I researched F&F. The sender does not pay fees if you use PayPal balance OR bank account. If you fund the transaction w debit card, they charge the sender. Hope that clears it up.
As far as protection, you are right. No protection so its a smart idea to be careful who you send money to. I've done a few of these transactions on SH, if you research my handle youll probably run into other threads where I made guys very happy with how we pack and we are fast.