Consumer complaint received 2019-02-04
Company: Paypal Holdings, Inc
State: GA
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Virtual currency
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
My PayPal account was hacked. 

I discovered this on XX/XX/XXXX when I tried to use my debit card and a transaction was declined. I logged into my bank, and discovered my checking account showed overdrawn because there was a transaction initiated by PayPal transferring {$500.00} from my linked checking account to my PayPal Account. 

When I logged into PayPal, I discovered that my account language had been changed to XXXX. It took me three tries to find a Customer Service # that lead to English speaking operators. The person I spoke with said they would file a fraud report and recommended I do the same with my bank. They also had me change my PayPal password ( which I had just done, but they made me change it again while I was on the phone with them ). 

A week later, my PayPal balance still showed {$500.00} and my account was still in XXXX. When I called back, the man I spoke with fixed the language and told me to transfer {$500.00} from PayPal back to XXXX, which I did. They also sent me a letter via the internal message system for XXXX stating this was fraud and asking the bank not to charge me an NSF fee for it. 

So ... .. XXXX XXXX in, XXXX XXXX out should have XXXX out my PayPal Balance . 

Instead, my balance went negative {$500.00}. I reached out to PayPal via their internal message system, and asked why it was showing negative. I got an automated response that said to reply again if the form letter didn't solve my issue. I replied back immediately, and got another form letter telling me to call their IVR. 

In the meantime, I get a letter from a collection agency, XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX indicating my PayPal account ( with an ACTIVE FRAUD DISPUTE ON IT ) was referred to collections. I contacted the collection agency, and spoke with XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX. i explained about the letter & the fraud dispute. She returned the debt to PayPal and marked it fraud. 

Today ( four business days later ), I called the Customer Service # for PayPal and the IVR automatically transferred me back to the collection agency with absolutely NO means of talking with someone at PayPal. They had no means of transferring me back to PayPal, which is who I really needed to talk to. 

I finally called the Customer Service # back again, refused to input any identifying information, and got put into a 'call back queue '. An hour later, I got a call from someone at PayPal who absolutely REFUSED to provide me with any documentation showing that I owed them {$500.00}. He said the initial transaction ( which shows to me on their website as {$500.00} in ) was not funded. Since I can not see that, I asked him to provide that to me in writing - he would not do it, and insisted I had to provide *him* proof that it wasn't owed.

After arguing with him for about 45 minutes about the fact that the burden of proof lies with the debtor, he finally transferred me to a supervisor, who ALSO refused to give me the documentation and claimed I could see what he sees. I explained that I can't, and that all I needed was the Transaction ID, tracing the funds, showing where the funds ended up. I didn't care how he sent it - print screen & email it, print it out on paper & mail it, take a snapshot with a phone & text it. I was open to ANY form of written documentation that would provide proof of what they were saying. After 105 minutes of being on the phone with PayPal, he finally lied to me and stated he would send it to me in Messages, but he did not. 

XXXX completed their investigation, and indicated it was resolved. So if it's resolved, my PayPal balance should be XXXX. If it's not XXXX, then I need the documentation to go back to XXXX and have them investigate and PayPal refuses to cooperate. 

From what I can see, it appears that PayPal is attempting to scam me out of {$500.00} and using their leverage as a major company to coerce me into cooperating instead of simply providing me with the written documentation I requested. 

It is illegal for them to negatively impact my credit, to send me to collections, without providing proof there is a debt. And to do this to someone who was the victim of hacking because THEIR website security was insufficient just puts salt on a wound.

Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief