If you have received an email stating you have been sent a payment through PayPal and the payment will not be released until you provide a tracking number, the email is not from PayPal. It is not a valid transaction.

When you receive a payment that has been correctly directed to your PayPal account, you will see the transaction in your History log. If it was an Instant Payment, the funds will immediately be posted to your PayPal balance.

If the buyer paid you with an eCheque or by bank transfer, you will see the transaction status in your PayPal account 'History' listed as 'Uncleared'. The funds will not be posted to the balance until it has been completely processed. When the funds have been posted, the status of the payment will show as 'Cleared'.

If reporting a suspicious or potentially fraudulent email that you have received, please forward the original email including the header information or the site's URL to us at spoof@paypal.com. Do not alter the subject line or forward the message as an attachment-doing so prevents us from investigating it further. Immediately delete the email from your inbox once it has been sent. Never click any links or attachments in a suspicious email.