How safe is PayPal payment?

Paypal will not refund you for services, and won't refund international transactions. There's nothing to prevent this person from disappearing with your money

Ask for a bank account number and do a bank transfer - at least if you get scammed the police will know who to go after

PayPal is very, very safe for buyers. The person receiving the cash never sees any of your financial information, as PP is the go-between and handles all of that. When you send the payment, make sure you send it as for goods or services (NOT as a gift or a cash advance.. if the seller asks you to do this, RUN, don't walk away). That way, if it turns out you were screwed over, PayPal can get your money back. As a second layer of protection, make sure you're using a credit card, not a checking account, as your funding source for PayPal. If PayPal won't resolve the issue (sometimes, stuff happens), you can still charge back the amount through your credit card company. Best of luck!

Paypal is not an escrow service.

Assume that if you send money and it turns out to be a scam that you cannot get it back.

Depends if you are verified and they are verified. You can do a chargeback sometimes if the service is not provided. You'd be safer paying by credit card for something like that.