Paypal and debt collections

[Astrolink]

I had the same thing happen to me a couple years ago, except for a larger amount of money. Two phone calls and 20 minutes later, it was corrected.

Has the OP even called Paypal?

 

[Karlq]

Tenant4toolong,

I don't know how to proceed.

I will ask once more...
You said that you called Paypal with a code...what did they say? Did a Paypal rep confirm all this? Did a person confirm what the email said? An email said you owe $2200 and if you are not on the phone to Paypal, why not? Why would you not be calling?
I think your first mistake was responding to the email instead of calling. Criminals are notorious for phishing Paypal emails.

If a Paypal rep confirms the linked account/email, then go from there. If the Paypal rep says no, you don't owe this, then the email was a fraud.

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?

1. No, if it really is there and in error, how would they know it's not your debt if you don't tell them?
2. How do you know they did? Have you asked? The email may be a phishing attempt.
3. Yes, see answer #1.
4. Yes. You handle it by calling them on the phone.

 

[Tenant4toolong]

Hello Everyone!'Thanks for all the replies.
I just got off the phone with Paypal and this is gonna be a PITA to work out. First the "linked" accounts only have my name not my SS or even my address (they were set up in NY while I live in NJ). One rep (becuase i had to speak to like 3 of them) said one email address has a positive balance of 1100...Odd.

The 2nd rep told me to fax over my police report from my ID theft report BUT it is up to them if they will except it since it is from 2001...Nice!

I asked rep 3 for info I can use to file another current police report and they told me I have to get a subpeona first...Okay...way to help.
This doesn't look like it's gonna go well at all

 

[Tenant4toolong]

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.

Funny enough....2 of the "linked" accounts don't even have a SS#on them (according to rep 1). The 3rd email does but it doesn't end with the same #s as mine. oh and 1 email has a positive 1100 in it....

 

[Tenant4toolong]

I had the same thing happen to me a couple years ago, except for a larger amount of money. Two phone calls and 20 minutes later, it was corrected.

Has the OP even called Paypal?

Yup I did....tried yesterday but it was Sunday and closed.

 

[TinkerBelleLuvr]

i would say that at this point, MAKE A NEW POLICE REPORT. Have you checked your credit report lately?

After filing the police report, you can go onto experian and file to fraud protection there. It will freeze your credit report for 90 days.

 

[Tenant4toolong]

Update!

Thought I would update. I did file a new police report (thanks Tinker) then faxed it and the old one over. To my surprise I get an email that my appeal is denied. I called PayPal and was told that to “fix” this problem I have to pay the $2200.00. I explained (again) the problem of the ID theft and the info on the other "linked" account not matching mine and all this rep would say is If I am not willing to help them fix this problem they won't accept my request for reconsideration. They only way to "fix" this is for me to pay. He did explain that even though NONE of the information on the account matches the other linked account they don't believe it is ID theft “since so many people use this excuse to avoid problems".

PayPal is expecting me to pay for something not my responsibility even though they can NOT provide one piece of evidence (besides a name) that this account can be linked to me. The rep said it was my job to prove this account was not mine...not for them to prove it is mine. I asked how he wanted me to prove this and he said to pay the balance. He said since the other account didn't "appear" to have been opened by a third party it is mine.

When I asked for a supervisor since he clearly thinks ID theft is an excuse and not the very real situation it is he refused and told me the supervisor would advise me of the same thing...pay the negative balance and this will all be fixed and until then “You just won't be able to have a PayPal account".

I think it is a mistake to treat a victim this way and make me responsible for a balance I do not owe solely because I cannot prove the linked account is not mine.

 

[TinkerBelleLuvr]

Might be worth paying an attorney to write a sternly worded letter to Paypal, along with the police report. THAT might get their attention.

 

[Tenant4toolong]

Update!

Hey Just thought I would update you all on this crazy situation. After writing a letter to the CEO/Presidents of Ebay and Paypal I recieved a call back from John Donohue's office. The lady-Vanessa claims to be from the Executive office/office of Executive Escalations. She said she is as high as I can get. Well after explaining (again) the situation she said she understood the claim of ID theft but that it is my duty to keep my information safe and secure (guess I shouldn't have put my ss# and DOB on that billboard over the NJ turnpike) and since the person did not get my info from their system I am still responsible. &

She said she had the police report but since it was filed in 2001 and the account went negative in 2003 they could not accept it. It had to be dated within 12 month before of after the account became negative. (FTC never told me to keep filing police reports every year to keep my victim status valid).

I explained that I filed bankruptcy and if I had known of this debt I would have included it. It makes no sense I would not have included it except for the fact I did not know about it cause it's not my debt. She then said oh I would not have been able to include it in bankruptcy because the negative didn't happen until 2005

This is the first time I hear about anything happening in 2005. All other dates have ranged from 2001-2003.

All in all I am convinced these people are crooks and scammers. I threatened legal action if they attempt to come after me for this money or errornously put it on my credit report (not sure I have a leg to stand on really but will ask my BK lawyer in the morning), I told them straight out I am NOT paying this debt, they are SOL. She did say she applied the 1100 credit from another linked account so the balance went down....my response was good now you have less money to write/charge off & hung up.

 

[cosine]

If PayPal allows someone to access your account information without proving they are you, then it is absolutely PayPal's fault. Knowing your name, address, DoB, SSN, is not proof that the person knowing this is you. If they (or any business) assumes someone who knows this information, and claims to be you, is you, then ultimately it should be their loss due to their lax security ... not yours since you have no control over how lax their security is.

Information like name, address, DoB, and SSN is about identifying you (and locating you in the case of an address). But these (including SSN) are also public information (while SSN is not widely known, it is still technically "public" based on what its purpose is).

I don't know that it would be worth it for you, but part of me wants to see you sue them. If it happened to me, I would. It's for cases like this I wish I was an attorney and could afford to represent you for free. One of my big interests in all this is about ID theft (and the terribly poor security most businesses practice that leads to ID theft being so widespread). And if what you have said here is true, it is definitely a case of ID theft.

I'd also like to see a class action suit against some irresponsible company like PayPal just to better establish their liability for failing to verify who is using or accessing their services, when such activities have serious negative consequences for others.

Her story about "within 12 months" is entirely bogus. Being a victim of ID theft is PERMANENT, unless and until you can get all that info changed. Unfortunately, SSA doesn't easily let people get a new SSN (if they did for ID theft alone, they would have run out of numbers by now).

What I can suggest is you add your voice to the already large chorus of people who have been ripped off by this company. Organize your story as clear and thorough as you can, and let it be known. Maybe it will at least prevent someone else from being ripped off.

 

[KakitaOCU]

Also, if you don't mind a lot of reading, familiarize yourself with Regulation Z.

As others said, the 12 month thing is bogus. The 12 month window comes in as a general timeframe to look at. Most people in the industry become incredibly skeptical of a fraud claim that is more than a year old, wondering why you didn't notice it till now. But they can't not accept a fraud claim, they may claim they don't, but when it comes down to it, they are legally requried to perform a reasonable investigation. Course what is reasonable then becomes the question, but outright telling you you're lying and prove them wrong doesn't really ring as reasonable.