Understanding Paypal

One of the most important things to understand is that Paypal provides you a Paypal account, not a real merchant account. As a result Paypal can control your account rather than you having full control over your bank account. Paypal scams has identified that during the glossy and exciting sign up period, you have to agree to a huge list of terms and conditions. The most important clause to understand is 10.2-

‘’We may, at any time and without liability, suspend, block, limit, close or cancel your right to use your Payment Instrument or Account entirely or for any particular transaction, which may in turn suspend, block, limit, close or cancel access to your Account or the Services (such as limiting access to any of your Funding Sources, and your ability to send money, make withdrawals, or remove financial Information)’’.
As a result of your account being blocked, they then have the power to freeze your funds and hold them for 180 days-
‘’Block your Account and/or hold any funds in the Reserve Account (including, without limitation, for more than 180 days if so required by PayPal, where PayPal’s rights under section 10.2 arise from your engagement in the Restricted Activity set out in section 9.1 gg.);’’

Paypal Blocking and freezing your account and funds

Paypal scams have been told that there have been thousands and thousands of cases of this happening to innocent people like yourself. Everything is going well with your account on Paypal and then boom, you receive an email out the blue from Paypal saying-

‘We regret to inform you that we are taking steps to close your account.
This measure is necessary to protect against the risk of bad customer
experiences and financial losses, in view of certain activity related to
your account that we have reason to believe has taken place.’

What happens to your money when this happens?

When your account has been frozen, suspended or closed there is a strict and structured approach Paypal carry out. Along with paypal scams, this method has been scrutinised by lawyers, customers and pretty much anyone who has ever had to go through it. Paypal reserves the right to hold onto YOUR money for 180 days while they go through their procedure.

This decision means we must oversee the appropriate disposal of any balance
that you currently hold. A gradual approach to account closure allows you
and PayPal to ‘part ways’ while considering any liabilities that may arise.

They state in their email to you that your money will be frozen for 90 days to ensure any charge backs can occur. Paypal scams can tell you from firsthand experience that this is not the case. After the 90 days they then take an additional 90 days to send the money back to you. This is where the website’s name originated from, paypal scams YOU.

So why does it take so long to get access to your money?

There have been many hypotheses for the seizure of your money for such a long period of time. The most common one is that Paypal earns interest off your money. It may not be much interest on just your money, but Paypal have over 100,000 unresolved disputes currently pending. That adds up to a lot of frozen money.

How will the process work?

To ensure the process is fair for all parties:

1. PayPal will first hold any balance in your account for 90 days. We do
this because it provides sufficient time for most claims, such as
chargebacks, to be filed by other parties. If your account balance is
negative, please note that you will have to settle any amounts owed on your
account including chargebacks or claims to avoid legal action being taken
against you.

2. Once we’re satisfied that there are no future claims or liabilities
associated with your account, we will notify you after 90 days and release
the money to your PayPal balance. If we find that any further claims are
likely, please note that we will need to retain any remaining balance for
up to 180 days from the date your PayPal account was restricted.

Please note how loosely they use the words in the email. Phrases such as ‘once we’re satisfied’ and ‘if we find that any further claims are likely’. These words do not give you a definite answer and it is solely down to Paypal’s decision when they release the funds to you. As a result you do not have any grounds to argue back. If you do argue back they will inform you to look at their policy you signed when you joined Paypal-

If you’d like more information about our policies, please read our User
Agreement. Click ‘Legal Agreements’ at the bottom of any PayPal page, and
then click ‘User Agreement for PayPal Service’.

Our right to close a PayPal account, and the retention of funds in balance,
are covered in section 10.2 and 10.3.

It won’t happen to me
Everyone who has had this happen to them all thought the same ‘this will never happen to me’, but it does. If you’re on this website then it’s mostly likely that is has already happened to you. If you currently have a working or closed Paypal account then you need to ensure you have an alternative payment method in place.