Consumer complaint received 2022-06-11 00:00:00
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — Virtual currency
Issue: Fraud or scam — 
Company: Paypal Holdings, Inc
State: NY

Complaint narrative:
XX/XX/2022 - I inadvertently paid {$100.00} to the wrong individual. 

XX/XX/2022 - I called XXXX XXXX  to stop the payment. They marked it as a fraudulent payment which was helpful of them. I called Venmo to explain the issue. They said they'd give me a one-time courtesy and cancel the payment if I went back to XXXX  and cancel the fraudulent payment. I immediately called XXXX XXXX  and stopped the fraudulent payment claim. XXXX Bank confirmed this was done. However, Venmo then froze my entire account and required me to provide quite a bit of information to authenticate myself. It was a case of their " helping me '' but also simultaneously harming me ( something they did not warn me would occur if I took the {$100.00} courtesy ). 

XX/XX/2022 - I called Venmo to discuss the issue. They refused to discuss via telephone and said I must discuss via email instead. I emailed them and had lengthy back and forth emails with someone employed with Venmo named XXXX XXXX. XXXX XXXX kept insisting that I profited {$100.00} by virtue of the refund issued by Venmo, together with the fraud claim I submitted to XXXX XXXX  Either he, or the individual I spoke with over the phone with Venmo ( I do not remember which individual anymore ) indicated that XXXX XXXX must not have cancelled the fraud claim. I called XXXX XXXX and confirmed with them that Venmo was incorrect. XXXX XXXX  even offered to issue proof that they did via USPS postal mail. 

I called back Venmo to explain all of this. The customer service representative indicated she could not help me and that I'd need to continue working with XXXX XXXX via email, even though I indicated to her that he is unhelpful. I went back to emailing XXXX XXXX, and required multiple times to have a telephone conversation so that we could iron this out quickly ( as I had spent roughly 1.5 hours on the phone by this point ). XXXX XXXX would not oblige. I provided him screenshots of my TD account among other items he requested. None of this resulted in an amicable solution. 

XXXX XXXX kept insisting I add {$100.00} into my account to resolve the issue, as he would take the {$100.00} and pay it back to Venmo. I only had {$44.00} at the time. I finally gave up and tried to add the extra {$56.00}. Note that this is {$100.00} that Venmo was not owed, and it would have put me at negative {$100.00}. Despite this, I was willing to pay it back to Venmo just to get things back to normal. I kept receiving an error message. I called Venmo back about the issue. I went through the steps with XXXX XXXX XXXX were on the phone for just over 2 hours because she was trying to get technical support to help her. Per XXXX XXXX, the only fix I had was to add the {$56.00}, but their system wouldn't allow for it. And this was money that was not owed to them and would have resulted in my losing their {$100.00} " courtesy ''. I even offered to pay someone at Venmo the {$100.00}. XXXX XXXX indicated that she could not take the {$100.00} payment, and that my only recourse was to add the extra {$56.00} ( which their system was declining due to a technical error ). 

After a 2 hour call, I told XXXX P. I would just report the issue to the appropriate regulatory agencies. After we ended the 2 hour call, XXXX XXXX sent me a message indicating that he would unfreeze the account, but made sure to add the passive-aggressive message " Please note that if we find that you are engaging in activity that is restricted by our User Agreement we may take further action to deactivate your account in the future. '' I had undertaken no restricted activity, and their User Agreement terms were not within the scope of this discussion. Despite this, XXXX XXXX felt the need to send that passive message to me. XXXX XXXX sent me a message indicating the issue had been resolved. I told them both that I'd like a Venmo account that I can send the {$100.00} to because the entire mess wasn't worth {$100.00} and I'd like to undo the " courtesy '' that they gave to me. In short, I wanted to give them the {$100.00} back. It wasn't worth it as it made my situation a nightmare. They never responded. 

XX/XX/2022 - I wanted to use Venmo as my account is now " unfrozen ''. I tried to use it, but my payment was declined. I called TD Bank and confirmed it was not on their end. I called Venmo. I spoke with XXXX. XXXX indicated that it was due to " security reasons ''. That was all she said. I asked why. Her answer was " security reasons. '' I asked for the reasons. Her answer was " security reasons. '' I asked who can help me to fix this issue. She said " no one due to security reasons. '' I asked if the CEO of Venmo could fix the issue. She said " no, not even the CEO because of security reasons. '' I asked about removing my checking account, closing my Venmo account, and making a new one. She agreed it was worth a shot. We tried it, but I still received the same declined message because of " security reasons. '' I said that surely someone at all of Venmo could override and/or help me to fix this issue. She said that no one in all of Venmo could override this issue. That it's something we'll simply have to live with because of " security reasons. '' Their security system apparently overrides all humans employed at Venmo, and there are XXXX overrides available ( a terrifying thought should they ever need to override something significant ). I asked what state Venmo is incorporated with ( to determine which state attorney general is relevant here ). XXXX told me that she could not tell me that information but I can submit a complaint to their internal complaint team. I told her I'd submit a complaint to the CFPB. 

Summary : -Venmo granted me a {$100.00} " courtesy '' for my error ( yes, the initial error was mine and not with Venmo ). 

-The " courtesy '' came with the price of freezing my account. 

-The only way to unfreeze it was to pay the {$100.00} back to Venmo by adding enough funds to my account for them to take it.

-Their system would not even let me add the money necessary to accomplish this due to a technical error.

-I offered to pay them their {$100.00} to an account but they wouldn't take it.

-Those who freeze accounts refused to speak to me via telephone.

-After 3-4 hours worth of phone calls, and threats of regulatory complaints, they finally unfroze it ( and sent an unprofessional/passive aggressive message ). 

-I still can't send payments due to " security reasons ''. No other explanation would be provided. 

-Per their customer service, no one, including the CEO, can override their security. Apparently their security defeats all human interaction, even if there is a legitimate reason to override it. 

XXXXThey proclaimed they could not tell me what state they're incorporated in. 


Note : I can provide any proof that is in tangible form upon request ( ex : telephone time records and dates, email chains, bank records, etc ).

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation