Consumer complaint received 2017-11-11
Company: Paypal Holdings, Inc
State: AL
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, I received an email from XXXX XXXX saying that a {$2700.00} XXXX had been purchased in my name, with my Paypal account, and the XXXX was to be picked up by a person with a completely different name than mine in an entirely different city ( hours away ) from where I live. Upon receipt ( within one hour ) of the email, I immediately called XXXX XXXX and cancelled the order and reported the fraudulent transaction. XXXX XXXX immediately cancelled the order, agreed the transaction was fraudulent ( as the order was made with my PayPal account, which had clearly been hacked, but the product was to be picked up by someone else in a different city ). I received an email from XXXX XXXX within minutes confirming that the order had been cancelled. I immediately received an email from PayPal stating that they had been informed of the fraudulent transaction and that XXXX XXXX had already ( as of XX/XX/XXXX ) issued a refund. Nonetheless, the next day (XX/XX/XXXX ) PayPal submitted the fraudulent transaction of {$2700.00} to my bank, which immediately consumed my entire available balance and made me overdrawn, and due to overdraft protection, also wiped out my savings account and caused me to accrue charges on my credit card. Immediately after I was made aware of these facts ( on XX/XX/XXXX ), I called PayPal to ask why they had chosen to submit a purchase for processing when they knew the purchase was fraudulent ( as XXXX XXXX had already informed them of these facts ) and had also chosen to not process my refund ( which was submitted by XXXX XXXX within one hour of the purchase ). After spending a considerable amount of time on hold, I was able to speak with a PayPal representative on the telephone and explain the situation. She, without explanation, put me on hold. I was on hold for a considerable amount of time when another PayPal representative picked up the phone, stated that my " account was n't loading, '' and without explanation then put me on hold again. After, again, being put on hold for a considerable amount of time, another PayPal representative answered and said that she worked for " PayPal International, '' which only handled issues related to accounts originating outside of the United States. I had never mentioned ( as it would have been a false statement ) that my account was created or involved with any international transactions. It was clear to me that PayPal, after hearing me describe my problem, was doing everything they could to encourage me to hang up the telephone. I was then transferred to another PayPal representative, to whom I ( for the fourth time ) explained the facts of my situation. He stated that PayPal has a policy of processing every purchase ( regardless as to whether PayPal knows the purchase is fraudulent ) as soon as possible, but refunds are only processed " whenever they have the time to do so. '' I asked if there was anything PayPal could do to increase the responsiveness of this system, as I had no cash or funds available to pay my bills or take care of my family, and that everyone ( including PayPal and XXXX XXXX ) knew this transaction was fraudulent. He stated that he had no ability to affect this system, and the refund would simply be handled whenever PayPal could get to it. He said the refund should be processed " within a few days. '' As of today, it is now Saturday, XX/XX/XXXX, and my bank account has been wiped out ( and overdrawn ) since Wednesday because PayPal has intentionally chosen ( they have not been forced ) to process a transaction they knew was fraudulent, and Paypal has also chosen to simultaneously delay ( again, intentionally ) my refund. It is clear that PayPal has recognized they are able to profit from fraudulent transactions by engaging in such business practices. On a related note, I have tried to delete my banking information from PayPal 's site ( because I do not want to be subject to PayPal 's fraudulent practices in the future ), but PayPal has refused to allow me to do so. When I have tried to delete my banking information ( repeatedly, for the past several days ), PayPal says that I am not allowed to delete this information at this time. Again, it is clear that PayPal has chosen to encourage and allow fraudulent transactions so that they may profit from such activity.

Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief