Consumer complaint received 2025-03-28 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 Wednesday, XX/XX/2025, I received four XXXX transactions from my friends XXXX, XXXX, and XXXX, which amounted to {$1100.00}. My friends were paying me their portions of the payment for a house I booked through XXXX for a XXXX XXXX XXXX vacation. I spent the {$1700.00} on XXXX for the booking, and my friends were paying me back. I then went to transfer the money that my friends sent to my XXXX to my bank account. I only have my debit card linked to my XXXX account, but the instant transfer fee was {$20.00} due to the amount of money in my account. I did not want to lose {$20.00} from instant transfer, so I tried to add my bank account. I am assuming that my account may have already been frozen because the app would not allow me to add my bank account. I XXXX  what to do if my XXXX account is frozen, and XXXX said to check my email for any correspondence about the freeze. I did not see any emails on my personal email or XXXX XXXX XXXX, so I checked what email was connected to my XXXX account and realized it was my email from college ( XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. I updated the email to my XXXX XXXX email account, which is this email ( XXXX ) because I am now a XXXX  at the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX. After I updated my email, I still did not receive any correspondence from XXXX, so I decided to just lose the {$20.00} and try to instant transfer so that I am not out {$1700.00} for this booking. The app would not allow me to instant transfer either. At this point, I waited until morning and reached out to an agent in the live chat section of the XXXX app. The agent asked for my Driver 's License, which I provided immediately. I was then told to wait for an email from XXXX. I received an email from XXXX this morning, Friday, XX/XX/XXXX, stating that my account is deactivated due to a violation of XXXX XXXX Use Agreement and XXXX is holding the funds ( {$1100.00} ) for loss prevention purposes. I sent XXXX  documentation of everything referenced in this description, including the XXXXXXXX XXXX my XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX which shows XXXX withdrew {$1700.00} from my account, text messages with my friends predating the suspension of my XXXX which shows them confirming the amounts they owe me, a confirmation from the XXXX owner of our beach trip, my driver 's license, and my XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX will not inform me of the act which violated the User Agreement, nor will they release the over {$1100.00} in funds stuck in my account. I would have just instant transferred the money and lost {$20.00} in fees if I had known this would happen. 

For some additional context, I am XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and losing the {$1100.00} in my XXXX account ( thus causing me to take a {$1700.00} loss ) will affect my ability to eat and survive for the remainder of the semester and through passing the XXXX XXXX I am completely financially dependent on a very small amount of student loans from the federal government, and I was just trying to book a XXXX XXXX XXXX beach vacation with my three friends. I have no other source of income to support myself, and I will not be able to recover from a loss of this much money. Moreover, the money that XXXX has " withheld '' ( stolen, at this point ) is not my money, it is the money of my three friends who were paying me back for the trip. Those friends are not connected to my XXXX and should not be punished for an issue generated by my personal account. Additionally, those three friends work every single day for their money. We are all XXXX and XXXX XXXX XXXX, and literally none of us can afford to lose even hundreds of dollars, let alone me who will be losing nearly {$2000.00}. Finally, XXXX has not provided any explanation for how my actions violated their User Agreement or why they need to withhold the funds in my account. The funds in my account are NOT proceeds of illegal activity or something similar -- they are funds from my friends ' hard-earned paychecks, and XXXX has provided absolutely no reason for why nearly {$1200.00} has been seized by their company. I do not care to regain access or to ever use the XXXX platform again, particularly after this, I just want me and my friends money returned to us.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation