Not considered as a scam attempt. Just people are worried who they accept Paypal from, it is a known reversible payment method, therefore unsecure for sellers. I would suggest only accepting or using people from trusted or if trusted. Even if amount are infinite.
Agree with you friend PayPal is safe online payment system. I have used it from past years without facing any type of problem. Yes I think they provide special protection against fraud and if they found any suspicions then they want proper proof but mostly people treat them scam because PayPal won't allow them to do illegal activities.