Consumer complaint received 2025-09-27 00:00:00
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — Mobile or digital wallet
Issue: Unexpected or other fees — 
Company: Paypal Holdings, Inc
State: CA

Complaint narrative:
On XX/XX/year>, I was the victim of a fraud scam totaling {$6000.00}. 
I was first contacted by a scammer who had infiltrated my schools email system ( XXXX  XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX ). The scammer used a legitimate XXXX email address to impersonate school staff and offer me what appeared to be a real research assistant position. During the first week of XX/XX/year>, I received a counterfeit check that looked legitimate. Because the email came directly from a XXXX address, I believed this was a genuine opportunity. 

The scammer instructed me to use the funds from that check to purchase supplies and equipment for the internship. They told me to send money through XXXX  ( and XXXX ) to people they presented as vendors. This made the process appear urgent and credible, like normal onboarding for a school-supported internship. 

Following those instructions, I sent out {$4500.00} through XXXX  : First {$2000.00} in payments : Sent through XXXX  during early XXXX while my bank account still showed a balance. When I realized the check was counterfeit, I immediately called XXXX  to report fraud and asked them to reverse the payments. XXXX  refused to reverse them and did not even open a fraud case at the time. Later, I filed a claim with XXXX for {$2000.00}, but they denied responsibility and told me to resolve it with XXXX. XXXX  continued to say it was an authorized personal transaction. 

Second {$2500.00} payment : Attempted later in the first week of XXXX, after the counterfeit check had already bounced. XXXX rejected the ACH transfer because there were no funds available. I called both XXXX and XXXX  while this transfer was still pending to report fraud. Despite that, XXXX  still processed it, which overdrew my account. 

In total, I was tricked into sending {$6000.00}, of which {$4500.00} was attempted through XXXX. XXXX  has refused to reverse the {$2000.00} already sent, and is still demanding repayment of the {$2500.00} that was never actually funded because XXXX rejected those ACH transactions. On top of this, XXXX  charged me {$300.00} in account recovery fees after the overdraft. 

I acted responsibly at every step : 1. Filed a police report with XXXX ( Case # XXXX ). 

2. Obtained a statement from XXXX admitting their email system was compromised and acknowledging the leak. 

XXXX. XXXX also reported the incident to the FBI. 

4. Submitted all of this documentation ( police report, XXXX letter, XXXX statement ) to XXXX. 

I even informed Venmo directly that the school has reported the matter to the FBI. 
Despite this, XXXX  has refused to escalate my case, continues to misclassify the scam as authorized transactions, froze my account, and their collections department is still pressuring me to pay. 

This was not a personal transaction. It was a scam carried out through a legitimate school email account that XXXX has confirmed was breached. XXXX refusal to recognize the fraud, failure to escalate the case even after FBI involvement, and attempts to collect on unfunded ACH payments are unfair and harmful. 

This was not a personal transaction. It was a scam carried out through a legitimate school email account that even XXXX has confirmed was breached. XXXX refusal to recognize the fraud, its failure to open a case when I first reported it, and its ongoing collection efforts are unfair, unreasonable, and harmful.

Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief