Consumer complaint received 2024-11-18 00:00:00
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — Mobile or digital wallet
Issue: Trouble accessing funds in your mobile or digital wallet — 
Company: Paypal Holdings, Inc
State: MD

Complaint narrative:
On XX/XX/XXXX @ XXXX, I received a notice from Venmo saying they'd noticed some unusual activity on my account that violated user agreements and needed a form of ID to resolve the issue and that my account would be froze in the meantime. Although I was skeptical, I provided a copy of my ID after calling the company to ensure it was a valid request. On XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX, I received the following message : " You have a new message from Venmo regarding request # XXXX. To respond, simply reply to this email. 
Hello XXXX, Thank you for sending us your ID. 

While we encourage the use of Venmo, we must ensure all users abide by our User Agreement. After reviewing your inquiries and account activity, we have found that your actions and activity have been in violation of this agreement. 

As a result, your account has been permanently deactivated and we regret to inform you that we can no longer offer you the Venmo service. We do not make these decisions lightly, and when we do, it is to help improve the safety of the Venmo community. Note that creation of a new account will not change this decision. 

The funds in your account will be held for up to 180 days for loss prevention purposes. We will contact you at the email address on file with your Venmo account should these funds be available for transfer in the future. 

If you have questions regarding this decision, please note that we do not divulge our decision-making criteria in order to protect the systems that monitor activity on Venmo. 

Regards, XXXX XXXX Venmo Account Specialist Venmo is a service of PayPal , Inc., a licensed provider of money transfer services. All money transmission is provided by PayPal , Inc. pursuant to PayPal , Inc.s licenses. 
PayPal is located at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, CA XXXX " So, I reached back out and sent the following message : - From : XXXX XXXX XXXX Date : Mon, XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX Subject : Re : You have an update from Venmo To : Team Venmo XXXX I HAVE DONE NOTHING TO WARRANT MY ACCOUNT CLOSING. AND YOU ARE STATING THAT YOU WILL NOT BE RETURNING THE FUNDS DEPOSITED FROM MY EMPLOYER. THIS IS ILLEGAL AND CONSIDERED THEFT. I HAVE NOT BEEN GIVEN A REASON AND THERE ARE NO TRANSACTIONS ON MY ACCOUNT THAT VIOLATE ANYTHING. THIS SOUNDS LIKE A TACTIC TO STEAL THE MONEY IN MY ACCOUNT WHICH CAME FROM MY DIRECT DEPOSIT FROM MY EMPLOYER. I NEED A PHONE CALL IMMEDIATELY FROM A MANAGER. THIS IS ILLEGAL AND I WILL BE CONTACTING A LAWYER. YOU'RE NOT ABLE TO HOLD MY MONEY AND NOT RETURN IT FOR NO REASONS. THE FUNDS IN MY ACCOUNT NEED TO BE REFUNDED TO ME. THIS IS NOT OK. XXXX To which they responded very harshly, " You have a new message from Venmo XXXX request # XXXX. To respond, simply reply to this email. 
Hello XXXX, Thank you for contacting us. 

After reviewing your account, we have determined that it is not eligible for reactivation due to several concerns regarding your activity. We informed you about this decision on XX/XX/XXXX. Your account has been permanently deactivated and we regret to inform you that we can no longer offer you the Venmo service. We do not make these decisions lightly, and when we do it is to help improve the safety of the Venmo community. 

The funds in your account will be held for up to 180 days for loss prevention purposes. We will contact you at the email address on file with your Venmo account should these funds be available for transfer in the future. 

Please be aware that any future contact or inquiries will not be answered and that this matter will be considered closed upon your receipt of this email. 

Thank you for your understanding. 

Regards, Account Specialist " I even called the XXXX to speak to a manager. The employee informed me that the manager was not going to be able to do anything but I could hold and see if someone would pick up. I did that and the manager apologized, stated it was nothing she could do but try to submit a escalation. They are holding {$390.00} of my money in their account. I have not violated terms of agreements. And If I did, they won't even disclose what was done. The last transactions on my account were for : XXXX XXXX {$17.00} XXXX XXXX XXXX {$40.00} The XXXX XXXX XXXX {$39.00} XXXX XXXX {$42.00} XXXX XXXX {$17.00} XXXX.com {$33.00} XXXX  {$25.00} Prison fellowship donation {$20.00} Allowance to my son {$30.00} Payment to a friend {$14.00} Payment from a friend {$22.00} Direct Deposit {$420.00} There is nothing there that violates anything. How can you close an account, hold the funds for 6 months, no explanation, and say you MAY release the funds for transfer after that. I will never use a financial app that is not attached to bank that you can actually visit someone face to face. I'm DONE!

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation