Consumer complaint received 2021-12-01
Company: Paypal Holdings, Inc
State: NY
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
Venmo Support, I am following up regarding a recent case of financial fraud that was committed against me through the use of your platform. On XX/XX/XXXX, I was a victim of a confidence-type employment scam, and falsely convinced to send multiple payments totaling {$3200.00} to the account of a XXXX XXXX XXXX Promptly following the discovery of this scam, I contacted account support at my financial institutions as well as support staff of this platform, informing them of the fraudulent activity and asking them to freeze and/or reverse all transactions. Additionally, I filed reports with local authorities, and now have an open case with the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX regarding this incident. 

As part of the above investigation, I have followed up with my financial platforms to provide evidence and support regarding the case. As part of thisand to my surpriseI have been made aware of a negative balance in my Venmo account totaling {$3200.00}. 

It appears that, despite prompt notice of fraudulent activity to Venmoboth through Venmo support directly and through financial agents at XXXXVenmo has processed all fraudulent payments and left my account with the entire liability related to the case. While I understand the complexities of the case, this is hard for me to reconcile on two levels. First, that Venmo had effectively credited me {$3200.00}, independent of actual funds sent from my bank, without requesting approval from me or without notifying me at the time of transaction and, more troublingly, without any mention of this policy or like overdraft protection in the user agreement itself. Second, that despite the prompt notice of fraudulent activity ( given less than 24 hours of the transaction ) that these funds were completely unrecoverable. It seems like these policies fundamentally conflictthat the sender is liable and the receiver is unreachableeven in cases like this, where the funds never existed in the first place. All this amounts to Venmo effectively giving my account unsolicited credit to complete a fraudulent transaction, which it now holds me liable for without any explanation or notice. For reference see timeline below : XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX - made 7 payments totaling {$3200.00} to XXXX XXXX for equipment that was never received. 

XX/XX/XXXX - check bounced and notified both venmo and the bank, XXXX account was frozen. I reached out to venmo customer support and requested the transactions be reversed and asked what could be done. ( see transcript attached ) XXXX XXXX I went online and discovered my Venmo account was frozen. 

From PayPal 's User Agreement ( parent company to Venmo ) : " PayPals Purchase Protection program may apply when you encounter these specific problems with a transaction : You didnt receive your item from a seller ( referred to as an Item Not Received claim ) '' I sent money to a vendor who was supposed to send equipment ( a laptop ), and received nothing. 

I never received any email from venmo stating you covered me for the {$3200.00} payments. In addition to this message, I am following up with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and following their recommended procedure. I look forward to discussing with your team to find a solution.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation