Consumer complaint received 2023-08-15
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — Mobile or digital wallet
Issue: Fraud or scam — 
Company: Paypal Holdings, Inc (NV)

I apologize for the wall of text that follows... I tried formatting it with plenty of paragraph breaks, but they all seem to be removed by your system. Anyway : I have an account with PayPal , Inc, and unfortunately found myself with a cash balance of {$270.00} in this account that I needed to withdraw.

For whatever reason, PayPal 's system would not allow me to add my bank account for electronic transfer, so I chose the only remaining option, a check by mail, and even paid an extra {$1.00} fee for this service.

PayPal issued the check on XX/XX/XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, I informed them that it still hasn't arrived, and was told that I needed to wait a minimum of 14 business days before they would do anything about it. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, the check was fraudulently cashed by an unknown third party. However, we don't learn that until nearly a month later, because : On XX/XX/XXXX, I contact them again. This time, they offer to stop payment on the check, to which I agree immediately. I am told to expect an email within 3-5 business days and that the rep will " personally '' follow up. None of that ever happens. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I contact them yet again and am finally told that the check has already been cashed. After some back and forth where they repeatedly insist that I check with my " friends and family '' about the missing check, I am even provided with a copy of the canceled check ( which does not even purport to have my signature on it -- only " pay to the order of <thief> '' and the thief 's signature ). They try to wash their hands of the whole thing, but I insist that they merely inform their bank ( XXXX XXXX ) about the fraud. I am told I need to fill out a so-called " Fraudulent Endorsement Claim Form, '' and that I will hear back about it in " less than 28 hours. '' On XX/XX/1948 hours later, I ask them about this form and am told " nothing to worry '' ( this phrase appears twice in the single message ), they are working on it. On XX/XX/XXXX, I contact them again, and am now being told there is nothing more they will do, and that I need to contact the receiving bank ( XXXX  XXXX -- an entity I have no relationship with whatsoever ). I reiterate that no, they need to inform their sending bank about the fraud ; they just keep insisting that I should somehow " contact '' XXXX XXXX, and refusing to budge on contacting XXXX XXXX themselves. 

To summarize, from my point of view, PayPal 's negligence and incompetence has : 1 ) Allowed the theft to take place in the first place, by doing nothing when I reported the missing check 4 days before it was fraudulently cashed ; 2 ) Subsequently allowed the theft to go undetected and unreported for a month, by both failing to notice that the check was already cashed when I inquired about it just 4 days after the fraud, and by failing -- despite emphatic promises to do so -- to follow up on this inquiry ; 3 ) Even now continued to impede any investigation or resolution by refusing to take the most basic step of reporting the fraud to their sending bank, for two weeks and counting.