Consumer complaint received 2019-01-08
Company: Paypal Holdings, Inc
State: NJ
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX, I submitted a job proposal for an English/Spanish translating job posting. On the same day, I received a message from the person who posted the job posting asking me to e-mail them through XXXX so they could forward the document for the total price agreement.

On XX/XX/XXXX, I e-mailed him to tell him I was still interested in doing the translating and to contact me to decide on the pricing. That same day he e-mailed me the document and asked me to tell him how much I would charge for the translation.

On XX/XX/XXXX, we agreed on a price ( {$800.00} ) and he asked me to send him my full name, billing address, and telephone number and said he would instruct his accountant to issue the full payment. He also said he would e-mail me once the payment was sent out and asked me to start on the translation.

I did not hear back from him, so I e-mailed him on XX/XX/XXXX, for an update on the check so I could get started. That same day he replied and said he was working on it.

On XX/XX/XXXX, he e-mailed me saying he received confirmation from his assistant that payment for the translation had been issued and mailed to me, but there was a mix-up and his travel expenses were mistakenly included in the amount of the payment that was mailed to me. He asked me to deduct the full amount we agreed on for the translation and then asked if I could send the rest of the balance to his travel agent. The check he made out to me was {$3300.00}. The agreed price for the translation was {$800.00}, and I was being asked to send back {$2500.00}.

" I received a confirmation from my assistant that payment for the translation has been issued and mailed out to your given address, so please keep an eye on it. But there was a mix-up before the payment mailed out to you, my travel expense was mistake included in the amount of the payment mailed out to you. Once you receive the payment, I want you to go ahead and deduct the full amount we agreed for the translation and help me remit the rest balance to the travel agent that handles my flight and transport, am sorry for any inconveniences this might cause you to remit the remain balance to the travel agent.

Await to hear from you soonest ... '' On XX/XX/XXXX, he e-mailed me the USPS tracking number and I confirmed that I could send him the remaining amount once I received the check.

I told him that I was going to be out of town between XX/XX/XXXX, and wouldn't be able to deposit the check until then. There was some back and forth for updates through e-mail, text, and calls, but I told him there was no way I could send him the remaining amount until I got home and deposited the check.

On XX/XX/XXXX, I deposited the check I received in the mail into my bank account. We discussed how I could send him the remaining amount and we agreed XXXX would work. He sent me the username for his accountant, and I sent him the remaining amount ( {$2500.00} ).

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a notice from my bank ( XXXX ) saying the check bounced and I overdrafted my account. I immediately went to the closest XXXX and spoke to a representative who said the only people who could help me get my money back is XXXX, and that there was nothing else they could do. I asked them if a report was made with their fraud department to try and get to the bottom of this, but they said there was nothing else they could. I also called the person I made the agreement for the translation with, but he blocked my number.

That same day I called XXXX, explained what happened and was told this had to go through an account specialist, but those specific account specialists could only be reached through e-mail. The XXXX representative I spoke to sent me an e-mail confirming she spoke and explained the situation to the account specialist and that I could send them any additional information or documents that could possibly help them resolve this issue. I sent them all the information and contact I had with that person and explained the situation in detail.

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received this response from XXXX : I'm very sorry to hear about your recent payment experience. XXXX was designed for payments between people who know and trust each other and authorized merchants, so we don't offer buyer/seller protections or mediation services. As a result, there aren't avenues available for reimbursement in cases where issues arise. Unfortunately, bank or card issuer disputes do not affect funds that have left our system. XXXX users are responsible for their payments and any losses XXXX incurs if a financial institution disputes the transactions they made.

We suggest that you contact the person you interacted with to resolve the issue. If you are unable to contact that individual, you may consider contacting your local law enforcement agency and filing a report. We will fully cooperate with and assist in their investigation as soon as they contact us.

Please reach back out if you have any additional questions or concerns.

Telling me there is nothing they can do to help me. It is hard for me to believe that XXXX and XXXX don't have some type of protection for their customers when it is obvious that fraud occured.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation