Consumer complaint received 2021-04-27
Company: Paypal Holdings, Inc
State: GA
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Virtual currency
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
XX/XX/2021through As an investment, I purchased XXXX and XXXX crypto currencies from PayPal to be held in my account. On XX/XX/XXXX, several fraudulent activities occurred in my PayPal account. These activities involved : ( 1 ) the unauthorized fraudulent sale of XXXX and XXXX from my PayPal account ; ( 2 ) the introduction of a XXXX XXXX  Debit card to my account, which was used to transfer funds out of my account ; ( 3 ) three bogus changes of my address involving three different states ; ( 4 ) the remotely purchased XXXX using this XXXX XXXX  Debit card, with the funds that had been fraudulently transferred out of my account ; ( 4 ) and finally the removal of the XXXX XXXX Debit card only 30 minutes after it had been added to my account! 
On XX/XX/XXXX, after the fraudulent sale of the cryptos and the three transfers out of my account, the only remaining CASH in my account was {$280.00}. 
This did not include remaining XXXX in my account. 

After an earlier appeal to the Consumer Protection website, of PayPals denial of these unauthorized transactions, PayPal on XX/XX/XXXX, finally acknowledged the unauthorized fraudulent transactions, and they reimbursed the monetary transfers out of my account of {$800.00}, {$2000.00}, and {$1900.00}, MINUS THE FEES OF {$100.00}!. This amounted to a {$4700.00} credit. On XX/XX/XXXX there was another entry for a XXXX sale refund??? of {$2000.00}. which was reversed the following day on XX/XX/XXXX. These two self-canceling transactions make no sense, because there was never a XXXX refund transaction to start with. 

After crediting my account on the XXXX, two days later on XX/XX/XXXX, PayPal did a reversal and subtracted {$3100.00} from my account, plus an additional {$2000.00}, for a total {$5100.00}. This means that PayPal removed {$380.00} MORE than they replaced, which also took out the cash balance in my account! 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received an email from PayPal at XXXX XXXX ( the middle of the night ) regarding my latest dispute, stating that they had tried to call me for more information on the XXXX prior to this XXXX XXXX email, stating that they were unable to locate the transaction. I received no phone calls from them in those early morning hours. Their email also encouraged me to work with the seller to find a resolution! They WERE the " seller ''! 

This was a form letter like all the rest of the correspondence I have received from PayPal, which ignored that the fraud had taken place. 
See the attached PayPal correspondence. 

To review : on XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) was fraudulently sold in my account and the proceeds of {$1900.00}, after fees, was transferred out of my account on a XXXXXXXX XXXX Debit card that had just been fraudulently added to my account. Next, XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) was fraudulently sold in my account, with the proceeds of {$3000.00}, after fees. Of this amount, two transfers of {$800.00} and {$2000.00} were transferred out of my account using this same fraudulently added Visa Debit card, amounting to three cash withdrawals totaling {$4700.00} after fees. 
Cash remaining in the account after these fraudulent transfers was {$280.00}. After PayPal 's removal of credited funds, they also removed this remaining balance. 
PayPals accounting is a mess and they only respond with non-relevant form letters, not having reviewed any of the material that I have provided. 
I simply want the XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) and the XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) replaced that was fraudulently sold from my account! This was intended to be an investment. 


The following is the previous complaint XXXX # XXXX XXXX that I filed with the Consumer Protection Bureau on XX/XX/XXXX. All relevant support material accompanied that complaint : XX/XX/XXXX This complaint is about PayPal. On XX/XX/XXXX, several fraudulent activities occurred in my PayPal account. These activities involved : ( 1 ) the fraudulent sale of my XXXX  and XXXX in my PayPal account ; ( 2 ) the introduction of a XXXXXXXX XXXX Debit card to my account, which was used to transfer funds out of my account ; ( 3 ) the following purchase of XXXX with this XXXXXXXX XXXX Debit card, with the funds that had been fraudulently transferred out of my account ; ( 4 ) and finally the removal of the XXXXXXXX XXXX Debit card only 30 minutes after it had been added to my account! 
I have used PayPal for some time for merchant purchases, to limit exposure to my credit card information.. 
Recently PayPal began marketing XXXX and XXXX  so I made purchases on XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX. Prior to these purchases, I held NO asset balance with PayPal. 
Only 14 days later from my last purchase, the above fraudulent activities occurred on XX/XX/XXXX. 
I have attached support material regarding my multiple claims. 
In addition to the previous fraudulent activities, the perpetrators of the fraud made three fake address changes, involving three different states. 
It appears that the fraudsters KNEW that cryptocurrencies were in my account, as demonstrated by their final purchase of the XXXX and the timing of the fraud. They also knew that the Two Stage Authentication,  which PayPal claimed was in force on my account since XX/XX/XXXX was, in fact, NOT ACTIVATED, and as a result was vulnerable. 
If the Two Stage Authentication was active, my account could not even be logged into without receiving an activation code via my cell phone. The evening of the fraud, when I called PayPal using my cell phone to report the fraud and reset my login password, was the FIRST TIME that an authentication texted code was required to access my account. PayPal claims that a texted code was sent to my smartphone allowing the fraud, but that is NOT THE CASE! I sent PayPal a picture of my cellphone texts from the XX/XX/XXXX time frame, and it shows that NO CODE WAS SENT ( see attached )! A texted code was NEVER REQUIRED to access my account, prior to the night of the fraud when I reported it and requested a password reset. I then requested the account be locked down. 
My many appeals to PayPal have resulted in the same form letter response. 
On the night of the fraud I responded to PayPal 's emails, that the address changes were bogus, but on XX/XX/XXXX when I called XXXX to renew an appeal, the bogus addresses were STILL SHOWN ON MY ACCOUNT. I called XX/XX/XXXX where the XXXX XXXX Debit card was issued, and was told that no record of my name or social security number was registered at their bank,  and the actual owner of the XXXX card would not be divulged, and to report the incident to the government fraud site. PayPal made no attempt to track this card 's owner, but just blamed me. 
PayPal did not send me authentication codes prior to the fraud. They merely sent notifications of changes to my account via email, requesting me to notify PayPal immediately if I did not initiate the changes myself. I did not see the emails regarding the fraudulent changes until the evening of XX/XX/XXXX, AFTER THE FRAUD HAD TAKEN PLACE. I did not authorize the fraudulent changes using the two stage authentication code as PayPal claims, because it had not been activated on my account.

PayPal was negligent in safeguarding my account and accepts no responsibility in their lack of oversight. If two stage authentication was active, this fraud could not have taken place. 
Supporting documentations is attached. 
Replace the XXXX and XXXX crypto currencies that were sold, with which the proceeds were transferred out of the account. I should not be charged for the fees involved in these transactions. 
Your " investigations ' are a sham and only determine which standardized form letter to send the victim which l determines that they are responsible for a breach. Pursue the ownership of the Visa Debit card that was added to my account and identify and prosecute the perpetrators who surely make fraud their profession. Actually investigate this and other similar frauds and prosecute the perpetrators who probably have preyed on your other account holders by sharing and working with federal agencies to make this fraud less lucrative. 
If automated procedures can not be exempt from fraudulent activity, then they should not be automated!

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief