PayPal scam or not?

[carts69]

Hi, last evening I received an email from PayPal which reads....

After reviewing your account activity, we've determined that you're in violation of PayPal's Acceptable Use Policy. As a result, we've placed a permanent limitation on your account. Please remove all references to PayPal from your website(s) and/or auction(s). This includes not only removing PayPal as a payment option but also the PayPal logo and PayPal shopping cart. As per the User Agreement, when PayPal places a permanent limitations on an account due to an Acceptable Use Policy violation, any funds in your account will be held for 180 days. After 180 days, if applicable, we'll contact you with information on how to withdraw any money from your PayPal account. Should any chargebacks result in your account balance falling below zero, you'll also need to settle the amount owed to PayPal to avoid further action. You can find the complete PayPal Acceptable Use Policy by clicking Legal at the bottom of any PayPal page.

Ok first question is.. is this genuine? If it is... why am I unable to speak to anyone from PayPal, simply can’t get through on the phone, also why would this have come about, I’ve played everything by the book but it appears they don’t think so, also what right have the got to keep hold of my PayPal balance for 6 months, this to me is totally wrong, being treated this way, I’ve tried clicking the resolution tab in my account and there is absolutely nothing showing that I can reply to or defend myself, any ideas please?

[Amethyst]

Have you logged into your PayPal account from a fresh device ? ( ie not the device you opened the email on )

If you clicked a link in the email then using a different device, log in to your PayPal account and change the password .

Have you checked the actual senders address on the email ( depending on your email provider you should be able to click in the header to expand to see more detail )

Otherwise, if it is genuine, do you use the PayPal logo in your listings or on your website?

[carts69]

Hi, thanks for your reply, the email is from “service@paypal.com” & was sent to my business website email address, yes I did have a PayPal option on there which has been used only twice from customers. Nothing unruly as it’s just a window cleaning website.

[ostell]

The email may have appeared to come from paypal, that is easily spoofed, but the links within the email, or the reply to address, could have been going anywhere. Did you check where any links were pointing to?

[carts69]

The email may have appeared to come from paypal, that is easily spoofed, but the links within the email, or the reply to address, could have been going anywhere. Did you check where any links were pointing to?

There was an “our Agreement” link which I didn’t click on within the email, as an update.. I’ve now heard that another person has received the same email, it appears to be a genuine email from pp, my account is frozen, I can no longer use pp and my balance has be frozen, I cannot withdraw or transfer the funds I have, I have to wait 180 days to get my hands on my own money, this is what pay pal is capable of!

[ostell]

On scam emails there is often a link to a genuine page, such as the T&Cs. Someone else could have hijacked your account.

[Amethyst]

From PayPal site:



Before you start

If your account is limited, it means that you won’t be able to do certain things with your PayPal account. For example, you might not be able to send or withdraw money.

Usually, we ask you to complete one or more tasks to remove your account limitation. For your convenience, we always list the steps to remove the limitation in the Resolution Centre under Steps to Remove Limitation.

If you received an email stating that your account is limited, but don't see any steps in the Resolution Center, you may have received a fake email. Forward it to spoof@paypal.com and we’ll investigate it for you. After you send us the email, delete it from your inbox. If you clicked on any links or downloaded any attachments within the suspicious email or website, log in to your account and view your transactions. It’s also a good idea to change your password.

If all the steps are completed and your account remains limited, it means one of 2 things:

• We've sent you an email asking for more information, or
• We're reviewing your case, and we'll email you with our decision, usually within 3 business days.

We will notify you by email of our decision.

What to do

1. Go to Resolution Centre.
2. Click Go to Account Limitations.
3. Next to each step required to remove the limitation, click Resolve and follow the steps to provide that information.

When you have completed each step, your account will be reviewed. We will send you an email updating you on your account status. As soon as we have confirmed that the necessary steps have been completed we will remove the limitation from your account.

If you complete the steps and we ask you for more information by email, please respond as soon as possible so we can resolve your case.

[carts69]

From PayPal site:



Before you start

If your account is limited, it means that you won’t be able to do certain things with your PayPal account. For example, you might not be able to send or withdraw money.

Usually, we ask you to complete one or more tasks to remove your account limitation. For your convenience, we always list the steps to remove the limitation in the Resolution Centre under Steps to Remove Limitation.

If you received an email stating that your account is limited, but don't see any steps in the Resolution Center, you may have received a fake email. Forward it to spoof@paypal.com and we’ll investigate it for you. After you send us the email, delete it from your inbox. If you clicked on any links or downloaded any attachments within the suspicious email or website, log in to your account and view your transactions. It’s also a good idea to change your password.

If all the steps are completed and your account remains limited, it means one of 2 things:

• We've sent you an email asking for more information, or
• We're reviewing your case, and we'll email you with our decision, usually within 3 business days.

We will notify you by email of our decision.

What to do

1. Go to Resolution Centre.
2. Click Go to Account Limitations.
3. Next to each step required to remove the limitation, click Resolve and follow the steps to provide that information.

When you have completed each step, your account will be reviewed. We will send you an email updating you on your account status. As soon as we have confirmed that the necessary steps have been completed we will remove the limitation from your account.

If you complete the steps and we ask you for more information by email, please respond as soon as possible so we can resolve your case.

Yes I’ve read all the above already, but my account is seriously locked up, when I click on resolution it’s not taking me anywhere, when I click to resolve I’m faced with this page each time...


You can't use PayPal anymore

At PayPal, we value a safe community for our customers to do business. We've noticed activity on your account that's not in line with our User Agreement, so we can no longer offer you PayPal services.


Any bank account or credit card details attached to your PayPal account can't be removed nor can they be used to create a new account. You can still log in and see your account information but you can't send or receive money. Any money in your balance will be held for 180 days, after which we'll send you an email with instructions on how to transfer your money.


Reference ID: PP-007-447-556-128

[Amethyst]

Quite a lot of chat on the PayPal forums about this - seems a couple have talked about bringing court claims against PayPal for the money they are holding hostage. On what grounds though am not sure and would need to read their terms on the matter first.

The 180 days is their timescale for complaints and refunds from the purchaser. I don't know what terms you have breached - pretty sure they encourage businesses to offer payment methods through PayPal and use the PayPal logo on their websites - so that reason doesn't sound particularly valid. Is that the only reason they have given ? Actually re reading their email it seems they are just asking you to stop using PayPal as a payment method ( and thus remove logo) BECAUSE of the restriction on your account - so that isn't the breach, and the breach is the rather vague....

"After reviewing your account activity, we've determined that you're in violation of PayPal's Acceptable Use Policy. As a result, we've placed a permanent limitation on your account."

And...

"We've noticed activity on your account that's not in line with our User Agreement, so we can no longer offer you PayPal services."

Have you had anything unusual go through the account ?

[Amethyst]

Gosh lots of things it could be....


Restricted Activities

9.1 Restricted Activities. In connection with your use of our website, your Account, or the Services, or in the course of your interactions with PayPal, a User or a third party, you will not:

1. Breach this Agreement (including, without limitation, opening multiple PayPal accounts or breaching the Card Processing Agreement, the Acceptable Use Policy or any other agreement that you have entered into with PayPal (including a Policy));
2. Breach any law, statute, contract, or regulation (including, without limitation, those governing financial services including anti-money laundering, consumer protections, unfair competition, anti-discrimination and false advertising);
3. Infringe PayPal’s or any third party's copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret or other intellectual property rights, or rights of publicity or privacy;
4. Act in a manner that is obscene, defamatory, libelous, unlawfully threatening or unlawfully harassing;
5. Provide false, inaccurate or misleading Information;
6. Fail to provide us with further information about you or your business activities that we may reasonably request;
7. Send or receive what we reasonably believe to be potentially fraudulent or unauthorised funds;
8. Refuse to cooperate in an investigation or provide confirmation of your identity or any Information you provide to us;
9. Attempt to "double dip" or undertake any action which could amount to unjust enrichment during the course of a dispute by receiving or attempting to receive funds from both PayPal and the seller, bank, or credit card company for the same transaction;
10. Use an anonymising proxy, whether electronically, physically (e.g. using a P.O. box as your address) or otherwise;
11. Control an Account that is linked to another Account that has engaged in any of these Restricted Activities (an Account is deemed to be “linked” to another Account for the purpose of this section 9.1.k where PayPal has reason to believe that both Accounts are controlled by the same legal personality or group of legal personalities (including, without limitation, individuals), which is more likely when both Accounts share certain attributes, including, without limitation, the same recorded user name, email address, funding source (e.g. bank account) and/or recorded ID used to receive services from PayPal’s partners (such as an eBay ID));
12. Conduct your business or use the Services in a manner that results in or may result in complaints, Disputes, Claims, Reversals, Chargebacks, fees, fines, penalties and other liability to PayPal, a User, a third party or you;
13. Abuse (as either a buyer or seller) of our Online Dispute Resolution process and/or PayPal Buyer Protection;
14. Cause PayPal to receive a disproportionate number of Claims that have been closed in favour of the claimant regarding your Account or business;
15. Have a credit score from a credit reporting agency that indicates a high level of risk associated with your use of the Services;
16. Use your Account or the Services in a manner that PayPal, Visa, MasterCard, American Express or our bank acquirer and/or payment processors reasonably believe to be an abuse of the bank’s reversal process, credit card system or a violation of credit card association rules;
17. Allow your Account to have a balance reflecting an amount owing to us;
18. Undertake activity that does or may present to us a credit or fraud risk, a sudden increase in exposure, or a significant or otherwise detrimental level of exposure (as PayPal reasonably believes based on the information available to it);
19. Use a credit card with your Account to provide yourself with a cash advance (or help others to do so);
20. Access the Services from a country that is not included on PayPal's Worldwide page;
21. Disclose or distribute another User’s Information to a third party, or use the Information for marketing purposes unless you receive the User’s express consent to do so;
22. Send unsolicited email to a User or use the Services to collect payments for sending, or assisting in sending, unsolicited email to third parties;
23. Take any action that imposes an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on the Services, our infrastructure, our websites, our software or our systems (including any networks and servers used to provide any of the Services) whether operated by us or on our behalf;
24. Facilitate any viruses, Trojan horses, malware, worms or other computer programming routines that attempts to or may damage, disrupt, corrupt, misuse, detrimentally interfere with, surreptitiously intercept or expropriate, or gain unauthorized access to any system, data or Information or the Services;
25. Use any robot, spider, other automatic device, or manual process to monitor or copy our website without our prior written permission;
26. Use any device, software or routine to bypass our robot exclusion headers, or interfere or disrupt or attempt to interfere with or disrupt our infrastructure, our websites, software, systems (including any networks and servers used to provide any of the Services) operated by us or on our behalf, any of the Services or other Users’ use of any of the Services;
27. Copy, reproduce, communicate to any third party, alter, modify, create derivative works, publicly display or frame any content from the PayPal website(s) without our or any applicable third party’s written consent;
28. Take any action that may cause us to lose any of the services from our internet service providers, payment processors, or other suppliers or service providers;
29. Use the Service to test credit card behaviours;
30. Reveal your Account password(s) to anyone else, nor may you use anyone else's password. We are not responsible for losses incurred by you including, without limitation, the use of your Account by any person other than you, arising as the result of misuse of passwords;
31. Do, or omit to do, or attempt to do or omit to do, any other act or thing which may interfere with the proper operation of the Service or activities carried out as part of the Services or otherwise than in accordance with the terms of this Agreement;
32. Request or send a Personal Transaction payment for a Commercial Transaction;
33. Allow your use of the Service to present to PayPal a risk of non-compliance with PayPal’s anti-money laundering, counter terrorist financing and similar regulatory obligations (including, without limitation, where we cannot verify your identity or you fail to complete the steps to lift your sending, receiving or withdrawal limit in accordance with sections 4.5, 5.1 and 6.3 or where you expose PayPal to the risk of any regulatory fines by European, US or other authorities for processing your transactions);
34. Integrate or use any of the Services without fully complying with all mandatory requirements communicated to you by way of any integration or programmers’ guide or other documentation issued by PayPal from time to time;
35. Advertise, promote, introduce or describe PayPal Credit to your customers without obtaining the necessary regulatory permission to do so (which may lead to you committing a criminal offence under the (UK) Financial Services and Markets Act 2000);
36. Suffer (or cause us to determine that there is a reasonable likelihood of) a security breach of your website or systems that could result in the unauthorised disclosure of customer information.

You agree that engaging in the above Restricted Activities diminishes your or other PayPal customers’ safe access and/or use of your Payment Instrument, Account or the Service generally.

[Amethyst]

Hmmmm so the account was for your window cleaning business but only a couple customers used it ? Have you been using it for other business stuff ? or general personal transactions ( do you have a separate personal PayPal account ?). Is there much in the way of funds in the account ?

[carts69]

Quite a lot of chat on the PayPal forums about this - seems a couple have talked about bringing court claims against PayPal for the money they are holding hostage. On what grounds though am not sure and would need to read their terms on the matter first.

The 180 days is their timescale for complaints and refunds from the purchaser. I don't know what terms you have breached - pretty sure they encourage businesses to offer payment methods through PayPal and use the PayPal logo on their websites - so that reason doesn't sound particularly valid. Is that the only reason they have given ? Actually re reading their email it seems they are just asking you to stop using PayPal as a payment method ( and thus remove logo) BECAUSE of the restriction on your account - so that isn't the breach, and the breach is the rather vague....

"After reviewing your account activity, we've determined that you're in violation of PayPal's Acceptable Use Policy. As a result, we've placed a permanent limitation on your account."

And...

"We've noticed activity on your account that's not in line with our User Agreement, so we can no longer offer you PayPal services."

Have you had anything unusual go through the account ?

Thanks for your reply, the part that confuses me is... I simply can’t go to any resolution page, it locks up, very strange!
regarding unusual purchases, yes.. the day before all this came about, I made a purchase for an item from Ireland for £1,395 & opted to pay after delivery, which is due 6th November (I think)?
would this have anything to do with it? It’s an expensive purchase compared to what I usually spend.
also.. my PayPal balance is £72 but I do have a debit card for backup payments in place

[carts69]

Thanks for your reply, the part that confuses me is... I simply can’t go to any resolution page, it locks up, very strange!
regarding unusual purchases, yes.. the day before all this came about, I made a purchase for an item from Ireland for £1,395 & opted to pay after delivery, which is due 6th November (I think)?
would this have anything to do with it? It’s an expensive purchase compared to what I usually spend.
also.. my PayPal balance is £72 but I do have a debit card for backup payments in place

Also... my daughters account is affected too, she lives at same address