---
title: Payment request scams
source_url: https://moov-staging.money/help/security-privacy/payment-request-scams/
last_updated: 2026-09-04
---

# Payment request scams

Anyone who has your phone number can ask you for money. That's useful when it's a friend splitting a check, and it's the whole scam when it isn't. A request costs a scammer nothing to send, and the note attached to it is where they do their work.

A request on its own is harmless. Money only moves if you choose to pay.

## What a scam request looks like

- It arrives **out of nowhere**, from a name or number you don't recognize.
- The note claims you **owe** something you don't remember agreeing to.
- It looks like a **bill or a fee**, such as a delivery charge, an account fix, or a charge to "release" money someone owes you.
- The name is **close to someone you know** but not quite right, or the name on the account doesn't match the name you saved.
- It comes with **pressure**: pay now, pay before something bad happens, don't tell anyone.
- It follows a phone call or text about a "problem with your account."

## What to do

1. **Don't pay.** Nothing happens if you ignore a request. It expires by itself after 10 days.
1. **Decline it** if you want it out of your way. Declining charges you nothing.
1. **Block the sender** so they can't ask again. See [How to block or unblock someone](/help/account-privacy/contacts/how-to-block-or-unblock-someone/)
1. **Report it to us**, so we can act on the account across the network. See [How to report a scam or fraud](/help/get-help/how-to-report-a-scam-or-fraud/)

## If you already paid

A paid request can't be reversed through Moov Money, the same as any completed payment. Act quickly: block the person, report it to us, and contact your bank or card issuer. See [What to do if you think you've been scammed](/help/security-privacy/what-to-do-if-you-think-you-ve-been-scammed/)

## Good to know

Moov Money will never send you a request for payment. We don't charge fees to send, request, or receive money, and no one at Moov will ever ask you to pay to unlock a payment. See [Things Moov will never ask you to do](/help/security-privacy/things-moov-will-never-ask-you-to-do/)