Consumer complaint received 2020-09-12
Company: Paypal Holdings, Inc
State: TX
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/2020, we received a text notification of a very unusual transaction through our PayPal account. 

This is an account I've had for years and it is set as a business account. However, we have not been using it for such purposes, as we handle our invoicing and accounting through another company, XXXX. 

We opened a claim, coded by the service provider as case Case ID : XXXX with a total of 9 fraudulent transactions for a total of {$1900.00}. The person who hacked our account created all these to include payments to people we do not know and 2 transfers to a credit card ending on XXXX, which the hacker added to our account right before doing the transfers. They were only able to get {$50.00} out into their card, then removed the card from our account. 

Also, the same day, a transaction charging a " XXXX XXXX '' for services we did not provide that person ( because we do not know who he is! ) was reported as an unauthorized transaction for a total of {$240.00}. This case is filed by Paypal as Case ID : XXXX. 

The day we get all this horror in our account, we try to contact PayPal to report the issue, and of course, customer service is unavailable due to the pandemic crisis. I understand the terrible threat this virus crisis represents to all businesses, but honestly, do not think that in an emergency situation such as a security concern, customers would have to figure out in their online platform how to file a claim and wait for the best, until they please to respond. In the meantime, you give hackers the opportunity to walk away with your money, with your personal and business accounts information, and with your privacy trashed. 

The only way to deal with this claims is online, on a message center that glitches all the time. You have to wait 12-24 hours to get a response. In the meantime, you are going crazy as you know your bank accounts are susceptible to getting accessed and you loosing your money. 

I've been chatting and emailing PayPal since XXXX XXXX, 2020 until today, XXXX XXXX, 2020, still trying to resolve this issues. On XXXX XXXX I was able to speak with someone over the phone, the agent assured me they will be resolving the cases ASAP. 

Until today, only case XXXX is partially resolved, because one of the CC transfers for {$50.00} is still not restored in our available balance. Fortunately most of the transactions in this case were chosen by the hacker to get paid from a business savings account that has been closed for 2 years now. And that was just by the grace of God! 

I had to place stop payments from PayPal from all my bank accounts to protect our funds ; I had to withdraw the little money in that account that is only being used for me to send money to my sister. She holds one of the issued debit cards to this account, so she can access funds when I deposit to her, but now we feel very insecure to use this. 

But case XXXX is still active, they have not resolved it and they had no shame in sending me a message that this will be closed in favor of the sender! Can you believe? I have a whole record of the desperate messages I've been sending since receiving this notification on XXXX XXXX, 2020, as the PayPal system obligates me to respond to this claim, when I did nothing! My answer choices to the claim are non-applicable : - I've already shipped the product or provided the service - I've already issued a refund - I'll issue a refund to my customer and close this case I can not respond to this claim, which means the hacker will be favored, and the PayPal customer will be punished for something they did not do. And this is all due to their flawed automated system and their disgraceful policy and bad corporate decision to have this kind of situations handled by a machine rather than a human expert on security cases available immediately as a problem arises. 

I file this complaint not only to make you aware of this particular case, but that I'm sure this makes part of a huge wave of safety issues in the financial services arena. XXXX security is a huge problem that has been evolving for years, but now due to the pandemic crisis, the problem is susceptible to escalate to much higher levels if financial services companies and the system in general does not prepare for a greater threat. 

I hope you can bring this to the attention of high executives in PayPal, starting by Mr. XXXX XXXX, President and CEO, PayPal. We've lost credibility on their services and their ability to handle money online. No matter what systems are in place, you can't ever disregard the human component. A machine can't never replace the need for individuals taking care of individuals. 

As a business owner and entrepreneur, I firmly believe this, and hope my message comes across for the benefit of consumers, and for the enlightenment of those who lead corporate operations.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief