Date Received: 2021-04-06
Issue: Managing, opening, or closing your mobile wallet account
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: On XX/XX/2021, I received a large payment into my PayPal account. The payment was from the sale of a boat that I sold at auction on XXXX. Because it was a large payment, I understand why PayPal flagged it as potentially suspicious. As a result, PayPal froze my account and the funds I received are unavailable. In response to PayPal 's request, I provided a scan of my US passport, an explanation of each recent transaction on my account, and other information that should be reasonably sufficient to close the matter and determine that the potentially suspicious activity they identified was not actually suspicious. My complaint is that while I understand that AML and fraud controls are necessary, PayPal regularly exceeds what I think is reasonably required to identify and address actual suspicious behavior or transactions. In this case, I was selling personal property to help in a difficult financial time for me. I am a regular consumer. I am also a bank compliance officer, so I understand the need to scrutinize all transactions. But PayPal has now frozen my funds for what they promise could be 21 days or more. This causes real consumer harm. I am just selling some personal items on ebay to help pay the bills. I am a 20 year member of ebay with 100 % positive feedback. I live in upstate new york. I work at a bank as a compliance officer. I am not a high risk customer. Yet, in this case and in nearly every one of the recent transactions I have performed with XXXX, my account is frozen and I am told I may have to wait 21 days for funds to be made available. This is tangible consumer harm. In the midst of a pandemic, I am being prevented from the ability to pay my mortgage because PayPal has not sufficiently tuned its transaction monitoring scenarios to properly measure risk. I also do not think it is fair to charge a large fee for a transaction when a consumer is made to go through this kind of investigatory pain. Other than one large payment, there is no basis on which to conclude there is any illegal or even potentially suspicious activity occurring here. I would like access to my money so that I can pay my mortgage. I would like to be able to sell my collectibles and other items on ebay to help pay my bills without having to suffer through a battle with PayPal every time I get XXXX from an ebay sale. The ebay transactions are easily verifiable, yet this happens again and again and again with PayPal. This is substantial consumer harm. As well, PayPal asks that I prove that the items I sold were delivered. It ties this to other transactions unrelated to the one that triggered this alert. Therefore, I am asked to prove delivery of 3 items that are all to be picked up locally and that have no shipping or tracking numbers. The position PayPal puts consumers like me in is unfair, it's abusive/repetitive, and causes ongoing harm to consumers. A strong compliance program is tailored to risk and this issue is evidence that PayPal is not properly targeting its transaction monitoring to the risks presented. It also is evidence that PayPal does not have the appropriate staff resources to resolve these investigations in a timely way that mitigates any harm to the consumer.
Company Response:
State: NY
Zip: 134XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2021-04-06
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2021-04-06
Issue: Managing, opening, or closing your mobile wallet account
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: PayPal closed my account for no reason and will not help me with getting it back up and going. I am not sure if this is some mistake as I assume it has to be. I have not been able to get help from them for months but I just remembered I could file a report on here as I feel they are not doing their job properly and it is effecting me a great deal as I used PayPal quite frequently. My email linked to my PayPal is XXXX XXXX
Company Response:
State:
Zip: XXXXX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2021-04-06
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2021-04-06
Issue: Unauthorized transactions or other transaction problem
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: i have an active account with Paypal.com to collect rent every month. in XXXX, there is a XXXX charge on the XXXX, and there are two deposits of rent, one transfer ( which i made ) but now i can not access my account. I have tried sending emails and texts to every known address. no one has contacted me, even by text. last month, there was a breach of my credit card and i think it may be related. XXXX has tried to get info from me regarding my address etc. and i refused. i think it needs looking into. at the very least, someone needs to call me, which i have requested many times.
Company Response:
State: CA
Zip: XXXXX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2021-04-06
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2021-04-06
Issue: Managing, opening, or closing your mobile wallet account
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: Paypal deducted all balance on my account to theirs, that amount is {$1400.00} USD on XX/XX/2020. I was supposed to withdraw the money from my paypal to my own account. However, paypal broke its own rules. It says, the funds will be on hold for 180days, and we will notify you then to withdraw the money. The 180days limitation means, I will get the money after 180days, but its a lie, they took the money from me without letting me know. I can own check it through recent activities. That sucks! such a big platform taking money from its users. good thing is, I was told you can handle this, everyone says CFPB is really a great place to report cases like this. I wish you can help me to investigate on this and help me to get the money back. my paypal email is XXXX XXXX
Company Response:
State: CA
Zip: 92646
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2021-04-06
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2021-04-06
Issue: Managing, opening, or closing your mobile wallet account
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: On XX/XX/2020, paypal deducted all balance from my paypal acount, which is {$4900.00} USD to paypal 's own account. It says the amount was transferred to paypal. It was gone without my permission, and even didn't send me any notification. It just disappeared. I am a single mother of XXXX adorable kids. I need to pay bills for utility and the rent for the house. Life is so hard for me. Because paypal says the funds will be available for withdraw after 180days, so I didn't check it during this period. I was shocked by what payapl did to me. That is illegal to steal my money.I realize that CFPB can help me in this kind of situation, that's why i am report to you. Please kindly help me to solve this issue and get the money back.
Company Response:
State: WA
Zip: 98102
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2021-04-06
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2021-04-06
Issue: Managing, opening, or closing your mobile wallet account
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: I've been a PayPal user since 2000. They have my social security number and several of my banks and credit/debit cards are linked to my account. Today I received an email stating " You can no longer do business with PayPal '' with the reason " After a review, we decided to permanently limit your account as we detected that this account was created using either fraudulent or stolen information. '' There was no warning and when I called PayPal, they sent me to a legal page which is for Law Enforcement/Government agencies, to request information. There's no way for me to contest this. In 21 years I've never had an issue with PayPal but all of a sudden they say they are closing it. I pay monthly bills through PayPal so not having access to add money, or withdraw money, is going to cause issues with my automated payments. The email I used to open the account, XXXX, is my primary email and the only one I've ever used with PayPal.
Company Response:
State: TX
Zip: 78641
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2021-04-06
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2021-04-06
Issue: Managing, opening, or closing your mobile wallet account
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: Last year, my account was closed by paypal without a reason, and they can not tell me what happened with my account. They just can not help me to do business. That is annoying. Anyway, I was informed I can withdraw the balance after 180days. However, In XX/XX/2020, I noticed an unauthorized activity done by paypal, the money in my account was gone. It shows in the transaction note " {$9500.00} USD ; PayPal Posting Date : XX/XX/2020 ; Payment to : Paypal ; PayPal 's damages caused by Acceptable Use Policy violation ''. I called, no one can tell what is that about. I tried to reach them several times for help, though the line is busy. a few months have passed, nothing worked. life is hard on me. I still gon na need to pay bills for the family. I just heard from a friend that I can file a report here. my paypal email is XXXX. Thanks in advance!
Company Response:
State: KY
Zip: 41071
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2021-04-22
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2021-04-05
Issue: Unauthorized transactions or other transaction problem
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: On XX/XX/XXXX, a man renting a room in my apartment in New York XXXX sent me his rent payment for the month of XX/XX/XXXX for the room he was occupying in the amount of {$1000.00} via Venmo. I transferred this rent payment to my bank account and paid rent to the landlord of the apartment via check. On XX/XX/XXXX, Venmo deducted the {$1000.00} the mans XX/XX/XXXX rent payment from my Venmo balance citing that the man had reported this rent payment as an " unauthorized charge. '' Venmo emailed me on the XXXX that they had deducted the amount of {$1000.00} and did this without warning and without providing any details as to what the claim was that was being made by the man, the details of their investigation into the claim, or why they ruled in his favor in an email titled Dispute Update. Upon receiving this email from Venmo stating they had deducted the amount, I immediately called Venmo and was told by the representative I spoke with that only " account specialists '' handled disputes and to reply to the initial email they sent me. I replied to the email as well as sent a separate email to the disputes email. I sent two emails to the email address of the account specialists that provided for the matter and included the information of the man, our sublease contract for his rental of the room, his rental application, his guarantor application, and offered to send them all written correspondence between him and myself including emails, XXXX messages and text messages through the phone number that was also connected to his Venmo account proving his tenancy in the apartment during the month of XX/XX/XXXXto display they had deducted this money from me following an erroneous claim by the man that it was an " unauthorized charge '' from his account. I also offered to get a witness statement from the other roommate in the apartment to testify to his residence in the unit for the month of XX/XX/XXXX. In the interim, I contacted Venmo twice on their chat help to attempt to obtain more information regarding the claim and their practices in determining outcome and provide further information regarding the pattern of the man paying me rent and bills via Venmo, all which he paid and labelled accordingly, as well as a security deposit which I returned to him upon him moving out. Over the chat, all Venmo representatives I spoke with refused to offer me any new information other than that the claim had been filed by the man on XX/XX/XXXX - 106 days after the man had paid me the rent on XX/XX/XXXX. They repeatedly said I needed to wait to receive a reply from an Account Specialist. On XX/XX/XXXX, an Account Specialist named XXXX replied to my email. XXXX provided no details involving the claim or Venmo 's investigation into the matter nor any response to the information I provided them regarding the man 's tenancy in the apartment and the rent payment. They stated that I needed to contact the man to attempt to get the money back from him or contact the local police in order to escalate the matter and that I could reply to them with further questions. I have replied to them and have received no further contact from them. I have been unable to obtain any new information over the phone or through emailing the account specialist that replied to my email. Venmo has taken {$1000.00} from me without giving me any evidence or reason for doing so nor taking any of my information regarding the man 's tenancy. They have withheld all information from me regarding the matter and have not been co-operative in ensuring a thorough investigation took place but rather took an unauthorized amount of {$1000.00} from my account in response to a fraudulent claim a man made regarding a rent payment he made to me for a room he was occupying 106 days after he had made the payment.
Company Response:
State: NY
Zip: 10027
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2021-04-05
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with monetary relief
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2021-04-05
Issue: Managing, opening, or closing your mobile wallet account
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: Around XX/XX/XXXX of 2021, after a sum of {$3200.00} ( two separate invoices ) were deposited into our business PayPal virtual wallet, PayPal permanently removed our ability to manage and withdraw the funds. Over the course of several digital and phoneline communication attempts with PayPal, their support services have refused to elaborate as to why the account lock action was taken and have refused to facilitate management of the funds to our business. Reference ID : XXXX The course of action I am taking today has not been taken lightly and has been suggested by several sources.
Company Response:
State: FL
Zip: 32904
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2021-04-05
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2021-04-05
Issue: Managing, opening, or closing your mobile wallet account
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: paypal close my account for no reason and not get help me for gettingit back up ans going.. iam not sure if this some mistakes as i assumed it has to be i have not been able to get help from them for months but i just remembered i could f ile a report from here as i feel they are they are not doing thei job properly and it is effecting me a great deal as i use PAYPAL quite frequently my EMAIL linked to my paypal is XXXX XXXX
Company Response:
State:
Zip: XXXXX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2021-04-26
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A