If you've never had a
problem with eBay or Paypal, please delete this now. I have a MAJOR
problem with Paypal. No identity theft--oh, no, it's even worse than
that. They don't believe I'm ME, and I can't prove
it to them!! If anyone can help, I'll be eternally grateful.
Here's the story:
I could write a book--a
horror story. I don't blame you
if you don't believe any of it.
If I read it in a book, I probably wouldn't believe it either and say
"That could NEVER happen!" But it
is happening--to me.
I was gone for so long on an
unexpected and extended business trip and owed for so many auctions that
when I got back (night of Aug 12), I went to my office on Aug 13 (Friday the
13th! Yikes!!!) and paid for a
bunch of auctions via Paypal--60+ items.
Then on Monday, Aug 16, I paid for a bunch more. I was trying to do it in a hurry
because people (like Jim Dietz) had been kindly and patiently waiting for
so long and I wanted to get their money to them ASAP. Then on Tues, I got to
work and found an email from Paypal that they had put a Hold on my account and
cancelled all the payments I had made because of the "unusual activity" in my
a! ccount!!!! (It's not unusual for me
to pay my bills, but try telling that to Paypal!) In addition, their
emails to all the sellers said that payment for the auction may have been made
with "fraudulent funds"(!!!!!)
and they were canceling the payments!!! I have gotten emails from people
calling me thief, crook, deadbeat, fraud, and worse things. Unfortunately, everybody is not nice
like Jim who just asked what's going
on.
I have been in touch with
Paypal via email for 2 days now and keep sending them emails asking what they
want from me, what do I have to do, etc. They have a system whereby you send
in an email and they will call you on the phone to prove you are you. But they wouldn't call me because I am
long distance (international)!
Instead, they have sent me a letter with some kind of code in it and
when I receive it, I must email that code back to Paypal. This proves I'm
me. How it proves I am the one
who actually made all those auction payments, I don't know. But this could take 7-10 days to
accomplish and have! this matter cleared and my Paypal account taken off
Hold. One email even said it could take
up to 30 days! I called them long distance from Jerusalem and
spent an hour trying to convince some poor guy who is just a clerk, I guess,
that I am me. He was
pleasant and sympathetic, but said it will take several days AT THE VERY LEAST
for them to sort it out. He put
all the info in the computer under my account hoping it would help. Meantime, they didn't just put a Hold on the
payments--they cancelled them completely. So if and when they DO let me
have my $1,000+ back, it willbe up to me to determine which sellers did and
which did not receive their money. Can you imagine the
recordkeeping????
This is a case where I am
actually the one using the account and there is NO fraud involved
whatsoever. But can you imagine how difficult it is to prove you are
you when you are a long distance away from the US? It's almost impossible!!!! I don't know what to do until I
can get Paypal to lift the Hold on my account. I have sent emails to sellers telling them
I would like to complete the transaction. I want the items!! But I fully understand if they
are fed up and want to cancel the transaction, re-list the item, giv! e me bad
feedback, send me nasty letters, etc. (An interesting side point is
that all of that money I sent in payments that were then cancelled is not
being returned to my bank account.
Oh, no--It is sitting in my Paypal account. It's well over a
thousand dollars. If they did
this same thing with 100,000 people with accounts out of the millions of
accounts they have, that would be over $1,000,000 dollars sitting in their
Paypal accounts instead of being with the buyer or seller.
Interesting.....)
I have spent two full workdays
working on this problem. I just
don't know what else to do and am ready to give up. Please advise if you have any
ideas that would help. I'll agree
to almost anything including that I fling myself off the highest
building. (If I didn't know
better, I'd think this was some kind of bizarre Alfred Hitchcock modern-day
movie plot!) Thanks for any
advice. Best regards, Judith
Weaver
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Judith
Weaver
PSC 98, Box
0039
APO AE
09830
