PayPal email or any other personal information with complete strangers!

PayPal has been around for years, so naturally, scammers have a lot of experience in this area. As a result, they have tons of frauds available to get your private information.

Easily enough, your private email can end up on what’s known as “mailing lists.” These lists of emails are sold to people or businesses, which then are used for advertising a product, service, etc.

Unfortunately, scammers can also get their hands on these mailing lists.

So, to stay safe, here are some things you should be wary of:

Fake Email Names

To make things worse, they create a fake name to make it seem like you are contacted by PayPal’s customer support or a PayPal representative.

In reality, you’re being contacted by [email protected] (fake email) and not an actual PayPal representative.

This is why it is imperative to double-check the email and never respond to these spammer’s requests. Because if you do and share any of your PayPal information, you could lose your account and your money with it.

Reset Your Password

I’ve received numerous fake emails claiming that my PayPal is about to be removed or that I must reset my password. In every single one of these situations, the emails were fake and asked for my information.

PayPal already has your information and will never ask for your password.

Fake Refunds

Scammers acting as PayPal representatives will claim that you need to send a refund on an item you’ve sold or the service you’ve offered. They’ll also ask that you send the money back or even request your credit card number.

For example, this often happens to OnlyFans content creators. OnlyFans does not issue refunds, so naturally, PayPal will never contact you for this matter.

This is not how PayPal operates. If there’s such a case, just log in to your account, and you can sort everything in there.

Fake Giveaways/Bonuses

PayPal is a business, and it will never give out money randomly to people. So, if you’re getting emails that you’ve somehow got a money bonus or giveaway from PayPal, it’s probably too good to be true.

We also recommend checking out PayPal’s extensive list of common scams.

3. Identifying Real PayPal Emails

With this article, you’ve learned to avoid most PayPal-related scams, so now it’s time to understand what real PayPal emails look like.

  • PayPal customer services will always start the email with your name or account name. A scammer probably does not have this information.
  • They’ll never ask for any personal information.
  • PayPal emails will always end with @paypal.com. E.g., [email protected]

Conclusion

It is safe to give out your PayPal email, but only to the right people. Avoid sharing your email with complete strangers, don’t give out any personal information, especially don’t give out your password, and always make sure your password is strong enough.

By taking care of these precautions, your money will be safe.

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