Consumer complaint received 2021-03-13
Company: Paypal Holdings, Inc
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Virtual currency
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
PayPal - Account Permanent Limitation & Fraud/Scam I have tried to solve this matter already by using XXXX ( XXXX XXXX XXXX ), but that was getting nowhere. They kept responding in a way like the automatic messages on their site does and never gave any answers to my problem. 

Email XX/XX/2021 I have emailed PayPal on the same day I sent XXXX  the complaint ( before they took action which was XX/XX/2021. 

" I am familiar with the user agreement and I am aware that I haven't violated their policy. The account limitation didn't give a fair opportunity to explain my business model to upload the documents that were requested. 

I am respectfully requesting that the hold on my funds/account be lifted. I am requesting that my account be reopened or allowed to continue to use the PayPal service, or worse case I will take my business to your largest competitor and I will no longer be in need of PayPal 's services.

I feel that holding my funds for 180 days for a non-fraudulent violation of PayPal 's Acceptable Use Policy is excessive, and perhaps a punitive abuse of power. '' XXXX Case opened : XX/XX/2021 Complaint " My business account has been permanently limited swiftly without warning after receiving a fair amount of money. 

I have just started this account merely a few days ago ( XX/XX/2021 ) to monetize this troubling time in quarantine with digital/virtual goods services. I was receiving little payments of XXXX dollars on somewhat a daily basis, but nothing happened to my account. The moment I received a large sum of money ( XXXX dollars ), my account instantly got permanently limited without even a warning on XX/XX/2021 XXXX. 

I feel that holding my funds for 180 days for a non-fraudulent violation of PayPal 's Acceptable Use Policy is excessive, and perhaps a punitive abuse of power. 

I have used PayPal message Centre to contact them, but haven't got a reply as of yet and reading through PayPal community section this situation have been happening frequently to other consumers/businesses dealing with PayPal. 

I am happy to provide any further documents or perform any steps if required '' XX/XX/2021 I provide the documents to provide sufficient evidences that my account was permanently limited unfairly. 
Such as : The creation date, termination date, documents they asked for and I submitted in which they approved. 

PayPal 's " Apology '' XX/XX/2021 PayPal had contacted me via email apologizing and reactivating my account. Not even a day later they sent me another message stating that my account and been permanently limited again. They directed me to he Acceptable User Policy and I red it thoroughly, but once again my account have not violated any of the Acceptable User Policies. 

PayPal 's Response via XXXX XX/XX/2021 I had gotten a response from one of PayPal 's employees via XXXX complaint forum. 

" Dear XXXX XXXX, My name is XXXX, and I am reaching out to you from PayPal 's Office of XXXX Escalations. Your outreach to the XXXX XXXX XXXX was forwarded to me so that I can fully address your concerns. 

Ms. XXXX, XXXX concerning it is to find your accountlimited. A review of your accountshows thatit hasbeen limited permanently on XX/XX/2021. The limitation was placedin order toprotect us from potential financial losses.The transactions in your account showed some account activity that violates the PayPal User Agreement, and your account was permanently limited.I regret to confirm that you will no longer be able to use your PayPal account, as the decision can not be modified.

Our decisions about limitations and any other actions we take under this user agreement may be based on confidential criteria that are essential to our management of risk and the protection of PayPal, our customers and/or service providers.We may use proprietary fraud and risk modeling when assessing the risk associated with your PayPal account. In addition, we may berestricted by regulation or a governmental authority from disclosing certain information to you about such decisions. 


Ms. XXXX, please note, this is not a decision wetakelightly.PayPal reserves the right to limit access to any account reported to be involved in possible fraudulent orhigh-riskbehavior. Any money in your PayPal account will be held for180 days, starting on the date the limitation was placed on your account. The money belongs to you but is held in reserve to cover any disputes or reversals that may be filed against you.After 180 days, any money in your account can be withdrawn by check or bank transfer. You can also review the terms and conditions of the User Agreement. Click onLegal Agreementsat the bottom of any PayPal page, then clickPayPal User Agreement. 


I know this is not a kind of response you were expecting from us and I wish I could provide more details. However, XXXX your understanding in this matter. Please feel free to contact PayPal 's Office of XXXX Escalations at XXXX if you have any questions or concerns or if we can be of furtherassistance. 



Yours sincerely, XXXX XXXX XXXX Escalations Complaints XXXX Copyright ( c ) XXXX PayPal. All rights reserved. '' Filler XX/XX/2021 I have receive the same response via XXXX as well. 

My Response XX/XX/2021 I responded back to the generic message. 

" Good morning, I want this email to specifically seek XXXX, thank you. 

