paypal question for a dummy

i made a paypal account today. can i recieve a payments as of now? also what steps can i take to make sure the money isnt recovered?

 

Question #1: Yes, you can.
Question #2: There's never a 100% chance that your money can't be recovered. But however, some precautions can be taken. For example, you can ask the person you're trading with to send the payment as a gift. This makes it harder to chargeback. Avoid trading with verified PayPal accounts. They are more likely to recover than the ones unverified.

Some guides that may help:

http://sythe.org/showthread.php?t=219263
http://sythe.org/showthread.php?t=206480
http://sythe.org/showthread.php?t=149307

 

As well as following Gurtatons points, if you feel the member you're about to trade with is a little shady or untrustworthy remember you don't have to trade with them. Trading with more trusted members may be a little more expensive, but the chance of being scammed is much, much lower.