Consumer complaint received 2023-11-12
Company: Paypal Holdings, Inc
State: NY
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Mobile or digital wallet
Issue: Unauthorized transactions or other transaction problem

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX there were 5 unauthorized transactions made from my Venmo account to another users Venmo account ( XXXX XXXX ; XXXX XXXX ). I do not know this person. The unauthorized transactions that were sent from my account to @ mrsuav were : {$2000.00} ; {$1500.00} ; {$1700.00} ; {$1200.00} ; {$700.00}. These unauthorized transactions were all made within a XXXX minute timespan. XXXX minutes after I noticed these unauthorized transactions, I did the following : 1. Disputed all 5 transactions on Venmo and noted that these were unauthorized transactions. As a result, my Venmo account was suspended and in an email sent by Venmo this meant that I, " won't be able to send or receive money or may not be able to withdraw money from your venmo account. '' XXXX. I reported the Venmo account, @ mrsuav ; XXXX XXXX XXXX. I contacted my bank, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, to alert them of these unauthorized transactions. Venmo is attached to my checking account. As a result, the bank closed my checking account. 

On the morning of Monday, XX/XX/XXXX, I noticed that despite having taken all of these steps, XXXX out of the XXXX transactions ( {$2000.00} ; {$1500.00} and {$1200.00} ) went through and were deducted from my checking account with XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. I filled out the necessary paperwork with my bank, and they worked quickly to resolve this issue. The money has since been returned to my new checking account. The XXXX unauthorized transactions that didn't go through with my bank were for the following amounts : {$1700.00} and {$700.00}. 

On the night of Tuesday, XX/XX/XXXX, I received an email from Venmo ( attached ) stating that they were unable to complete XXXX recent transactions for {$1700.00} and {$700.00} from my XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX checking account ( which was closed ) because of insufficient funds. This makes sense. All of the money was taken out of my TFCU checking account and that account was closed days prior. Then the email from Venmo XXXX, " Don't worry, we've covered you and XXXX XXXX has the funds. Please pay $ XXXX amount for this transaction. Please know that your Venmo account has been frozen ( you can not send payments or transfer funds to your bank ). I initially had just over {$310.00} in my Venmo account that Venmo used to pay this person, XXXX XXXX. I'm very confused how this could happen if my Venmo account was originally suspended on XX/XX/XXXX when I alerted Venmo of this issue. 

On the morning of Wednesday, XX/XX/XXXX, I received an email from Venmo stating that the disputes I originally filed on XX/XX/XXXX stating that these transactions were unauthorized, were denied and the reason they gave was because they determined that these transactions were consistent with my transaction history. 

This information about my transaction history is inaccurate. I do not have a history of sending this person any money. I do not have a history of sending this amount of money ( over {$7200.00} over XXXX transactions within XXXX minutes ) to any Venmo user. I do not have a history of transferring anywhere near that amount of money in my account. 

On the evening of Wednesday, XX/XX/XXXX, I received an email from Venmo stating they had refunded XXXX the XXXX amounts originally taken out ( {$2000.00} ; {$1500.00} and {$1200.00} ) because my bank alerted them that these transactions were unauthorized. This should be evidence for Venmo that all XXXX transactions to the same user ( @ mrsuav ) were unauthorized and the last XXXX transactions that they sent to @ mrsuav on my behalf ( {$1700.00} and {$700.00} ) should be refunded. 

I have tried calling Venmo and have not been able to get in touch with a representative. I have emailed Venmo and continued to fill out more disputes. Every time I request to speak with a representative on the phone they tell me they are not able to fulfill that request which leads me to believe I am interacting with a Bot and not an actual human being.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief