Some guy sends me random cash on Paypal, It sits there for hours and I finally decided to spend it, - General

So This morning, I log on my Paypal, my hotmail, yada yada yada. Got an email from some Paypal saying I got a payment for $93.75. A couple days back, I got some random in-voice from the same guy, whom I don't know, for 80 bucks. Shrugged it off. Wont go into detail what my reaction was and all those small details. Point is, the money sat in my account for an hour or so, I spent it, no dispute was still claimed for the whole day, and no cards were connected to that account, neither before or after the "random" payment. About 10 minutes ago, it was "disputed", the guy has claimed that someone was on his account, and did the payment, all the while, it wasn't disputed for the entire day. My paypal balance is fucking negative and in the red. I don't have the cash to "refund" this guy because I actually waited patiently for it be filed before, and then decided to spend it. Am I fucked? Has anyone had a similar situation happen? I need advice. I know it was dumb, but I'm sure you're allowed to spend money that's randomly given to you online in the US as long as it wasn't part of a sketchy "transaction" of sorts. I don't want my credit to go down, and I barely used Paypal before this week. also, sorry for that awful thread title. I've searched all over online for a somewhat remote situation to this whole fucking thing, and no one has been through this. I need advice from you guys on what to do. edit: also, it was sent as a "payment", not a gift or any of the such, which means that Paypal will now view him as a fucking "seller" and me as a "buyer", and will lean towards his side.

I don't know the laws and regulations about it, but logically it sounds like you should be fine? I really don't know.

You really shouldn't spend random shady money sent in to your account.

[QUOTE=Alec W;42638094]I don't know the laws and regulations about it, but logically it sounds like you should be fine? I really don't know.[/QUOTE] That's what I'm thinking. I remember some story about a guy saying he would be sent random wads of cash through online transactions (i think it was an online poker service?) and the such and was legally able to spend it without the sender whining or complaining about it because the money wasn't involved in a buying/selling transaction, which is why I freely spent this cash, even while waiting to see if this guy would want a refund so I can do it. edit: To poker story I just mentioned, it went that one guy accidentally sent the wrong payment to a guy with a similar name or address (not using paypal), and found out he can legally keep it if he wanted to, and he did, and yada yada yada [editline]25th October 2013[/editline] [QUOTE=Jookia;42638112]You really shouldn't spend random shady money sent in to your account.[/QUOTE] Only reason I did it was because It's technically legal, but Paypal is a shady fucking service.

[QUOTE=Jookia;42638112]You really shouldn't spend random shady money sent in to your account.[/QUOTE] This. I don't blame you for spending the money, it's obviously the other person's fuck up but I'd probably not spend it either

you only waited a day?

[QUOTE=Venezuelan;42638156]you only waited a day?[/QUOTE] Wasn't it shady enough that I had to wait at all? I don't think anyone sends cash to a person, waits 12 hours, and then goes, "...oh darn, I guess I just sent cash to some random person." [editline]25th October 2013[/editline] [QUOTE=HyperTails;42638139]This. I don't blame you for spending the money, it's obviously the other person's fuck up but I'd probably not spend it either[/QUOTE] Like I said, as far as I know, it's very legal to spend/keep cash that was willingly sent to you. Though, I can see the part where I probably "deserve" it for spending it in the first place, making it morally wrong... [editline]25th October 2013[/editline] In all honesty, do you guys think I'll be fine?

[QUOTE=kwk;42638171]Wasn't it shady enough that I had to wait at all? I don't think anyone sends cash to a person, waits 12 hours, and then goes, "...oh darn, I guess I just sent cash to some random person." [/QUOTE] Mistakes happen. This guy may just have been slow to catch his mistake.

This smells of a cute fraud scam.

You could always try and contact him, somehow.

You let the money sit in your account for an hour? And then spent it? Why did you even spend the money if you don't have $80 disposable income anywhere besides PayPal?

You should have waited at least a week.

IF you didn't use your address on that paypal; NEVER Login that one again, and make a new one.

I wouldn't spend randomly money that was added to me until I wait like 3 days, since the guy might want it back or else I might be in your situation

Yeah, it was a bit of a stupid move OP, there's really no denying it. Not your money, randomly given, no reason why. Should have waited longer, or not spent it at all. However, it's already done so there's no need to continuously remind him that it was a bad idea. I don't think it'll be a very big problem, really. What exactly did you spend the money on? You can't refund?

honestly i think you did this to yourself by waiting such a brief period of time and by actually spending this random money deposited into your account. Think about it like this, someone got into this guy's account and transferred the money while this guy was on his way to work, he works his 8 hours and gets home after tending to his business and it's been hours since this person could have checked their personal accounts to notice this. By the time he is able to notice the money was spent by you because you only waited, and this is the kicker, an hour. You only waited an hour OP to spend this money. You waited 1 hour and the dispute was filed a day later. OP you waited 1 measly hour. You're in the wrong here. I don't care if it's "technically legal". Legally yes you're right, morally and common sense wise, you're wrong.

Hey guys lets make more posts telling OP he should have waited longer, I don't think he gets it yet.

If this was a scam. What's the point of it? Just to annoy people?

I would have sent this money to another account and spend it on there, but only if the account the money was sent to was not important. Few months ago, I received numerous of payments from one guy for my services and when he got limited all the money he sent to me got held. So I got contacted PayPal that there are no reasons to held this money, few days later, my account has negative balance of 137 dollars, and the account where the money was sent from has zero balance... I have no idea where the 137 dollars went

This is a joke right. You are trolling right? Or are you sincerely this ignorant? Thinking waiting a day would be long enough for someone to notice and file a report? Thinking the money in your account as a payment is yours to use even if you didn't even SELL any product / service? Thinking you're not gonna have to pay paypal back the 80 (or more, if you spent it all) bucks you are in the red now? Which you owe them, because you spent their money? I'm trying not to be an overly major asshole here as whenever this kind of thing happens it's fucked up for all parties. All I can think of though is what if the bank / government / big company accidentally sends you $1000,- or so. You think it's your "legal right" to use it?I don't see how people think it's legal to go spending money that has been accredited to your account 1. Most likely by accident 2. For no apparent reason (You haven't sold / returned anything)Sure it's legal to spend money sent to you. It's also legal to ask the money you sent back if you don't get the product you paid for.In which case you're gonna have to pay back the money sent to you. I'm gonna end my rant with. Where the fuck was your brain at the time. [b]Edit:[/b] At 26 years of age too. Shame on you, Kwk.

oh hey a briefcase full of cash got dumped in my garage guess i'll spend it oh no the mexican drug cartel is here

Is OP going to jail?

You spent money that wasn't really yours. Could you not have contacted him in some way to at least inquire as to why he sent you money? This isn't the sort of thing where you can just assume that it is okay to spend it on whatever you want and not expect consequences.

Protip: Don't spend money that isn't yours.

[QUOTE=Hezzy;42641297]Protip: Don't spend money that isn't yours.[/QUOTE] Unless you're a woman, in which case, you're free to.

If the other guy signed it "payment" or whatever, you're out of luck op. Unless you can prove that you actually sent the wares agreed upon, you have no argument here. EBay will side with the buyer. If he had signed it "friends and family", he'd have no way to dispute the payment.

[QUOTE=kwk;42638059]So This morning, I log on my Paypal, my hotmail, yada yada yada. Got an email from some Paypal saying I got a payment for $93.75. A couple days back, I got some random in-voice from the same guy, whom I don't know, for 80 bucks. Shrugged it off. Wont go into detail what my reaction was and all those small details. Point is, the money sat in my account for an hour or so, I spent it, no dispute was still claimed for the whole day, and no cards were connected to that account, neither before or after the "random" payment. About 10 minutes ago, it was "disputed", the guy has claimed that someone was on his account, and did the payment, all the while, it wasn't disputed for the entire day. My paypal balance is fucking negative and in the red. I don't have the cash to "refund" this guy because I actually waited patiently for it be filed before, and then decided to spend it. Am I fucked? Has anyone had a similar situation happen? I need advice. I know it was dumb, but I'm sure you're allowed to spend money that's randomly given to you online in the US as long as it wasn't part of a sketchy "transaction" of sorts. I don't want my credit to go down, and I barely used Paypal before this week. also, sorry for that awful thread title. I've searched all over online for a somewhat remote situation to this whole fucking thing, and no one has been through this. I need advice from you guys on what to do. edit: also, it was sent as a "payment", not a gift or any of the such, which means that Paypal will now view him as a fucking "seller" and me as a "buyer", and will lean towards his side.[/QUOTE] Just because the money was sent to your account does not mean you're entitled to it. It wasn't money for you, it was a simple mistake and you should have left the money alone or sent a message. Clearly you got greedy because you said you let it sit for an hour or so, what did you expect? The issue to fix itself? It would be like my bank accidentally adding a few extra zeros to my paycheck deposit. I can't spend it and if I did I would be held liable. I'm also reading some of other posts in this thread which kinda go in to the if it is legal it is okay debate. Just because you can do something legally (or think you can) does not mean you should...

[QUOTE=MyAlt91;42640023]This is a joke right. You are trolling right? Or are you sincerely this ignorant? [big wall of text] [/QUOTE] I still don't understand why people on the forum still do this. I'm fully aware of how dumb I was in the situation, stop trying to get people to side with your petty rants. [QUOTE=robowurmz;42640427]oh hey a briefcase full of cash got dumped in my garage guess i'll spend it oh no the mexican drug cartel is here[/QUOTE] As ridiculous as this sounds, I'm actually sure this happens in parts of the world (though, not that specific situation). [QUOTE=Best4bond;42640653]Is OP going to jail?[/QUOTE] The worst that can happen is Paypal goes after me for my whole life, sending me annoying letters, and my credit goes down. Not something I really want to deal with, but I'll just have to wait and see. Thanks for the help. Though, anything was better than constantly telling me the same advice that was already posted.

[QUOTE=kwk;42638115]Paypal is a shady fucking service.[/QUOTE] uh no it's really not

I honestly don't get this. I know it was stupid for him to spend the money, but hey, it WAS his money as it was in his account. Sure it was an honestly mistake, but a mistake none-the-less. If I walk up to a guy and hand him $100 I can't go up to him later and expect him to still have it.