December 2020 Complaints Against PayPal

Compiled from Public Data by FairShake

If you have an issue with PayPal, you’re not alone.

The US government’s Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) collects complaints against financial companies.

In 2020, the CFPB received 2497 complaints against PayPal. PayPal ranked Number 16 among all financial companies for the most complaints.


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Complaint Details:

Date of Complaint: December 5, 2020

Company Official Name: Paypal Holdings, Inc

State: CO

Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-Product: General-purpose prepaid card

Issue: Unexpected or other fees

Full Complaint:
Someone used my card and made purchases. This first happened in XXXX Now again 2 times in a row on XX/XX/XXXX. The refused to look into it saying it was pending except it wasn’t Cause the money came off my card. Obviously the security they say they have is a joke. And their unwillingness to help me or protect my money is not a way a business that i trust my pay going to should work. They promised a supervisor would email me and that didn’t happen. Still hasn’t..and they still have not fixed anything from XXXX. This company doesn’t train the employees about fraud or much anything really. Now my bills are past due my money is gone my daughters bday was today and cant even get her XXXX .Venmo doesn’t even care!! Their security has to be better then this..so upset

Company response:

Response Type: Closed with monetary relief


Complaint Details:

Date of Complaint: December 4, 2020

Company Official Name: Paypal Holdings, Inc

State: FL

Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-Product: General-purpose credit card or charge card

Issue: Closing your account
Sub-Issue: Can’t close your account

Full Complaint:
On our PayPal account, we have realized the primary email address was changed without our authorization to a name we have no idea who it is. The communication for an order placed using PayPal did not come to my email address which is why we looked at account to find this horrific finding.

Even though we can log on and can see things, we can not change the primary email address. It says to call PayPal. We have tried calling every number available and the lines keep saying their customer service lines are very busy and we should go the message center and hit HELP and it will be faster.

We have done this and it says they will respond in a few hours, and nothing happens : no text or email – which if they are emailing – this fictitious email address is receiving the communication! We tried again and same thing – nothing.

We can’t get through and we can’t close account.

Complaint Tags: Older American

Company response:

Response Type: Closed with non-monetary relief


Complaint Details:

Date of Complaint: December 5, 2020

Company Official Name: Paypal Holdings, Inc

State: MD

Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-Product: Mobile or digital wallet

Issue: Managing, opening, or closing your mobile wallet account

Full Complaint:
I have {00.00} USD in my PayPal wallet. Since XX/XX/2020 they have locked my account and denied me access to my funds. They sent the following message in XXXX and again about XXXX.
” You can’t use PayPal anymore At PayPal, we value a safe community for our customers to do business. We noticed activity in your account thats inconsistent with our User Agreement and we no longer offer you PayPal services. Any bank or credit card information linked to your PayPal account can not be removed nor can it be used to create a new account. You can still log in and see your account information but you cant send or receive money. Any money in your balance will be held for 180 days, after which well send you an email with instructions about transferring your money.Reference ID : XXXX ” This is theft and I want my money returned to me with interest.

Complaint Tags: Older American

Company response:

Response Type: Closed with explanation


Complaint Details:

Date of Complaint: December 5, 2020

Company Official Name: Paypal Holdings, Inc

State: PA

Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-Product: Mobile or digital wallet

Issue: Unexpected or other fees

Full Complaint:
Venmo froze my account with {0.00} a month ago and still hasnt resolved the issue! This has now been a month of me fighting to have MY money transferred to MY bank. I verified my identity and now they want bank statements which is personal! The money I transferred was to my fianc and they froze my account and it cant even be put back into it! How does a company withold your personal money for a month!?

Company response:

Response Type: Closed with explanation


Complaint Details:

Date of Complaint: December 5, 2020

Company Official Name: Paypal Holdings, Inc

State: MO

Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-Product: Domestic (US) money transfer

Issue: Other service problem

Company response:

Response Type: Closed with non-monetary relief


Complaint Details:

Date of Complaint: December 5, 2020

Company Official Name: Paypal Holdings, Inc

State: None

Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-Product: Virtual currency

Issue: Other transaction problem

Complaint Tags: Older American

Company response:

Response Type: Closed with explanation


Complaint Details:

Date of Complaint: December 4, 2020

Company Official Name: Paypal Holdings, Inc

State: NC

Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-Product: Domestic (US) money transfer

Issue: Fraud or scam

Full Complaint:
A year ago, I paid an online service for malware elimination. At that time, the service made it cler that this was a subscription and that if I did not cancel the subscription I would be charged another {.00} one year later. I went online and cancelled the service because I didn’t need a subscription. I have the meail documenting this cancellation. This week, the service charged {.00} to my Paypal account. I diputed this charge with Paypal and was informed that they derermined the charge was legitimate. I sent the subscription documentation to Paypal but have gotten no response. I also sent the cencellation documentstion t0 the service provider and no response. This is a fraudulent charge and Paypal needs to refund my money. Paypal transaction number is XXXX.

Company response:

Response Type: Closed with monetary relief


Complaint Details:

Date of Complaint: December 4, 2020

Company Official Name: Paypal Holdings, Inc

State: VA

Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-Product: General-purpose credit card or charge card

Issue: Advertising and marketing, including promotional offers
Sub-Issue: Didn’t receive advertised or promotional terms

Company response:

Response Type: Closed with monetary relief


Complaint Details:

Date of Complaint: December 5, 2020

Company Official Name: Paypal Holdings, Inc

State: CA

Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-Product: Refund anticipation check

Issue: Fraud or scam

Full Complaint:
Paypal offer ” Get {.00} when you shop with Paypal this holiday season. Make 3 purchases of {.00} or more at select merchants by XX/XX/2020. ” Offer period starts XX/XX/2020 and end XX/XX/2020. {.00} credit rewad will be added to the account within 5-7 business days. I made 3 purchases of {.00} at XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. It has been more than 5-7 business days and the {.00} credit has not been posted to my Paypal ‘s account. I contacted Paypal through their message center and was just getting the run around.

Company response:

Response Type: Closed with monetary relief


Complaint Details:

Date of Complaint: December 5, 2020

Company Official Name: Paypal Holdings, Inc

State: MO

Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-Product: Mobile or digital wallet

Issue: Unauthorized transactions or other transaction problem

Company response:

Response Type: Closed with explanation


FairShake accessed this complaint from the public archives of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). You can file your own complaint with the CFPB here.

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