Consumer complaint received 2025-07-08 00:00:00
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — Virtual currency
Issue: Other transaction problem — 
Company: Paypal Holdings, Inc
State: FL

Complaint narrative:
this is what we wrote to Pay Pal they are dening our refund- they state we stole our own monies here is the time line Statement Regarding Fraudulent Activity on PayPal Account XX/XX/year> Submitted by : XXXX Email of Record : XXXX All calls referenced below were recorded by PayPal. 
On XX/XX/year>, at approximately XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX, we contacted PayPal using the email address XXXX to report fraudulent activity on the account belonging to XXXX Summary of Fraudulent Transactions : Between XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/year>, an unauthorized withdrawal of {$850.00} occurred. This transaction was linked to a fraudulent credit card ending in XXXX, which was added to the PayPal account without consent. 
This card was also linked to phone number ( XXXX ) XXXX. 
The billing address associated with this card was XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, GA an address completely unknown and unrelated to us. 
We first became aware of the unauthorized withdrawal through an alert sent to XXXX  XXXX email account, but no PayPal notification or transaction alert was received directly from PayPal at the time. 
Unauthorized Account Changes : Upon investigation, we discovered multiple unauthorized elements were added to the PayPal account : Emails Added ( Unauthorized ) : XXXX Phone Numbers Added ( Unauthorized ) : These are the theifs phone number Im ok to publish these ( XXXX ) XXXX linked to the {$850.00} withdrawal linked to the XXXX thefts and another XXXX that was stopped by our bank ( XXXX ) XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXX These emails and phone numbers were not added by us and are not affiliated with XXXX XXXX. They were removed immediately. 
________________________________________ XX/XX/year> Security Measures Taken : At XXXX XXXX  XXXX, we removed all known unauthorized and compromised cards from the wallet section of our PayPal account, including : Card ending in XXXX ( unauthorized ) Card ending in XXXX ( unauthorized linked to {$850.00} withdrawal linked to theft of XXXX XXXX ) At XXXX XXXX, we also removed all unauthorized phone numbers listed above. 
We made the decision to leave the linked bank account temporarily active solely to maintain eligibility for reimbursement of stolen funds, as advised by PayPal. Removing it could jeopardize our claim. 
________________________________________ Ongoing Fraudulent Activity : XX/XX/year> : The individual in possession of the unauthorized card ending in XXXX created a PayPal savings account and initiated a new unauthorized transfer request of {$990.00} from our linked bank account. 
Transaction ID : XXXX The {$990.00} now sits in a restricted PayPal savings area, inaccessible to us due to account freezes caused by these fraudulent actions. 
At XXXX XXXX we were notified that our appeal regarding the initial {$850.00} withdrawal was denied, with PayPal claiming the transaction was authorized. However, all confirmation communications were sent to the fraudulent email address our email address ), not to his email verified email This denial along with all suspicious activity repeatedly occurred between XXXX XXXX which we believe reflects a clear pattern of malicious access attempts. 
At XXXX XXXX, we once again manually removed phone number ( XXXX ) XXXX, which had been re-added to the account after the agent previously stated it had been removed. 
________________________________________ XX/XX/year> Escalation : At XXXX XXXX our second appeal under Case ID : XXXX was again denied, with PayPal continuing to claim the transactions were authorized despite all communications being rerouted through the fraudulent email address. 
By XXXX XXXX the following fraudulent items were again added back to our account : Card ending in XXXX Card ending in XXXX Email : XXXX ( fake email used by thiefs ) At XXXX XXXX, we manually removed the phone number again the third time it had to be deleted due to recurring reentry. 
We also changed our email, password, and security settings multiple times to secure the account. 
________________________________________ Current Status : {$850.00} was stolen and claimed as authorized by PayPal. 
{$990.00} was withdrawn and placed into a fraudulent PayPal savings account, which we currently can not access. 
Our personal bank account is now frozen due to these thefts, leaving us in a compromised and vulnerable financial position. 
Despite multiple appeals, repeated unauthorized access, and clear evidence of identity fraud and manipulation, PayPal has failed to resolve or secure our account. We are now engaged in what has become a cat-and-mouse game, attempting to stay ahead of unauthorized users who continuously bypass security. 
________________________________________ Police Report : A report has been filed with the XXXX XXXX  Sheriffs Office under Case Number : XXXX  Let me be clear : we are the victims of theft, yet PayPals systems claim we somehow authorized these transactions and we are now being punished for trying to protect ourselves. 
To suggest that we would steal from ourselves and then file a police report against ourselves is insulting and illogical. This has placed our finances and our livelihood in jeopardy, and we need immediate resolution.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief