Consumer complaint received 2019-06-17
Product: Credit card or prepaid card — Gift card
Issue: Problem with a purchase or transfer — Card company isn't resolving a dispute about a purchase or transfer
Company: Paypal Holdings, Inc (PA)

I'm writing to report a scam I was the victim of on XX/XX/19. I'm reporting this in hopes that no one else falls for these gift card scams which have become very common. I feel there are three major issues that need to be addressed. 1. ) XXXX XXXX ' lack of internal controls and fraud dection/prevention. 2. ) Paypal 's lax cyber security protocols that put me on the radar of gift card scammers & 3. ) XXXX/XXXX XXXX   lack of internal controls that allowed several anomalous gift card purchases with the same card without flagging these transactions as suspicious. I feel all these issues need to be addressed to protect consumers. 

The back story : I was targeted through a paypal  scam on XX/XX/19. I had money from XXXX that I was lead to believe I was going to lose unless I claimed it by a certain day ... I called the number which I thought was PayPal.. My account had been compromised and they asked if I could buy gift cards to prove it was me to claim the money ... My problem was I couldn't get into my paypal account BC I didn't have the right password ... After talking with who I thought was PayPal they told me to buy gift cards from XXXX since they are link companies. They had all my personal information, phone number, email, address, and information on the tickets I sold to claim the money ... I was directed to buy gift cards using my XXXX XXXX ( I used XXXX BC they have a stellar reputation for fraud cases ) I was sent to 5 different stores in the matter of 4 hours buying gift cards to prove it was me. I was led to believe that this was PayPal the entire time ... After I started to feel uncomfortable spending upwards of {$5500.00} on gift cards in 5 different stores I cancelled the call and imediately called XXXX XXXX to explain how I was scammed and led to believe PayPal wanted me to do these things. After hours of research I found more information on gift card scam. I explained this to the people of XXXX XXXX they quickly put my account on monitor to see the charges ... The charges finalized and I then called XXXX XXXX back and talked to someone in the fraud department ... They pretty much told me they cant do anything to help me BC I was present when my card was used .... I explained that the purchases were made under false pretences BC I trusted these people where PayPal ... After XXXX XXXX didn't help me I then called PayPal. They pretty much told me they cant do anything BC I don't have an account ... I explained they sent me emails to my personal email address telling me I had these tickets I was gon na lose the money for. I was informed that it wasn't PayPal it was a fake email account using the PayPal name. 


There's are several fundamental issues of negligence here. First XXXX has internal controls and fraud alerts for regional charges where if a card is charged in the east coast and then the west coast within minutes as this would be impossible for a legit card holder to do. They also offer protections for rather large tip adjustments on restaurant charges. 

Why would XXXX not flag the purchase of {$5000.00} worth of gift cards among 20 gift cards, when gift card fraud has become a major issue these days. What if this happened to the elderly. Sadly it does and I feel XXXX doesn't have the proper controls in place to protect it's customers Another issue is paypal 's possible lax cyber security. How could a these scammers get my info and contact me after a legitimate PayPal transaction? And if the leak wast with PayPal, then it'd have to be with XXXX. 

Finally, XXXX/XXXX needs to improve it's internal controls as they are selling financial products that are widely used in fraud. 

These issues must be addressed as it seems there's a serious hole in the bucket here and I feel nothing will be done about it until an unfortunate amount of consumers get ripped off.