Paypal and debt collections

[Tenant4toolong]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NJ

I have had a Paypal account for over a year now. Today I get an email saying my account has been linked with another account that owes $2200. The email says " If we do not receive a response from you within 14 days, funds from your PayPal account with a positive balance will be deducted to resolve the negative balance on your associated PayPal account." I do not know/use the email account associated with this other PP account. I know PP has my SS# cause I have a Paypal buyer account (line of credit). I have a small balance from selling used baby clothes on ebay. I tried to answer the account verification question about my SS# and it says that it can't verify my number (odd since again I have their buyer credit). My questions are....

1. Don't they have to validate/verify this debt just like a traditional credit card?

2. How could they have "linked" me to another account? Do they search by SS# or just name/address? If so wouldn't this $2200 debt be on my credit report?

3. Can they legally just take money from me without proving I owe this debt?

4. Has anyone experienced this before and if yes How did you handle it?

I am at a loss and Confused by this.
If it helps I was the victim of ID theft in 2001 and filed BK in 2003 (debts included were my own as well as some from the ID theft that I could not get the creditors to believe were not mine and they were suing me for). Paypal was not one of those creditors.

Thanks for the help!

 

[cosine]

Maybe a scammer has managed to cause the linking. Or maybe someone else used your SSN and they treated that as a match. In any case, file a protest with Paypal saying that the linking is not valid and not authorized, and the other account is not yours. Try to get the money out, if you can. If a bank account was given to Paypal, close that account now. Paypal is known to take money out of bank accounts. You may have to sue Paypal if they carry out these acts. But do send them notification, including a copy sent by registered mail to their legal office, with return receipt, to start building your evidence file in case this has to go to court.

 

[Tenant4toolong]

Thanks Cosine!
I can't withdraw money at this time. I can't do anything but add money (funny right). I am just really really worried I will be made to pay 2200 I don't owe. I have worked hard to recover from my BK and putting this on my credit report (erronously at that) will really hurt.

 

[TheGeekess]

Did you click the link in the email or did you manually enter PayPal's url in the browser?

If you clicked the link in the email, you may have compromised your own account by responding to a phishing attempt.

https://cms.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/marketingweb?cmd=_render-content&content_ID=security/online_security_center&nav=1.5

 

[Tenant4toolong]

Hi TheGeekess! I did go directly to Paypal and to the resolution center. I clicked on all their "requirements" and the only one that did not work was to verify my SS#. I even did the phone call with the code and that was fine.

 

[Tenant4toolong]

Please, Anyone else?
I need to know if I can fight this or just expect to pay 2200 for something I don't owe? I read some Paypal Horror stories on the web and it worries me I won't get anywhere.

 

[Karlq]

No, you should not expect to pay $2200 for something you don't owe. It does smack of a phishing attempt.

You said that you called Paypal with a code...well, what did they say? Did a Paypal rep confirm all this?

You must deal with this on the phone with a person, not with clicking through the website.

Have you been able to log into your Paypal and Ebay account lately? If so, change your password just for starters. If you cannot log in, your account is probably compromised.
You said that you tried to answer the account verification question about yourSS...Where and why? Thorough the email?

Have you asked in the eBay Discussion Boards under Paypal or Trust & Safety (Safe Harbor)? People there are experts in this sort of thing and deal with this all the time.

 

[Tenant4toolong]

Hi Karlq and thanks!
Paypal sent me an email. It said to log in to my account to answer some account verification questions in the resolution center. I did this thru the Paypal.com website. I was able to answer all the questions asked except when it came to my SS# this is the message I get....

We are unable to verify your social security number. Please check that you entered the number correctly and resubmit.

Enter the Account Owner's Social Security number

To help us authenticate your identity, please enter your Social Security number below. As always, PayPal follows a strict privacy policy, and will never reveal your personal account information without your permission.

Social Security Number: (I double check the entry and it is right)

The original email says in 14 days they will take my balance and apply it to this debt but I don't owe it. I don't know how to proceed.

 

[InsaneJane]

Protect yourself: Go to you bank (banks) that is tied to your paypal account and tell them what has happened. They will probably advise you to have them block all access between your account and paypal. Also open a new account and transfer the funds that aren't need to cover outstanding fees and charges that haven't posted yet. Make sure that you do not have any kind of over draft protection on the old account!
Don't give paypal access to your new account.
If you are not closing the old account, then make sure there is still enough $ left in the account to cover 2 months of any account maintainence fees that the bank charges. The bank manager should be able to help you with this.
After that is done:
Deal with paypal
Have you computer scan by AVG, Panda, Malwarebytes, and Microtrend.

Kiss what funds are left in your PP account goodbye. If you do ever get that $ back - then good for you!!!

 

[Tenant4toolong]

Thanks InsaneJane.
I don't have a bank account linked to my paypal account. I had a CC and my line of credit from them as my only forms of payment.
While in limited status I can't close it or remove any of the cards associated with it. I can't transfer any money anywhere.
I don't have any outstanding fees. My ebay fees are automatically debited from the CC on file not paypal.
I appreciate some of the suggestions on here but no one has answered my questions.....
1. Don't they have to validate/verify this debt just like a traditional credit card?

2. How could they have "linked" me to another account? Do they search by SS# or just name/address? If so wouldn't this $2200 debt be on my credit report?

3. Can they legally just take money from me without proving I owe this debt?

 

[InsaneJane]

1. When you signed up for Paypal, you confirmmed that you read, understood, and agreed to paypal's TOS and terms. That includes allowing them to make a $ grab on funds in dispute.
2. Basically, when the party is over... the last one left at the table with a way to pay gets stuck with the TAB! But they don't wait for the party to end.
3. As for Paypal's resolution: refer to #1 and #2.

You may want to do a google search on Paypay ripoff money
They are known for covering their exposure to loss by grabbing $ from any account involed and waiting up to a year to settle a dispute if they can recover the funds lost.
More often then not, they hold the party that they can collect from at fault.
Why would they want to eat a loss from a criminal that they can't collect from when they can grab $ from someone else???? Think about it and protect yourself First.

Good luck

 

[Tenant4toolong]

Thanks InsaneJane!
I understand the disputed funds things but the funds in MY account are not disputed at all. The orignial email claims my info matches another PP account with a -2200 balance....so is this the same thing? I don't/wouldn't know what the 2200 is about, I guess some fees or fraud.
I did do a Google search and the posts about such "abuse" made my blood boil...holding funds for 6 months, closing accounts because they don't like a content on someone's page..etc.
If I can't use my PP for my ebay purchases & selling anymore so be it....I am more worried about being made to pay the 2200 when it has nothing to do with me. They kind try to charge my CC on file but it has a small limit and I know I can dispute it with my CC company.

 

[cosine]

Hi Karlq and thanks!
Paypal sent me an email. It said to log in to my account to answer some account verification questions in the resolution center. I did this thru the Paypal.com website. I was able to answer all the questions asked except when it came to my SS# this is the message I get....

We are unable to verify your social security number. Please check that you entered the number correctly and resubmit.

Enter the Account Owner's Social Security number

To help us authenticate your identity, please enter your Social Security number below. As always, PayPal follows a strict privacy policy, and will never reveal your personal account information without your permission.

Social Security Number: (I double check the entry and it is right)

The original email says in 14 days they will take my balance and apply it to this debt but I don't owe it. I don't know how to proceed.

Maybe someone changed the SSN on your account. You need to be getting on the phone with them ASAP and ask them to pull up the account change records.

 

[cosine]

Thanks InsaneJane.
I don't have a bank account linked to my paypal account. I had a CC and my line of credit from them as my only forms of payment.
While in limited status I can't close it or remove any of the cards associated with it. I can't transfer any money anywhere.
I don't have any outstanding fees. My ebay fees are automatically debited from the CC on file not paypal.
I appreciate some of the suggestions on here but no one has answered my questions.....
1. Don't they have to validate/verify this debt just like a traditional credit card?

2. How could they have "linked" me to another account? Do they search by SS# or just name/address? If so wouldn't this $2200 debt be on my credit report?

3. Can they legally just take money from me without proving I owe this debt?

Maybe it is possible that someone got access to your account and changed its SSN to their own so they would benefit from this practice by Paypal to link accounts and offset one to another.

 

[cosine]

Thanks InsaneJane!
I understand the disputed funds things but the funds in MY account are not disputed at all. The orignial email claims my info matches another PP account with a -2200 balance....so is this the same thing? I don't/wouldn't know what the 2200 is about, I guess some fees or fraud.
I did do a Google search and the posts about such "abuse" made my blood boil...holding funds for 6 months, closing accounts because they don't like a content on someone's page..etc.
If I can't use my PP for my ebay purchases & selling anymore so be it....I am more worried about being made to pay the 2200 when it has nothing to do with me. They kind try to charge my CC on file but it has a small limit and I know I can dispute it with my CC company.

Close the linked CC account completely. Do it today (be sure you have no outstanding legitimate charges on it). Get a new unrelated CC number. Tell the CC company you believe the CC number may be compromised and this action is to prevent any financial risks.