XXXX XXXX I will quote you throughout this mail, so pay attention. " The transactions in your account showed some account activity that violates the PayPal User Agreement, and your account was permanently limited. '' I have looked through Paypal User Agreement and once again I have found nothing wrong with my account, not even in the slightest. Even your own system has proven that as well in the screenshots I have provided in the complaint with XXXX ( I shall attach them here as well ). I hope you can see that this is entirely unfair, since I barely began to do my business with PayPal. [ XXXX ; Images XXXX and XXXX proves this ]. 

I found this awfully humorous, " I regret to confirm that you will no longer be able to use your PayPal account, as the decision can not be modified. '' This was either a blunt lie or an indirect acknowledgement of your ignorance. My account was permanently limited, but somehow I got an email back from PayPal apologizing for the inconvenience they have caused. If you obviously have the power to revert an account, then would in it means that the decision can definitely be modified. [ XXXX ; Images XXXX and XXXX proves this ] Seems like everyone isn't on the same accord here. 

Lovely, I honestly just wanted to quote this, " In addition, we may berestricted by regulation or a governmental authority from disclosing certain information to you about such decisions. ". You refused to tell me why I have been limited completely, which is odd since I am supposedly the offender here. 

Anyways, " ... ... to be involved in possible fraudulent orhigh-riskbehavior. '' I have repeatedly addressed this my account is not involved in " fraudulent '' or " high-risk '' behavior ''. I literally had that account for less than a week and it have been marked about such labels because I received one 'big ' payment. Truly injustice. 

Moving on, " ... I can fully address your concerns. '' in all honesty you haven't addressed any of my concerns, you basically just gave me the same automatic message from PayPal, but of course made it more human like with spelling errors. 

Finally, I have a case dispute opened on me for XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX dollar ( technically XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX ). I can without a doubt with the upmost confidence say I have served the customer with the order they requested from me. This charge back is entirely false, my hard work and the earnings I got from it swiftly taken from me is surely a surreal experience. 

( 180 days is still unreasonable ). 

Sincerely, Miss, XXXX XXXX '' PayPal 's " Apologize '' Once Again XX/XX/2021 PayPal has sent me another email at XX/XX/2021 XXXX XXXX stating that my account has been reinstated, I am very uncomfortable because they did this before and has indefinitely limited it. 

Sent XX/XX/2021 My response from XX/XX/2021 was sent to PayPal. 

Permanently Limited XX/XX/2021 My account got permanently limited again.

PayPal 's Rebuttal Response XX/XX/2021 " Dear XXXX XXXX, Thank you for sharing your concerns regarding PayPal 's recent response to your XXXX XXXX XXXX complaint. My name is XXXX with PayPal 's Office of XXXX Escalations and I appreciate the opportunity to further address your concerns. 

In reviewing your original complaint to the XXXX XXXX XXXX, I understand it is regarding the permanent limitation on your account and the inability to use our services. On XX/XX/2021, PayPal responded to your complaint and advised that we are no longer offering our services. Upon reviewing your complaint, I was able to confirm that you are linked to other accounts that are limited or negative. Thus, our decision to no longer offer our services is final. 

I have thoroughly researched the facts of this matter and can confirm our decision remains unchanged. We regret any frustration or inconvenience you have experienced with our services and, while we understand this may not be the answer you were hoping for, we believe our actions to be consistent with PayPal 's User Agreement.

Our user Agreement states, " Our decision about holds, limitations and reserves may be based on confidential criteria that are essential to our management of risk and the protection of PayPal, our customers and/or service providers. We may use proprietary fraud and risk modeling when assessing the risk associated with your PayPal account. In addition, we may be restricted by regulation or a governmental authority from disclosing certain information to you about such decisions. We have no obligation to disclose the details of our risk management or security procedures to you. '' Should you have questions or concerns regarding a different PayPal matter, you may contact PayPal 's Office of XXXX Escalations at XXXX. 

Sincerely, XXXX PayPal XXXX Escalations '' My Response XX/XX/2021 " Good Evening, Mr. XXXX you and Mr. XXXX has been saying the same thing as if it was completely an automatic message just to avoid confrontation somewhat completely. 

You say one thing, but whoever is behind the scene is saying another thing.

I have yet again been fully unlimited after Mr. XXXX supposed statement earlier claiming the same as you are MrXXXX XXXX. Sadly, I have been limited again and once again my account haven't lived not even a week to even do anything against your terms. '' XXXX Case Closed XX/XX/2021 PayPal Fraud/Scam I just find it very strange when I received a " large '' amount of money that my account was permanently limited before when I was receiving small fees my account was fine and soon after XX/XX/2021 I was hit with a false chargeback ( I have provided my customer the service they requested for ) .My account also was not even a week old. The dispute that was open against me did not provide any evidence, this is a fraud/scam.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation