Consumer complaint received 2015-07-07
Product: Money transfers — International money transfer
Issue: Fraud or scam — 
Company: Paypal Holdings, Inc (WA)

I received numerous phone calls from a " XXXX '' that said he was working with XXXX and that our computer was sending many messages that it was having issues. He and his " company '' could fix these problems for {$280.00}. Stupidly, we fell for that " con job ''. soon after sending the money and seeing where it was sent to, ( XXXX XXXX ), I realized that this was a scam. I requested a refund, witch they were prompt to do. However, they sent {$1800.00} instead of {$280.00}. XXXX, of course, admitted the mistake and wanted me to send him {$1500.00} back, but not thru PayPal, but by money order through XXXX, XXXX, etc. I refused to do that saying I would only give the money back through PayPal. I made several attempts through PayPal to refund the money directly back to the person that sent it originally - XXXX XXXX but was unable to do so because PayPal refused to send payment to a personal account in XXXX XXXX After telling XXXX that I was unable to send the refund to XXXX XXXX, he said he understood and for me to send it back to a different email address-one that was a " business '' account, but turned out to be XXXX XXXX. I held onto the funds until PayPal verified that the money was indeed in my PayPal account and ready for transfer. I then transferred the money to my bank account. After receiving NUMEROUS phone calls daily from XXXX, and verifying through my bank and PayPal that the money was indeed there, I refunded the {$1500.00} to where XXXX told me to. Then 2 months later, PayPal refunds the full {$1800.00} to XXXX XXXX, without notifying me in advance, or giving me an explanation as to why. Leaving us with a {$1700.00} balance owing PayPal. I have notified the dispute dept. and the fraud dept. of PayPal by email numerous times. I have also called PayPal numerous times and talked with many different people. I am still receiving phone calls from this fraudulent company telling me they want to " make things right '', by sending me more money. But not just {$1500.00}, they MUST send $ XXXX {$2500.00} and want me to refund the difference. Each time I have said no. " Either send me the correct amount of {$1500.00} or nothing ''. They also ca n't /wo n't use PayPal for the transaction, they want to deposit it directly into my bank account and have me refund them by money transfers not through PayPal XXXX I have refused them each time. This last communication, today, ended with " XXXX '' being quite angry with me and he said he couldn't/would n't try to help me anymore to get the money back and I would just have to pay PayPal. I have requested received {$280.00} on XXXX XXXX, 2015 from XXXX XXXX, deposited in my PayPal account leaving me a balance of {$1500.00} still owing. I have requested a reversal of the payment of {$1500.00} that was sent to XXXX XXXX from me. PayPal keeps denying me and keeps closing the cases. I realize that I do n't understand the procedures and possibly are n't answering the questions properly, but it seems to me that PayPal could help me out more here. I know I 'm not the only one that has fallen into this fraud trap.