Consumer complaint received 2024-06-13
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — International money transfer
Issue: Fraud or scam — 
Company: Paypal Holdings, Inc (NY)

I was scammed by a woman through XXXXXXXX XXXX and a guy pretending to work for Venmo the woman sent me an offer to buy a TV. I was selling through the marketplace and her and this guy pretending to work for Venmo had me send money to them and I tried to stop it but the bank refused to They said I have to wait until the charge posts and this morning I called because the charge wasnt posted until Saturday and the representative and manager are refusing to help me. They dont want to give me my money back they said because I did it as a XXXX XXXX XXXX but I told them that thats what the guy told me to do to send the money as a XXXX XXXX XXXX  through PayPal XXXX I was selling a tv on XXXX offering pick up only. A woman named XXXX sent me an offer and I accepted. She said that she had a XXXX XXXX XXXX and ca n't drive and was hoping to have her sister pick up the tv. She asked me for the pickup address and my number. Which I then gave her. She then said that she can pay with XXXX, Venmo, or PayPal. I told her Venmo. She then asked me for my Venmo information, and I gave her the tag name to send the money. She then said she tried to send the money and said that Venmo needs my email address to confirm it with Venmo. She said I should be receiving my money soon. She sent a screenshot of the Venmo app asking for an email address for the recipient to confirm the payment. I told her it should've worked so when it didn't work, I gave her my email address. She said she must has to confirm my email address because she is using a business account and it has extra security steps. She asked me if I received a confirmation email. Which I did from the email address XXXX. In the email it said I received a payment for the amount of {$150.00} but that I have to make a business account and the buyer will send {$450.00} in addition to the {$150.00}. I then called the number listed in my email from them and a guy named XXXX spoke to me. He said I need to send {$410.00} to XXXX on Venmo. The transaction was declined, and he said to send the money to XXXX. I then sent the money. He said the error is still on my account and to send more money to remove the error. He told me to send {$350.00} but that got declined so he told me to send {$250.00} and to select XXXX XXXX XXXX and put friend in the memo. He said it still had an error and asked me to send more money, but I told him I don't have time for this. I will not be sending any more money. I told him I have to go and to just cancel it. He then said it's too late to cancel it then hung up on me and called me about XXXX minutes later. I decided to ignore the call and called my creditor to dispute the charges. They told me I have to wait until the charges post. The rep told me this is most likely a scam. I tried to dispute it with PayPal but they refused to refund me. Every time XXXX asked me to send money he gave me a different email address. When I told the woman I won't be able to continue with the sale she said I have to continue I have no choice.