Consumer complaint received 2025-06-12 00:00:00
Product: Checking or savings account — Other banking product or service
Issue: Problem with a lender or other company charging your account — Money was taken from your account on the wrong day or for the wrong amount
Company: Paypal Holdings, Inc
State: NC

Complaint narrative:
XXXXA 3rd party using the name XXXX XXXX  added his name, emails, phone number and XXXX XXXX  account to my PayPal account.  He first added some of these on XXXX XXXX XXXX, he later added more and added some back when I tried to remove them.  He then set up an auto transfer from my XXXX account in PayPal to his XXXX account that he added to my PayPal with instruction to recur until my account was empty.  As a result, the following transfers were stolen from my account before I realized what was happening:XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXNow I will try to summarize the very complicated situation that followed.  I have a lot of details I can offer upon request. I discovered this on XXXX XXXX  weekend and couldn\'t get PayPal or my bank on the phone, so I attempted to reverse the transactions myself one charge at a time.  The first was immediately declined and the others sat in limbo for weeks.  In the meantime, once businesses opened back up I notified PayPal and XXXX  of what had happened and what I did to try to resolve it. \n\n I asked PayPal to reverse the transactions and give me information about the hacker (since they had his account info in my paypal).  They advised me to dispute the XXXX  in charges which I did. They said that this would start an investigation and I would be informed of what was discovered.  I also filed a claim with my bank, XXXX, and they found in my favorXXXXThere was a lot of back and forth with PayPal because I was desperate to resolve this while my money was still in the hacker\'s account which was attached to my PayPal.  PayPal agents kept advising me that they didn\'t have any answers and that the only way to get them was to open a new dispute, so that the back office could look into it.   I did what they told me.  \n\nI finally spoke to a PayPal agent who said he could reverse the transactions that the thief had made.  He stayed on the phone with me and successfully reversed the transactions so my money came back to my PayPal account and advised me to transfer it to my XXXX  account while he was on the phone so that he could be sure it went through successfully and then we could remove the hacker\'s account from my PayPal, which we did. I thought my nightmare was over, but it had just begun. XXXX  notified XXXX that the fraudulent transactions were reversed.  Soon after, XXXX refunded the stolen amount due to the claim I had filedXXXX  was confused about the double payment and tried to seek answers.  PayPal said they couldn\'t give me any answers unless I filed another dispute in order to escalate it to the back office. XXXX XXXX XXXX said the money was mine, because I won the claim. XXXX the meantime, PayPal gave refunds to THE THEIF\'S ACCOUNT!  And sent the following message to me:XXXX XXXX XXXXYou made a withdrawal request from your PayPal account on XXXX. The money was sent to your bank and deposited in your account. However, due to an internal error, PayPal also deposited that amount back into your PayPal accountXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXWell debit the above referenced amount from your PayPal balance in XXXX  business days. Please make sure XXXXyou have the necessary amount in your account balance to cover the amount of the debitXXXX XXXXWe apologize for any inconvenience. Thanks for your understanding. We appreciate your businessXXXX  show no credits to my PayPal account from PayPal and I don\'t see the transactions they are referring to in my account activity.  I do see where they credited the thief\'s account.  When I attempted to transfer the money to PayPal that they requested my bank declined the transfer (because of a hold they put on my old account due to the hack) and I am grateful they did because it came through as a transaction with XXXX XXXX name right on it (that is the thief).  I tried to question PayPal about why his name was on it, and where this money was going.  They asked me to send them a screenshot of the transaction with his name, and I did, and they never responded about it again. XXXXNow they just keep sending me notifications that say I owe them XXXX.  They won\'t answer my questions and claim that their investigation did not find evidence to support a hack.  This is crazy.  Their agents helped me find all the places he inserted himself in my account, and walked me through deleting him out.  I filed a report with the Sheriff, PayPal, my bank, all XXXX  credit bureaus, got XXXX XXXX XXXX contacted his bank.  I promise, I was hackedXXXX XXXX I owe someone money, it seems to me it would be my bank, XXXX but my bank assures me I do not and advises me NOT to send the money to PayPal.  If I truly owe PayPal anything I need a reasonable explanation.  If they are mistaken, I need my account cleared up so I can close it and be done with them.  I am worried about this affecting my credit which is currently exceptional. XXXXAny help you can offer would be greatly appreciated.'

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief