WEST Yorkshire Police has warned the public about a scam using Facebook Messenger and PayPal to steal people's money.

The force is urging PayPal users to take particular care when giving their details out, especially if the request comes via Facebook Messenger.

Fraudsters have been targeting users and adopting the alias of a friend or family member to request to use their PayPal account to receive funds and/or to pay a bill.

Ultimately, the scam leads to the victim sending money from their own bank account into one belonging to the fraudster.

The scammer uses PayPal as a method of disguising what is actually going on and to complicate things.

They tell the victim, while pretending to be a friend of relative, that they will transfer funds into their PayPal account.

They tell the victim they can then transfer the money from their own PayPal account into their own bank account, before forwarding the money onto an account controlled by the fraudster.

If the victim agrees, the payment is transferred into their PayPal account.

The victim then arranges to transfer this out into their own bank account and then uses their own money from there to pay into the fraudster's bank account.

The scammer then reverses the initial transaction, meaning no money actually makes it into the victim's PayPal account and they've actually just sent their own funds from their bank account to the fraudster.

To guard against becoming a victim of this type of fraud, the Force has issued the following advice:

  1. Verify financial requests: Be wary of unusual messages asking for assistance with financial transactions. Even if the message appears to be from someone you know and trust, you should check it’s really them that sent the message by calling them or speaking with them in person.
  2. Never respond if you don't know them: Don't respond to any requests to send money, or have money transferred through your account, by someone you don’t know and trust.
  3. Protect and secure your important online accounts: Use a strong separate password and, where available, turn on two- factor authentication (2FA).
  4. If you have made a payment: Inform your bank, or payment service provider, such as PayPal, as soon as possible. They can help you prevent any further losses. You should also monitor your bank statements regularly for any unusual activity.

Kay Bainbridge, the Force’s Victim Care and Crime Prevention Officer, said: “Fraudsters will try various different ways to try and con people out of their hard earned money or other goods but by following some quick steps you can make their life a lot more difficult.”