Consumer complaint received 2024-06-05
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — Mobile or digital wallet
Issue: Fraud or scam — 
Company: Paypal Holdings, Inc (CA)

In XX/XX/year>, hackers accessed my Paypal account, and transferred money to themselves from my personal bank account which was linked to Paypal. In XXXX separate transactions which increased in size over a five-month period, {$10000.00} was stolen. My bank alerted me to the final transfer of {$5000.00} which prompted a phone call to Paypal. That transaction was stopped, but there remains {$5200.00} which has been fraudulently taken and Payal insists was authorized. 

I believe I am the victim of a breach in Paypal 's security which is an issue for every Paypal customer. But the company is ignoring me. 

Four emails to XXXX have gone unanswered. Their Resolution Center states Case Closed and will not allow any appeal. A two hour phone call to reach a supervisor on XX/XX/XXXX XXXX at customer service produced the following email less than 24 hours later : We've completed our review of your unauthorized activity case, and weve determined there was no unauthorized use. This was the second email from them stating the same. I have asked for documents to explain their decision but none have been forthcoming. 

In detail : XXXX. The hackers set up a XXXX account ending XXXX on my Paypal account in late XXXX. ( I don't know when and I did not notice it because I rarely use Paypal ). They then carried out a series of payments, each being withdrawn from my XXXX bank account, and XXXX days later going into their own XXXX account. These sums increased in size over time, thus creating a " payment history which Paypal seems to see as evidence of the payments being authorized. 

XXXX. At no point did I ever receive a two-factor authorization from PayPal for any of the transactions. But I can see that the hackers put their own phone numbers onto the account. Why did Paypal security not contact the primary phone number on the account ( ie mine ) for a two-factor authorization? Reports from XXXX, ( XX/XX/year> ) suggest this is a weakness in Paypal security. 

XXXX. At no point did I receive any emails from PayPal saying that they had received a money request for any of these transactions. Presumably their records would show this. 

XXXX. Paypal have the phone numbers, emails and the XXXX details to investigate this fraud, but the speed at which they report back to me, saying that they have found no evidence of fraud - ie less than 24 hours later - suggests their investigations are perfunctory. Navigating their complaints and appeals procedure via their website and phone system is almost impossible. Ultimately, I wrote to them via registered mail and have yet to receive a response. 

The dates : XX/XX/XXXX, the hackers tranferred {$100.00} from my bank account to Paypal. 
XX/XX/XXXX, they transferred {$99.00} to their own XXXX acount. 
XX/XX/XXXX, the hackers transferred XXXX separate payments of {$100.00} ( total {$200.00} ) to Paypal from my bank account. 
XX/XX/XXXX, they transferred {$200.00} to their own XXXX acount. 
XX/XX/XXXX, the hackers transferred {$460.00} to Paypal from my bank account. 
XX/XX/XXXX, they transferred {$460.00} to their own XXXX XXXX  account. 
XX/XX/XXXX, the hackers transferred {$1500.00} to Paypal from my bank account. 
XX/XX/XXXX, they transferred {$15000.00} to their own XXXX XXXX  account. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, the hackers transferred {$3000.00} to Paypal from my bank account. XX/XX/XXXX, they then transferred that {$3000.00} to XXXX XXXX XXXX. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, I received an alert from my bank telling me that Paypal were taking {$5000.00} from my account. I phoned Paypal and my bank and {$4900.00} was returned to my bank.