Consumer complaint received 2022-12-13
Company: Paypal Holdings, Inc
State: CO
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: I do not know
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed
Sub-issue: Debt was paid

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX I was the victim of a scam. The scammer requested money in the am't of {$2400.00} for debts owed to be paid to them via Venmo. I was told that in order to fix a problem I was having with my computer that I had to pay off these debts. However, I did not think I had any debts but complied. I am XXXX XXXX XXXX and in retrospect there were many red flags all over this scheme which I ignored much to my regret. 

I did not know if i had a working Venmo account so the scammer suggested I use an account of a family member. I called my daughter, XXXX XXXX. She OK 'd the transfer of the {$2400.00} but upon receipt of these funds and after hearing my story, immediately recognized that this was a scam and so did not forward the money to the scammer. Instead she transferred the money to her local bank, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Co. In turn she then returned this money to me on XX/XX/XXXX which I deposited into my checking account at XXXX XXXX  XXXX XXXX. I did notify XXXX XXXX  that I was the victim of a fraud within an hour of the scam as this money was sent to my daughter via my debit card at XXXX XXXX XXXX. The bank in turn notified their fraud department on XX/XX/XXXX. I agreed with them that they should close my checking account and issue a new credit/debit card. 

We both thought that was the end of it but unfortunately for us it was just the beginning of our troubles. Weeks later my daughter received a message from Venmo insinuating that she had committed this fraud and attached a {$2400.00} debit to her Venmo account, as well as putting a freeze her account. She in turn tried to call Venmo support to explain the situation but this fell on deaf ears. I then started calling my bank and Venmo trying to get them to remove this debit from her account, again, to no avail. I & my daughter have made multiple calls to Venmo over the past 3 months but they still insist she owes them this money. 

In the meantime, Venmo sent me a communication on XX/XX/XXXX stating " Our records show that this chargeback was decided in your favor and your credit card issuer has issued a credit to you. To locate this credit, please contact your credit card directly ''. Again I thought this was the end of it. I called XXXX and they claim that they do not have this chargeback credit. I called XXXX XXXX XXXX  and was told that this chargeback was sent back to Venmo. Venmo in turn claimed that they have not received this chargeback credit. So as it stands my daughter still has this debit on her Venmo account. XXXX XXXX  has written to Venmo twice with an explanation and transaction numbers to prove that these funds/ or paper transactions have been sent back to Venmo XXXX I will try to attach their letter to my complaint here but if I can not, this is the current state of affairs. Yesterday I asked Venmo to send me the bank statements and asked who attached this debit on my daughter 's account? There must be a paper trail. However, I received a message back last night from Venmo stating that I needed to notify my local police department. That was the last straw for me! 

I am asking for help from your agency to see if you can help me resolve this issue with Venmo. In addition, I would like to know how Venmo seems to be able to get away with not providing any bank statements, explanations of transactions, or any paper trail to a consumer? If I thought I, or my daughter owed them money, we would have paid it. But the original money came from my bank account, then on to my daughter 's account, then returned to me the nest day. How can Venmo think I or my daughter owe them money? But considering that my dispute was found in my favor why will they not remove this debit from my daughter 's account? 

I sincerely hope you will be able to investigate this situation with Venmo and resolve this situation for us. Please feel free to call me @ XXXX, if you should need any further information regarding this case. I will attempt to download the letter from my bank but if unable to I will be happy to provide a copy of it by mail at your request. My address is XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, Co XXXX I did try to download the letter from my bank but was unable to. Again, please let me know if you would like me to mail it to you? 

Thank you for your consideration of this matter. 

XXXX XXXX On behalf of XXXX XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation