Consumer complaint received 2020-06-20
Company: Paypal Holdings, Inc
State: NC
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
I was defrauded a {$900.00} worth laptop and {$600.00} transfer. I was selling my personal laptop, and I got a buyer ( scammer ) who asked me to send out the PayPal request to him through PayPal and he would pay me through PayPal. I sent out the request through PayPal Portal, and I got the " PayPal '' notification email in 20 minutes, said that the {$800.00} from XXXX XXXX is pending. I was trying to call PayPal to ask if there are any transaction fee, but PayPal customer service not available said there are no customer representative, and the Automatic Voice system couldnt give me any related answer to my question. Then I shipped the laptop through XXXX to '' the buyer ''. I then got another email from " PayPal '' that I got that pending money on hold because I am not a business account and the amount of money is too big, I have to upgrade to business account after the balance reaches XXXX. At this time, the scammer called me and asked me if I get the money, I told him that money is pending. Still, I called PayPal customer service to verify what is the requirement of Business and personal account since I havent bought and sold through before, and I did not acknowledge the policy and the email. I tried many times and tried to log into my account to find any clue. However, my account can not be accessed. It showed access denied and I called, still no customer service. Then buyer was calling me again and again, said that he already put money in the PayPal and he wanted the transaction to be done and wanted to help me to make sure I can get the money, and he even asked me to take a screenshot of the email. He then said I could transfer him XXXX dollars and he would send additional XXXX to the Paypal then I can get the cashout. I trusted him. After I transferred to him, I got another email from " PayPal '', it is the similar thing again, I need to upgrade to XXXX to get cash out. I sent another XXXX to that person 's different account through XXXX XXXX by XXXX. Then he claimed that he did not receive the money and asked me to send another {$400.00} to a different XXXX account. I finally got suspicious. I said I am calling the police. The scammer called me so many times and he had a very foreign accent and I hardly can understand him. And the scammer emailed me again with a different email and claimed to be the FBI. 

And even now, I still can not log into my account through the web to file a dispute or resolution. I can use my XXXX to see the mobile app, but I can not find any relevant information for transactions. I unlinked all my cards ( Thanks to XXXX XXXX XXXX ). My account got hacked by the scammer, and the scammer used my PayPal account information to defraud me through buying my laptop and asking me to transfer money through XXXX to them. I tried to call PayPal customer service so many times during the past several days, but PayPal customer service is no working and no one help me. Because of the weak customer support system, the scammer got my laptop and my money, which is {$1500.00} worth at least. And PayPal even let the scammer cancel my account or report my account that I can not log in at all to check any status of my account to cutting losses. I am soooo ANGRY about this POOR customer support PayPal has. 

In conclusion, how this works : the scammer used the Vulnerability of PayPal 's customer service at this time to get my personal information of my Full Legal Name, email address ( for all my financial accounts ),  my phone number to defraud me for the past week. And it started by asking me to send the money request through PayPal app, and guarantee the scam can be succeeded through blacklisted me from checking PayPal status and take the advantages of the NON-AVAILABLE customer services.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation