Consumer complaint received 2026-03-08 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: OR

Complaint narrative:
On XX/XX/XXXX of this year ( XXXX ) I, out of financial necessity, sold my newest smartphone on a platform called " XXXX ''. This platform is a clearing/auction house for various types of personal technology devices ( eg ; laptops, cell phones, smartwatches, tablets etc. ). This particular platform REQUIRES the use of PayPal for what I assume is the security layer that PayPal adds to the transactions where they can arbitrarily withhold payout to the " seller '' for normally a reasonable amount of time ( from my experience XXXX days, and as many as 21 days in cases to accommodate the possibility of a refund or charge-back being needed due to product not matching description or possible fraud ). As soon as my device sold on the Swappa platform my PayPal account, that was in good standing the entire 3 years I have had it, and the buyer issued the payment to my PP account I got an angry red banner across the top of the dashboard of PP 's UI saying I needed to verify my identity. I had already done this once before but I thought " It's been a while since I set up the account, maybe they're just doing a recertification that I am who I say I am ''. I followed all the steps, scanned my face with their app and scanned a pic of the front and back of my ID but there were multiple issues with the whole process. I had to try MULTIPLE times as I was told by the app I wasn't using a neutral facial expression which was distressing in and of itself and after trying over the course of about XXXX it finally let me complete the process- but when it did finally accept my facial scan and photo ID, and after I answered the questions about what my business was and where I store my stock/inventory ( I don't have a business and said so in the information capture portion of the Identity Verification steps ) the PayPal app said it could not verify my identity and INSTANTLY said that they ( PP ) were permanently banning/deactivating my account... I have not had any dealings with any customers for them to complain because I am not a business- yet that was one of the reasons their AI customer service bot said might have been the reason for the ban. Lack of transactions may also have been the reason- but how is that suspicious? My PP account was XXXX XXXX XXXX and I have maybe used it XXXX times as a way to send/get money from family and friends, I purchased a device off the " Swappa '' once. Never during any of these other transactions was I ever asked to verify my identity or provide an explanation for where the money came from or what it was for because that really isn't their business outside of the descriptions that we give the transactions when we make them. I asked a customer service agent in chat- which this person sounded and acted VERY MUCH like the same heavy-handed and overreaching AI that flagged me through their internal Risk Assessment -for an explanation of why this had happened to me and if there was going to be Human Eye review of the deactivation/ban with follow-up reason for it and I was told basically " sorry, no- and there is no appealing this decision ''. After 3 years of here-and-there transactions, periods of non-use of the account, and even though I still had a positive balance in the account at the time, I was suddenly now flagged as a risk and the money that I need from the sale of my cell phone is potentially going to be tied up in useless and mentally/emotionally damaging posturing until as late as XXXX of this year ( XXXX ). I needed that money to pay my utility bills as I am going to now lose internet, cell service and likely power- which would render me homeless. Another fact I mentioned to PP, which they didn't seem to care about at all either. This heartless, inhuman, careless and inhumane treatment of their own client base alone should shout from the rooftops that their algorithm is inherently flawed and ANY false positives that are not immediately followed up on upon protest by the user until there is proof beyond the shadow of a doubt that fraud, scam, or theatrics of a bad actor is proven should not be allowed to continue to happen. I am FAR from the first and I am positive that without change and accountability I will NOT be the last. I want full-disclosure and detailed explanation of what laws, policies, guidelines or standards I violated in plain text english OR- preferred to be given back FULL ACCESS to my funds so that I may leave the platform peacefully and for GOOD.

Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief