Consumer complaint received 2025-08-18 00:00:00
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — Mobile or digital wallet
Issue: Managing, opening, or closing your mobile wallet account — 
Company: Paypal Holdings, Inc
State: NE

Complaint narrative:
I began communicating with XXXX XXXX around XX/XX/year>, and we entered into a relationship in XXXX. In the beginning, he appeared supportive and kind, but in XXXX he began offering me financial support, voluntarily sending me approximately {$1200.00} between July 128, 2025 ( {$900.00} through Venmo and {$300.00} in cash ). These payments were never a loan, they were voluntarily given gifts. He explicitly offered financial help to support me during a difficult time. 

In the last XXXX weeks of the relationship, however, his behavior changed drastically. He became emotionally, verbally, and mentally abusive, controlling, snapping at me, and using financial support as a way to assert power over me. Because of this escalating abuse, I ended the relationship in late XXXX. 

After I broke up with him, he began harassing me through Venmo messages, falsely framing the voluntary gifts as loans and demanding repayment. On XX/XX/XXXX, while experiencing severe XXXX  and a XXXX XXXX due to his harassment, I returned {$600.00} of the {$900.00} he had sent me through Venmo. Despite this, he continued demanding another {$600.00} that I never owed. 

At XXXX point, I even considered repaying the remaining {$300.00} out of fear, but his harassment escalated. Instead of stopping, he continued to pressure, threaten, and emotionally abuse me. I realized that giving in further would only empower his abusive behavior, so I stood my ground and blocked him on Venmo. 

After being blocked, he escalated further by contacting Venmo repeatedly, misrepresenting our situation. As a result, my Venmo account was deactivated, even though I had done nothing wrong and had tried to provide Venmo with evidence multiple times. This left me without access to my account and without the protection I expected as a user. 

Since then, his behavior has grown more concerning. He has cyberstalked me, including viewing my XXXX profile, and I fear he may try to approach me at my workplace to harass me further. His actions have caused me significant anxiety and emotional distress. 

While I had not initially planned to dispute the {$600.00} I sent him, the ongoing harassment and his successful effort to have my Venmo account deactivated demonstrate a pattern of abuse. Under these circumstances, it seems unfair that he was allowed to retain that payment, and I respectfully request that Venmo review whether it can be returned to me. 

Venmo failed to protect me in this situation. Instead of reviewing the evidence fairly, they sided with an abuser who used their platform to harass and intimidate me. I have proof that I reached out to Venmo multiple times, provided supporting documentation, and asked for help, but I never received a meaningful response. By ignoring my reports, Venmo enabled this abuse to escalate and punished me, the victim, by deactivating my account. I am filing this complaint to hold Venmo accountable for their mishandling and to prevent situations like this in the future so that people like XXXX XXXX are not given the power to misuse digital payment platforms to harass and abuse women.

Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief