Consumer complaint received 2021-08-09
Company: Paypal Holdings, Inc
State: CA
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: International money transfer
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
I purchased digital account, from XXXX, which merchant 's descriptions says original email and original information of account will be provided to prevent account recovery. However, seller created another email and changed the information on the account being sold to make it seem like the details provided were the original ones. Days later after purchase, digital account that was provided at purchase was recovered by seller using the original email seller kept hidden that was not included in the purchase. 

I contacted digital account company, XXXX, immediately after receiving email notice of account recovery but chat support was offline as it occurred between XXXX XXXX Pacific Time. I selected the option for phone call and received a call few minutes later. XXXX  XXXX  requested details to help with recovery of compromised account and I provided information that was given to me during purchase to retrieve account back. Support rep was speaking with uncertainty and seem puzzled after informing of details and was requiring assistance from higher ups. I assume this is likely due to seller contacting them earlier to recover account and is causing confusion. After waiting 15 minutes for support working with the higher ups, I was informed provided email was not the original one and was asked if I have the original one. I responded that is the original one but they said to retrieve original email for further assistance and could not help any further until it was provided. 

I raised concern to merchant including their buyer 's protection for fraud and scam but ticket was immediately closed stating it was past their 14 days of insurance. Merchant did not do their due diligence in confirming original email and details that seller provided ; even though it was up listed and sold with description that original email and original details of account will be provided. I informed seller had no previous ratings and was likely a scammer but I put my faith in the wrong person, even if seller was from XXXX, a country notorious for scams, as the deal was too good to pass up on and I expected merchant to have a better buyer 's protection in place. I even included proof that seller was not on account since it was sold until the same time when account was compromised. 

I immediately escalated to PayPal and disputed purchase as Item was not received since merchant did not provide further assistance with the scam. Original case was opened as Item was not received, but it was in between that and Item significantly not as described as I did receive it for a few days but digital item was compromised by seller and I no longer have what I purchased or any remnants of it. The digital item that was provided was not as described as the account did not provide the original details that it was up listed for. I confirmed that with the company of that account, XXXX, themselves and I reached out to seller to provide official proof from XXXX  XXXX  that account details were the original one but seller avoided the question multiple times The claim was closed stating documentation regarding a credit was not received. I thought nothing much of it then since I did not upload much documents as I was expecting the review would reach back out to me if further information was needed. However it was closed a little XXXX XXXX  PT without asking for any additional input from my end. I could not reach out to PayPal for assistance until the following day since support was closed for the day. 

The next morning, I contacted PayPal and spoke with XXXX. I was informed this XXXX had the longest violation happening on their end and would eventually be kicked off PayPal services. XXXX had this case reopened and it was already prioritized due to the large amount. She informed a special back office team was working on this XXXX. She assured me saying I was receiving the best resolution for this case. I was informed I would be notified of any update on this case through email. 

After the call, I uploaded a lot of additional information to the claim to further support my dispute. However, the claim was closed again on Saturday little before XXXX XXXX Pacific Time. It was again closed for the same exact reason of not receiving documentation that credit was due. At this point, I was a bit astounded by the closing notes. It was not changed at all compared to the last time it was closed. I was not updated a single time or asked for further details. The claim was closed with an inconclusive and broad resolution. The timing was odd too when it closed on Saturday XXXX XXXX  since I could not reach out to support until the following Monday. Not only was this claim closed during times where it made it difficult to contact support for further assistance, but it was closed with the same generic statement without asking for further information on my end. I found this particularly strange. I don't see why I would be due a credit since that is the reason why I am filing a dispute in the first place. Along with not receiving any updates or requests to provide further information. 

I contacted PayPal again on Monday morning and spoke with XXXX. She provided me with brief details of the case that it was closed in the Merchant 's favor since Merchant provided proof of delivery via Tracking. However, the Tracking the Merchant provided is not a tracking at all but an order number. She informed me she could not work on the case since it got worked on by the back office team and to further dispute it with my card issuer, XXXX XXXX, which I will be in contact with. The claim was closed by the back office team twice with generic closing notes ; without any update sent to me during late hours where I could not reach out to support until the following business day. I find this timing awfully strange and speculate a possibility that a few individuals in PayPal may be in collusion with Merchant, XXXX.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation