The marketplace PayID ’upgrade fee’ scam
A common Facebook Marketplace and Gumtree scam. The ’PayID business upgrade’ it describes does not exist.
- Know the trap: a ’buyer’ claims they can only pay via PayID, then sends a fake email saying your account needs upgrading.
- Remember PayID is free — there is no business upgrade, no holding fee and no reimbursement to send.
- Never send money to ’unlock’ a payment — a real PayID transfer lands instantly with nothing to pay.
- Ignore the screenshots and emails ’from the bank’ — they are forged.
- Check your own banking app to see if money actually arrived; if it hasn’t, it isn’t coming.
- Report the seller and the listing, then block the buyer.
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