Consumer complaint received 2024-04-12
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — Mobile or digital wallet
Issue: Fraud or scam — 
Company: Paypal Holdings, Inc (ME)

On XX/XX/XXXX I received a text from my bank about possible fraudulent charges on my debit card. I called my bank and discussed the charges in question. One of the charges seemed suspicious it was for {$9.00} to XXXX. The person I spoke to at the bank suggested I call XXXX customer service to see what the charge was for. I googled XXXX customer service and I found an XXXX website with a phone number. The phone number I called is XXXX. A man named XXXX XXXX answered the phone and said thank you for calling XXXX how can I help you?. I explain I may have fraudulent charges on my debit card and one of them was to XXXX and could he help me see what the charge is for. I explained that my debit card was linked to Venmo and PayPal. XXXX said he was a specialist for these apps and he was going to help me secure my accounts. XXXX told me I had to download a sharing app so he could get into my Venmo and PayPal accounts and look for fraudulent charges. I downloaded the app he suggested and XXXX took control of my phone-this did not seem unusual to me because my companies IT department does this all the time and I had been the one to call XXXX to XXXX for help. XXXX told me I had multiple charges showing as pending on my Venmo account. He said he was showing fraudulent bitcoin and crypto currency charges pending as well. He told me not to worry and he was going to clear these fraudulent charges. He asked me who I trusted that he could send a dummy transaction to in Venmo. I told him to use my husbands Venmo account He said this wasnt real currency being transferred he was just testing to see if he had fixed my account and making sure it was still active. XXXX then did what he called a dummy transfer for {$4500.00} to my husband. The balance didnt appear in my husbands Venmo acct I believe XXXX XXXX transferred it to his own account. He titled the initial transfer XXXX limits. He removed the amount in 2 transactions -one for {$2900.00} and one for {$1500.00}. He told me not to worry and this money would still be in my account-this was just a test dummy transaction. 
I removed my debit card from my Venmo account, on XX/XX/XXXX or XX/XX/XXXX because I thought it was best to get a new card just in case. I called my bank and cancelled my debit card. 
Monday morning I woke up and looked at my checking account and notice the Venmo payment of {$4500.00} had subtracted from my checking account and I knew at this point I had to contact my bank. I explained what happened to the assistant branch manager and she was able to transfer the money back into my checking because it was an authorized charge. The assistant branch manager also told me to call Venmo ( and paypal ) and explain what happened. I called Venmo when I left the bank on XX/XX/XXXX. I filed my case with them over the phone. My case ID is XXXX XXXX I received an email later in the day on XX/XX/XXXX telling me my case was denied and said based on review they found the transaction consistent with my payment history. 
Now Venmo wants me to pay the negative balance on my account. 
I called life lock to have the help me with this.