Consumer complaint received 2024-03-26
Product: Debt collection — Credit card debt
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed — Debt is not yours
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL (CA)

We ( my wife and I ) identified fraudulent charges on my Paypal Credit account and have no resolution to the dispute, but instead continued collection efforts. 

The issue is we have called Paypal/Synchrony on multiple occasions to sort out what's happened and the dispute resolution process is severely lacking. It is very difficult to get helpful information to assess what is fraudulent. In addition, every time we call, we have to start from the beginning and start over. There is no continuity in the conversations and it is not apparent to the call agent that a dispute exists. To make matters worse, when we ask to speak to the fraud department or a supervisor, the agent does not transfer the call but instead continues to ask the basic questions to elicit payment ( recent example is from today 's call with " XXXX XXXX '' ). He completely ignored the fact that we're in the middle of a dispute. 

First indication of a problem - Paypal taking money from our bank accounts : On XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX bank notified us that we had insufficient funds in our account to cover a pending deduction from Paypal in the amount of {$9000.00}. We immediately called the bank to stop the payment and contacted Paypal as well to advise them of the unauthorized transaction. In reviewing the matter, we discovered that Paypal attempted to deduct the same amount from our XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX checking account on XXXX occasions resulting in bank fees for having insufficient funds to cover the payments. In addition to that deduction, Paypal did successfully deduct a separate payment of {$2700.00} from our XXXX account on XX/XX/XXXX, which we have also disputed. 

Problem stems from unauthorized charges : From what we can tell, there were multiple fraudulent transactions posted to the credit account which triggered the above payment attempts. I opened the Paypal credit account around XXXX or XXXX. When speaking with the agents, we informed them that we have not utilized the credit account for years but have been making automatic payments every month for the minimum payment amount and made a large payment in the amount of {$3800.00} on XX/XX/XXXX ( which was made assuming the balance was correct ). We also discovered that they have an unrelated email address associated with the account. My email addresses are XXXX and XXXX. 

Trying to investigate but lacking complete information from Paypal We asked for statements to review and were provided with statements from XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX. In reviewing those statements, we were able to identify that the last transaction on XX/XX/XXXX in the amount of {$7.00} was authorized. All other charges after XX/XX/XXXX are disputed. The charges on or before XX/XX/XXXX that are reflected in the statements from XX/XX/XXXX, we acknowledge. 

Unfortunately, I don't know whether the balance of {$6800.00} on the XX/XX/XXXX statement is correct. Paypal sent a letter dated XX/XX/XXXX indicating that they were unable to provide statements for XXXX through XXXX of XXXX because the account had a XXXX balance and no statements were generated. If so, then my concern is that we've overpaid for some time and are due a refund. 

Current status - continued collection efforts with unresolved dispute : We received a dispute response letter dated XX/XX/XXXX stating they are investigating and will have a response within 60 days or less. Mind you, we began this process on XX/XX/XXXX and received a similar letter earlier on. Meaning, it's already been almost 60 days. In the meantime, I continue to receive notices about payments not going through. Just today ( XX/XX/XXXX ), I received a text reminder for payment ( XXXXXXXX XXXX  ) and a call ( XXXX at XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX. When we called today, we were told the balance is {$4700.00} and payment is due. This is completely false. I don't even know how they come up with this.