Consumer complaint received 2024-11-28 00:00:00
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Managing an account — Problem using a debit or ATM card
Company: Paypal Holdings, Inc
State: IL

Complaint narrative:
On Monday, XX/XX/year>, there was a series of unauthorized transactions beginning at XXXX and continuing until XXXX. It consisted of XXXX transactions, XXXX from XXXX and XXXX from XXXX. These companies sell concert tickets and accompanying ticket insurance. The transactions totaled XXXX XXXX. By XXXX, I had noticed that these unauthorized charges occurred and immediately locked my account and confirmed that the debit card used in the transaction was in my physical possession. During this time, I was at my universitys campus studying and not interacting with my account, nor the merchant in any way. At XXXX, I was able to join a chat session with Venmo XXXX the issuer of the card, and reported that the XXXX transactions were unauthorized. During this chat, I closed the debit card and the agent ordered a new one. The agent informed me that the payments were not completed yet, stating that I needed to open a new chat once they did complete to begin the dispute. It was also stated that I did not need to contact XXXX support to investigate the charges myself, and that in the event that the transactions are deemed unauthorized, I would be credited the entire set of transactions. This card is covered by XXXX XXXX XXXX, which covers these transactions as they were online, I used reasonable care in protecting my card, I promptly reported the transactions in less than XXXX  days, and the transactions were not made using a commercial card or used to purchase prepaid cards. The card was not given to anyone with permission to use in transactions and the card was never physically lost since opening. By the afternoon of Wednesday, XX/XX/year>, all XXXX payments were completed. I opened a chat with an agent at XXXX where I confirmed that I believed that someone had used my card 's information as a payment method. I was then told that The account XXXX will only deny a dispute if no supporting documents can be provided to validate the claim. The account specialist team will be contacting both parties involved, which is you and the merchant. It is best that you also secure any written statement from the merchant that you did not use your Venmo card as a payment method to them if ever the account specialist of Venmo ask for further documents from you about the dispute. The chat ended with the XXXX investigations beginning for the disputes. At XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX, all XXXX disputes were denied, with Venmo XXXX that they believe the transactions were authorized. The reasoning they gave was There were consistent logins to the account during the same timeframe that the disputed transactions took place. Our review didnt find any evidence of unauthorized account usage during the disputed transaction time frame. A review of the account shows that money was available in the account before the disputed transaction ( s ) took place. The amount of money used indicates that the transactions were completed with knowledge of the account balance and activity. The first point they give is that there were logins on my Venmo account during the timeframe that the transactions occurred, which points towards the transactions being authorized. This does not make sense, as the person who used the card for the unauthorized transactions does not need to access the Venmo account to utilize the cards information. I also do not believe I tried to access my Venmo account from a new device or browser until after the transactions took place, which is supported by the emails and text messages I received, as both my Venmo account and Email account use two-factor authentication. The second point states that money was present in my checking account, and that the transactions totaled to an amount that points towards the charges being authorized. I have not used my checking account since the unauthorized charges, and it currently is at XXXX XXXX, meaning that I was at a balance of XXXX XXXX  previously. I do not understand how this can mean that they have knowledge of my accounts balance, or how that can be evidence to the transactions being authorized by me. Unfortunately, to receive information regarding their investigation, I would need to send a letter to their office, which may take an extended period of time resulting from the holiday season. Since the unauthorized transactions happened, these actions occurred : On XX/XX/year>, I reported the unauthorized transactions to Venmo within XXXX minutes of their occurrence. 
I locked my card and updated my credentials to secure my account. 
I followed up with the bank to create the disputes regarding the XXXX unauthorized transactions. 
The bank denied my claim on XX/XX/year>, citing the reasons above.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief