Consumer complaint received 2025-08-11 00:00:00
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Problem with a lender or other company charging your account — Transaction was not authorized
Company: Paypal Holdings, Inc
State: WA

Complaint narrative:
XX/XX/XXXX Time line and facts regarding PayPal and XXXXXXXX XXXX fraud XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX : XXXX XXXXr found two viruses n my PC laptop. The level of threat on both is Severe. A description of the virus : This program provides remote access to the computer it is installed on. 
Tuesday XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  : Email from XXXX XXXX XXXX asking me if I recognized a purchase of {$990.00} from XXXX. My checking account had {$110.00}. XXXX blocked this scam. 
XX/XX/XXXX Email from PayPal : Paid with PayPal balance {$1700.00} on XX/XX/XXXX Your backup is XXXX XXXX Transaction ID XXXX Seller info XXXX XXXX 
XXXX Invoice ID XXXX Order summary Purchase amount {$1700.00} ________________________________________ Total {$1700.00} In addition, there were two more PayPal unauthorized transactions that showed up on the same day, XX/XX/XXXX. They were both using the PayPal Pay in Four program. Both were pending funds. At first they were amounts of about {$700.00}. After a few hours they changed the amounts, lowering them to about {$200.00}. Clearly the scammers were lowering the price to see at what price they could collect ( enough funds in my checking account ). PayPal does not allow customers to dispute pending transactions. So I was supposed to let these unauthorized transactions go through before I could dispute them. I called PayPal and stressed that I did not authorize those payments and they eventually dropped off my account. The point of this is that there was lot of fraud that took place on the same day as my computer was hacked. 
XX/XX/XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX I change my PayPal password. 
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX PayPal opens an investigation into my claim of unauthorized activity, Case number : XXXX XX/XX/XXXX XXXX Email from PayPal stating I signed in a XXXX device but I used the same computer since XXXX. It was not a new device, unless it was the hacker pretending to be me. 
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX I send email to XXXX. I forwarded the newly opened case to them. They have not replied to two of my emails yet. 
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX Phone call with PayPal 2 minutes and 50 seconds. 
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX Phone call with PayPal 4 minutes and 5 seconds. 
XX/XX/XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX Email from PayPal : We've completed our review of your unauthorized activity case, and weve determined there was no unauthorized use. 
Based on our review, we found this transaction is consistent with your PayPal payment history. 

XX/XX/XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX  Phone call with PayPal XXXX minutes and XXXX seconds. 
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX I sent second email to XXXX and quote it here : Hello, my PayPal account was charged {$1700.00} on XX/XX/XXXX by XXXX. I did not authorize this charge and I don't even know what the charge is for. Someone must have hacked my PayPal account and/or my bank account. The invoice ID is XXXX My name is XXXX XXXX XXXX phone number is XXXX Please refund immediately or call me to explain what is going on. 
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX Email from PayPal : Thanks for contacting us about your case. Based on the information we received we are changing the reason for filing this case. You submitted your claim because your item or service was significantly different than originally described. 
We will continue to investigate your case and we'll let you know if we need any further information. 
Dispute Case ID XXXX This change did not make any sense to me and was based on my phone conversation earlier that day with PayPal. I did not request this change and it in fact contradicts what I originally stated : unauthorized activity on my PayPal account. 
XX/XX/XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX Email from PayPal : It looks like someone was trying to use your PayPal account without your permission. 


XX/XX/XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX  Email from PayPal : Case opened : XXXX XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX  Email from PayPal : We changed your case reason for XXXX XX/XX/XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX Email from PayPal : We've completed our review of your unauthorized activity case, and weve determined there was no unauthorized use. 
Based on our review, we found this transaction is consistent with your PayPal payment history. 
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX Phone call to PayPal 10 minutes 55 seconds XX/XX/XXXX XXXX PM Email from PayPal : We received your appeal of our decision for the transaction detailed below. 
Case details Dispute Case ID XXXX Transaction amount {$1700.00} USD Dispute amount {$1700.00} USD Transaction ID XXXX Transaction date XX/XX/XXXX XX/XX/XXXX XXXX PM Email from PayPal : We've completed our review of your unauthorized activity case, and XXXX determined there was no unauthorized use. 
You also previously appealed this case and it was denied. The appealed case ID is XXXX XXXX 
Based on our review, we found this transaction is consistent with your PayPal payment history. 
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX Phone call to bill collectors ( PayPal had already started an attempt to collect debt and PayPal provided the number to call if I could not make payment. That phone number is XXXX. That call was transferred to PayPal twice. Call lasted 55 minutes and 54 seconds. I requested copies of documents they used to make their conclusions and was told to watch my email. So far, I have not received anything from PayPal that I requested and today is XX/XX/XXXX. 
Several things about how PayPal handled this really bothers me. When I first contacted PayPal to tell them I did not authorize this transaction ; it had not yet hit my bank. Still, PayPal let it go through, with all the consequences. I had to close my checking account because it was compromised. This whole mess could have been avoided had PayPal believed their customer. 
In all three judgements in favor of the seller, XXXX, PayPal gave this reason : Based on our review, we found this transaction is consistent with your PayPal payment history. This is blatantly not true. I never bought anything from XXXX. I never had and do not have an account with XXXX. How is this consistent? I dont even know what was purchased with my PayPal account. The invoice does not say, as is shown above. 
In addition, whenever I make a purchase through PayPal, I NEVER use my checking account for payment because usually there is not much money in my checking account. I usually pay through PayPal credit, PayPal credit card, or other credit card. I usually choose which method of payment I should use based on what would cost the least amount of interest. Interest is about 30 % on my credit cards. This {$1700.00} was charged directly to my checking account at XXXX and caused my account to be overdrawn for the first time and I opened this account in XXXX. I am very strict with my limited budget and I would not ever authorize a payment of {$1700.00} when I had {$110.00} in my checking account. How is this consistent with my PayPal payment history? It is not consistent ; it is the opposite. It is completely non-consistent with my payment history. Never used the seller and never purchased through my checking account as this transaction was. By the way, the other two pending transactions were also to be paid by my checking account. That is simply not how I use PayPal.

PayPal Assistant uses Generative AI to create responses, which may sometimes be inaccurate. Your feedback can improve its accuracy.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation