Consumer complaint received 2018-01-09
Company: Paypal Holdings, Inc
State: MD
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Mobile or digital wallet
Issue: Unauthorized transactions or other transaction problem

Complaint:
I have an account with PayPal that I use to make online payments. I also subscribed to the XXXX XXXX remote access service. I noticed yesterday ( XXXX/XXXX/XXXX ) that PayPal made an unauthorized debit to my checking account on XXXX XXXX for {$240.00} - the annual subscription fee to my XXXX service. I had already paid the {$240.00} annual subscription fee on XXXX XXXX, XXXX. 

I called XXXX customer support and talked with " XXXX '' ( case # XXXX ) who assured me that XXXX did not initiate the {$240.00} unauthorized charge to my account on XXXX XXXX. XXXX followed up with an email ( attached ) repeating his assurance that XXXX had not initiated the charge. While on the phone with XXXX, I cancelled my subscription to XXXX. 

I then went to the PayPal website, logged in, and checked my account activity. To my horror, I discovered that PayPal, since at least early XXXX, has charged my bank account four times each year for my XXXX annual subscription overcharges totaling {$1600.00} since XXXX XXXX. 

I spoke with a PayPal customer service rep by phone ( case # XXXX ). The customer service rep insisted that XXXX ( not PayPal ) had initiated the charges, whereas XXXX at XXXX insisted that XXXX did not initiate the unauthorized charges. A classic case of Finger-Pointing. 

The PayPal rep said that PayPal will provide an official response within ten days. However, PayPal refuses to look at anything but the most recent charge for {$240.00} made on XXXX XXXX. 

My account activity on the PayPal website shows the unauthorized charges. However, the XXXX website does not reflect any of the unauthorized charges that PayPal attributes to XXXX and which PayPal debited to my checking account. This leads me to suspect that PayPal may have been hacked to defraud consumers and that PayPal is in denial about the problem. 

Here are the details. I had one subscription to XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) during this period. However, XXXX charged the full annual subscription fee four times each year - on XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX. PayPal ( supposedly on behalf of XXXX ) charged my bank account {$240.00} on XXXX/XXXX/XXXX - PayPal transaction ID # XXXX ; {$240.00} on XXXX/XXXX/XXXX - trans. ID # XXXX ; {$240.00} on XXXX/XXXX/XXXX - trans.ID # XXXX ; {$240.00} on XXXX/XXXX/XXXX - trans. ID # XXXX ; {$240.00} on XXXX/XXXX/XXXX - trans. ID # XXXX ; {$140.00} on XXXX/XXXX/XXXX - trans. ID # XXXX ; {$140.00} on XXXX/XXXX/XXXX - trans. ID # XXXX ; {$140.00} on XXXX/XXXX/XXXX - trans. ID # XXXX ; {$140.00} on XXXX/XXXX/XXXX - trans. ID # XXXX ; {$99.00} on XXXX/XXXX/XXXX - trans. ID # XXXX ; {$70.00} on XXXX/XXXX/XXXX - trans. ID # XXXX ; and {$99.00} on XXXX/XXXX/XXXX - trans. ID # XXXX ). 

( Note : XXXX raised their annual subscription prices 350 % since the beginning of XXXX without prior notice to its customers, but that 's another issue ). 

PayPal sends email notices when it charges my checking account. However, the email notices fail to include a description of the services provided or the period covered - this field is left blank on the email notices. This is a serious lapse in PayPal and XXXX XXXX internal controls that makes it difficult for consumers to identify fraudulent charges. 

The reasons that I am contacting the CFPB directly are that these illegitimate charges involve more than one online company and that these erroneous charges may be the tip of a much larger consumer fraud iceberg. I hope that you can help.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation