Paypal has restricted my account Help!

Hi guys,

So, I am looking for some advice, if any one out there has some good advice it would be greatly appreciated.

Paypal has restricted my account, they want me to send them a copy of my ID, bank statement, supplier list and my social security number!! The only explanation I got was that I recently changed my merchandise and they needed all this information to unfreeze my account.


Has anyone else experienced this before any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hi dinasaur 230,

My advice at the moment is to try keep yourself safe from possible Paypal fraud/scam.

Paypal has enumerated some tips to protect ourselves from scams, and I copy paste:

"Emails from PayPal will always address you by your first and last name or the business name associated with your PayPal account. A PayPal scam email may include the salutation "Dear PayPal User" or "Dear PayPal Member"

If we require information from you, we will notify you in an email and request that you enter the information only after you have safely and securely logged in to your PayPal account.

Often, PayPal scams will request details such as your full name, account password, credit card number, bank account, PIN number, Social Security Number, or mother's maiden name."

Hopefully this is not the case at your end (but since you mentioned they are asking for your Social Security Number and ID, hey that's your identity!), SO better be sure right now. If this is not a scam, then I'll try to look around for you to see how to deal with a Paypal restriction. Do let us know.

P.S. To log in safely to the Paypal website, open a new web browser (e.g., Internet Explorer or Netscape) and type in the following: Link hidden: Login to view
Here's the link to 'How can I protect myself from Paypal Fraud' -
Link hidden: Login to view

Kind regards,

Yes, sound advice from Irene, That has all the hallmarks of a scam from what you have written. Simple to find out, just log into your account as Irene has indicated you do, and you will be able to see what's going on.

Never take anything for granted received via email, no matter who it is from.

If it does turn out to be legit, then all I can say is WOW, they are really turning up the security.

I agree totally! My account has not been frozen since I opened it but it was recently hacked... So scams are definitely out there :(

Better yet, call PayPal to ask them why the money has been frozen. You can contact PayPal at 1-888-221-1161.

In case your PayPal account has been officially put on hold by PayPal themselves, you might find this thread helpful:

Link hidden: Login to view

Keep us posted, all the best!

P.S. A profile pic would be a nice addition to your profile :)

It is true!! I called them and all they said was I had either suspicious activity or I had recently changed the merchandise I was selling.
I logged on to my account and they are asking for a copy of my photo I.D, bank account statement, proof of residence, invoice account, supplier contact and my social security number!! All of it together !! Dude I do not give out my social security number to just any person who asks for it!!!

I cant print out any shipping labels for the items that I have sold, I cannot transfer money and I can't close the account!
I have 100% positive feedback, I don't have any complains form my customers, I am just at an AHHHH!!! point.

Wow, you must have moved into a product range that they have a heavy focus on at the moment, because that is extreme in anyone's language. How old is your PayPal account?

That has to be playing a factor here, because I've never heard of anything as stiff as this. It almost seems to be a combination of a product line they are sus about, and a newish account that has caused some serious red flags to fly up.

I wouldn't give up, now you have the lines of communication open, try negotiating with what they require. You may well be able to get to a point where they don't ask for your SSN.

Hi dinasaur 230,

Yes that's kinda stiff. Do you have any specific idea what for? I am suspecting it has something to do with the product you have sold, because they asked for supplier info and mentioned that it has something to do with the merchandise. Hmm, designer brands?

As fudjj mentioned, make the most of the communication lines you have initiated. Keep us updated.

Thanks!

I have been a member since 2007 about 2 years. I have been selling on ebay for about the same time. I am not selling designer brands. I have never experienced anything like this.

My concern is safety, is it same for me to turn in all this info to them, who guarantees my protection? Paypal, huh what a joke? That is what I told the customer service rep when I spoke to them, who guarantees that my social #, or any of my personnal info, will not be used inappropriately.

Just found out, I cannot receive any payments from my customers. What!! I am done!!

No, they will be holding all your payments until you satisfy them of your authenticity for sure.

2 years, I can't believe that they have dropped such a big hammer on you mate, what new product have you moved into?

I would try to bargain with them and offer only the requests you feel comfortable giving them.
I would avoid if possible, the social security number but give them everything else. On your bank account, I would block everything but your identity and items they want to see. If they just want to see a copy of your bank account, block out all transactions and the total you have in your account and the full account number. Only leave the last four digits.

If you are certain you will not give them your SSN, make sure they agree to not request it. That way you wont give them a bunch of personal info only to find they still want the SSN.

If you are doing great on eBay and really want to keep going, you may have to comply.

They may get jerky on you and decide to not do business with you anymore and say they will hold you funds for 180 days. If the funds are substantial, you could consider taking them to small claims. This is worse case scenario stuff and shouldn't happen.

If this is real important to you, be friendly with them and even try to build up a re pore with the CS rep. Explain you are looking forward to continued business on eBay etc. etc... .

Just a little more on this. You may have been flagged because the IP# you are using was used by a scammer or you signed in from a public access point
or your address was used by a scammer etc... .

Or you live in a an area with a much higher percentage of problems based on the population.

If you live in Fargo and they have had 75 fraudulent cases in the past 6 months, they will be keen on looking for bad apples from this part of the country.

So, it is official, i was shut down. I gave them all the info except for my social security number, wich I told paypal i would not give up. They still shut me down!! You would think that if there was an issue with what i am selling it would be ebay who would shut me down, not paypal.

All they said in the e-mail that was sent to me was "suspicious activity". They asked for invoice purchases of items that I had selling at the time wich I supplied to them and I still got shut down.

I have around $500 dollars in the account, it is not much, but it was money I was counting on. Oh and it will be held for 180 days, of which I will probably have to fight and fight and complain just to get it back.

Does anyone know of an alternative to paypal? I am not trying to rip anyone off man I just trying to make some extra money, to pay my bills, and eat!! I am looking into propay and paymate as options, but it seems that ebay only wants paypal!

If you are totally legit, I would take them to small claims court. Add up all your costs and then pad the number by 2x. Let the judge decide if punitive is allowed.
If and when Paypal contacts you and says their agreement allows for arbitration, tell them you want to let a judge determine that. If and when they immediately refund your monies tell them you want the court fees as well.(This is up to you, you may just want to get out of it with little hassle.)
If they resist tell them you are still taking them to court for those fees, especially if your state lets the winner recoup court fees.

There is a law which I don't remember which protects people from rules given by a powerful entitiy. What that means is if an entity makes rules which a person has no choice but to except then a judge can rule in favor of that person, This is why arbitration is many times disregarded by judges regarding Paypal.

Go to places like rip-off report and the like and printout similar complaints for part of your case. If the judge is not well versed in Paypal this will help him get the picture. Printout like 50 similar reports to add to your case.


My state allows for treble damages in cases of fraud or bad behavior, even if the amount is over the state allowed limit for small claims.


I would insist that Paypal immediately within 48 hours return my funds if they tell you they will give you your money back after filing the case. Don't let them drag you on for weeks.

If you not completely legit, just wait the 180 days.

I am not a lawyer. This is my advice from my personal readings.

Thanks for all the advice guys. Especially you Planes, as usual your advice is beyond my 2 years of selling online.

I am very legit and I will follow your advice. How do I start the process? I have never filed a small claims. Any advice on how to start?

I did go to rip-off and found a handful of people who had the same experience.

Am I doomed on ebay now? Is there an alternative to Paypal? I did see some posts on a merchant account, but have no idea how to start.

Thanks for all the advice and help.

Just one more thing since this I have shut down my ebay items, since I have no way of payment. I have lost a couple of sales as well. I have one person waiting on a $200 dollar item, which I e-mailed her about my situation. Once I explain what is going on with paypal, they assume that I am trying to scam them, which I am not.

Just one more thing since this I have shut down my ebay items, since I have no way of payment. I have lost a couple of sales as well. I have one person waiting on a $200 dollar item, which I e-mailed her about my situation. Once I explain what is going on with paypal, they assume that I am trying to scam them, which I am not.

If you have received money from this person and it has been received into your personal checking account, then you should definitely ship the item. If it is held in Paypal's account and you can not access it, then do not ship the item.

If it were me, I would probably contact an attorney to see if one wanted to take the case on. If not then go to small claims and sue for the max your state allows. Paypal is really being a jerk on this one. File the rest under punitive damages.

You go to your local courthouse. The one that services your town. It may not be in your town but an adjoining one. GO to their small claims division
and simply ask to start a case and for a small fee you can file that day or take the paperwork home with you and think it through and return the next day.


Just remember, the item you did not send will be deducted from the case by the judge most likely. So if you ship this item now it won't be deucted in the future.

You can request that PayPal initiate a reversal on any transactions where monies have been received into you PayPal account for items that you haven't yet sent.

Even though they have suspended your account, they can still process reversals, and given that there has been such a huge red flag raised on this one, I would think that they would in fact see your reversal request as a good sign.

The spin odd issue here is of course your eBay account itself. You need to be protecting that as much as possible, and having a line of customers banging you on feedback can place you in eBay's sites in regards to seller performance.

If we are talking about a US account, then there are other payment options available to you, however offering PayPal in association with those other options is required, unless they have relaxed that policy of late, but I'm not aware that they have.

Most important thing now, you need to keep the lines of communication open. Don't just consider this a closed case at this point, keep showing them that you are looking for ways to work through this in a positive way.

The moment you get their backs up, then there is no chance at all. Keep talking, be nice (as much as that may erk you at the moment) and keep chipping away. I personally think that the quickest way out of this for you is to request reversals, show them you have nothing but good intentions towards your customers.

Fudjj makes some excellent points. I recant in that you should try a little more to show good faith to Paypal and if you haven't shipped the product yet, it is a good idea to refund the money. That way there will be less held by Paypal and you will still have the product. And it shows your honesty in a potential small claims case.

History does show that Paypal is not prone to reverse this decision but if you are willing to offer your SSN, you may try to mediate their decision with that option.

If you do not get anywhere with further communication to Paypal it is likely your eBay account will be doomed as they share information religiously and well, are basically the same company.

It is at this point, I would take to the other options mentioned.

Hi

Since the 3 June, my Paypal is limited because they want invoices, email addresses, telephone numbers and proof that the supplier has sufficient inventory and so on for suppliers who I bought items from on Ebay, now, I read somewhere that Paypal and EBay are partners, do they not know, I cannot get the email addresses, the telephone numbers and so on, the invoice shows the member Id and that is all, I cannot call them, I am in South Africa, costs too much money, contact them through Email and get the same reply, until I supply the info, they will not open it, do I close my business?
I am South African, I cannot open some of the Credit card facilities, I do not have an American bank account, I hate the power Paypal have but, what do I do?

That is so unfortunate, Alan...

eBay actually owns PayPal :) Although they operate separately they oftentimes overlap. But regardless of your location or citizenship you will have to comply with their requirements if you want to continue using your PayPal account. Once you provide them with the documents they are requesting from you - you should be able to access your account once more.

At this point unless you comply with their demands your explanations/emails to them will remain uneventful :(

If you continue to have trouble with your PayPal maybe you should consider other online Payment options such as those discussed on this thread:

Link hidden: Login to view

Hope this helps! Cheers.

Yes, you're not the first, and unfortunately won't be the last that PayPal nail down. The really unfortunate thing is that they seem to be getting even tougher in some instances of late, and that can't be good news.

As Richelle has said, compliance with their request is about the only way forward with them, but first and foremost you really do need to open the lines of communication with them. I really do suggest calling them, get a dialogue going in an effort to resolve the issues. Emails will usually be dealt with nothing more than a rubber stamp, and you'll get absolutely now where fast.

Calling is of course no guarantee of getting anything sorted, but it does help to bridge the gap that you get with email correspondence in a lot of cases.

Check the eBay payment options available to you there is SA, if you do have other options, then as Richelle has said, see if you can find an alternative that you can possible use.

In the mean time, getting that PayPal account of yours unrestricted is the most important thing you can do to keep eBay trading.

Good luck with it.

For the safety and security of the PayPal network, we often review accounts for potential risks. After reviewing your account, we have decided to close it because of security issues.

We are making every effort to minimize any disruption to your business.

If your PayPal account balance is zero, and you have no unresolved buyer complaints or chargebacks, your account will remain limited.

-----------------------------------
Disbursement options
-----------------------------------

Option 1. If you owe refunds to any of your buyers, you can use the money in your PayPal account to refund them.

To refund your buyers:
1. Log in to your PayPal account.
2. Click "Contact Us" at the bottom of any page.
3. Click "Contact Customer Service."
4. Under "Choose a Topic," select "Sending/Receiving Money."
5. Under "Choose a Subtopic," select "Refund/Cancel a Payment."
6. Click "Continue" and follow the instructions to refund payments.

Option 2. Money in your PayPal account will be held for 180 days. After 180 days, we'll email you information on how to receive your funds.

We regret any inconvenience this may cause.

Thanks,

PayPal

Please do not reply to this email. This mailbox is not monitored and you will not receive a response. For assistance, log in to your PayPal account and click the Help link in the top right corner of any PayPal page.






I have almost been going for a month, I had a few transactions, 26 in one month, I paid money on iOffer and then the goods never arrived, so I put in a claim, I then got the mail, they want invoices, emails etc of 5 transactions, I did this and sent it to them and this is the mail I got after up and down mails, information requests and so on since the 3 June, they closing my account?

What are my options?

Alan, I think for now you will have to do what PayPal has stated in their email. And hopefully everything will be resolved and your account will no longer be restricted. Once PayPal restricts an account there's no way out but their way.

The faster you comply the faster eBay will lift your account's restriction.

All the best!

There is nothing you can do!! I turned in all the information that they asked for and they still shut me down. I got the same e-mail. Up until know nothing.

Hi

I called Paypal on Skype all the way from South Africa, they have received the invoices and things which was a delay tactic it seems, because I bought from a guy on iOffer who disappeared and made a claim, they did not like this, nor the fact that I was doing video games which in Paypals eyes are all scamming, so they decided, because I had a claim for $120 and because I then had a further claim for $4856 from the Alibaba supplier, two claims are no good, also, I deal with video games so they shut me off, closed my account and I can only get money back in 180 days.
I am now registering with Moneybookers, who else is reliable that can be used on Ebay and on most sites with a good name, after all said and done, if I see the bad things about Paypal on Google, I cannot believe I registered with them in the first place.
If you can suggest merchants for people not living in the US or UK?

Thanks

Hi

I called Paypal on Skype all the way from South Africa, they have received the invoices and things which was a delay tactic it seems, because I bought from a guy on iOffer who disappeared and made a claim, they did not like this, nor the fact that I was doing video games which in Paypals eyes are all scamming, so they decided, because I had a claim for $120 and because I then had a further claim for $4856 from the Alibaba supplier, two claims are no good, also, I deal with video games so they shut me off, closed my account and I can only get money back in 180 days.
I am now registering with Moneybookers, who else is reliable that can be used on Ebay and on most sites with a good name, after all said and done, if I see the bad things about Paypal on Google, I cannot believe I registered with them in the first place.
If you can suggest merchants for people not living in the US or UK?

Thanks

Hi Alan,

OK, that actually explains quite a bit about the approach they have taken in your case. Two claims and selling in a market that is absolutely raked with scams at the moment, that of video games.

I can't help that think that there has still been some sort of break down in communication between you and PayPal, but at this point there really is no option forward with them now, other than fully comply with anything they want and hope they cut you a break.

It could well be that you will be red flagged until the claims are assessed at least, but from there you may well be in with a chance. The fact that you are also a new account holder would make them even more nervous, so it looks like a case of circumstances working against you unfortunately.

I must admit that I am not currently across the board on eBay payment policy, but it used to be that in different countries, different payment options were available. However it was a requirement that you also offered PayPal as a payment option.

Now that may well be changed at this point, perhaps someone who is up on policy could clarify that one for you. If it is still policy, then that could well put pay to eBay completely until you are cleared by PayPal.

First thing you need to do I think is see what other payment options are open to you on your eBay, because they do vary from country to country.

The Salehoo site staff and members really have a wealth of information; I appreciate your inputs by the way.
The woman Holly from Paypal said, the minute they see you buying video games, the watch you, the minute you do the first refund or claim, they close you. They not risk it obviously. Being new, having some of the video games myself, I followed the advice of; sell what you know first, well, I got into deep trouble didn’t I, I lost my Paypal account, I lost $4 856 in one go and only afterwards realised the formula of calculation on Ebay (Cost of product, shipping costs properly calculated, Ebay listing costs, Paypal/Merchant costs then lastly, desired profit)
They have closed it and will refund me in 180 days, and then I will try again, if I do not come right, I will open a Paypal on my wife’s name and carry on trading, although, history has taught me:
1. NO WESTERN UNION these are usually scammers and no refund can take place
2. Do not trust a company who even sends you their registration papers because this can be bought on the internet or falsified.
3. Get Skype credit and call them and hear how they answer the phone etc and determine whether they exist.
4. One other tactic I found is Alipay and Moneybookers have Escrow, you pay, they send and when you receive the goods they release the money, if you do not receive, you don’t lose, the minute you suggest this form of payment, scammers back away.
5. Ask for a commercial invoice with telephone numbers (Call on Skype), physical address (Google maps) and try and find them and ask them questions about the surroundings which you can clearly see, if they sound clueless, that is not the address
6. Ask for samples as they often have a MOQ (Minimum ordering quantity) of 100 or 1 000, this is a big order for a drop ship type client and plenty of money to lose, if they don’t do samples, they scammers
7. Be careful, Wii, Xbox and Playstation are not original in china or Hong Kong, they are third party goods or OEM items, so when you list, list it as goods for or compatible with the Xbox, never say Xbox good as you will end up refunding as it is “fake” and not the real thing. It is not a replica or a fake; it is a third party product not the original.

I needless to say have changed or still looking for a new niche, this one is too scary

Great points there, Alan!

Over $4k was a hefty price to pay for a first time :(

Also, if I may add - Do a whois search of the website. It is ideal to deal with sites that have been online for at least 2 years. Then you can also run background checks by googling the seller's name or site and check if any complaints or scam warnings have been posted.

If you don't have enough money to spare for skype credit, then email the supplier - you'll be able to see their response rates and get to know them better. But yes a call is often times much better!

Always do a test purchase before diving in and doing a bulk order.

And now that you are a member of SaleHoo, you can post the supplier's name or site on our forum and we can check it out for you.

Cheers! :)

The Salehoo site staff and members really have a wealth of information; I appreciate your inputs by the way.

Thanks for that Alan, and for the wealth of insights you have shared which were gathered from your actual experience. This is what gives value to this forum, an exchange of information and tips from those who have been there to those who will start out. You also have a good attitude towards business and money, when losing doesn't stop you from moving forward. :)

All the best!

Alan,
The real reason you were shut down is because they saw a transaction on Alibaba an Asian based company which is known to offer bootlegs.
That is really the reason. So all of their talk to you and their policies are based on the opinion of theirs that you are selling video games from Asia, a known bootleg continent.

One or two or even three refunds for video games won't shut you down normally unless there is a complaint/s about authenticity.

Even if you not selling BLs their mindset is they saw some transaction on Alibaba.

Further, if you set up another account in your wifes name, they will shut you down in less than 72 hours and freeze any funds in that account.

I sent you a PM Alan.