wrong recipient

[mirxtech]

So my son and his girlfriend are on a tight budget. My son doesn't want me to send him money but I know they need it. So I sent $50 to his girlfriend, using her mobile phone number.

After I sent it a message popped up saying I sent it to a person I don't know. I thought ok well maybe it was her sister's old phone and she's got the phone now. So I asked her about it and she said no she never got a text, and no she never got the $50.

I called Paypal and they said the phone number belonged to that person I don't know and there is nothing they can do to help me get my money back (the transaction immediately went through). They even went so far as to suggest I call the number I sent the money to.

Uh, hello? The number I sent the money to BELONGS TO MY SON'S GIRLFRIEND.

What good will it do to call her when the money didn't GO to her?

Some other person who is erroneously using her phone number got the $50 they were supposed to get for groceries. I asked paypal why they are letting someone use a phone number which doesn't belong to them. They don't know. I asked they shut down that phone number since it clearly doesn't belong to this other person. They didn't know about that either.

I pay hundreds of dollars in fees to pay pal for ebay sales every year and paypal won't even help me one bit. I emailed the person who got the money with no reply. Why would they reply? They just got a free $50.

Janessa Stam at nessaquik@gmail.com do the right thing and return the money so my 18 year old kid can buy some groceries!

[kernowlass]

@mirxtech

2 people can't have the same number linked to a paypal account or the same email address.

So you must have made an error or a typo and sent it to an incorrect email addy or phone number that did not belong to the person you wanted it sent to.

[mirxtech]

No. It went to the right mobile number. The money went to a person we don't know. Paypal says I can ask my bank to dispute the charge but it was paid partly with a paypal balance and partly my bank account.

My son's girlfriend owns that mobile number but someone else is using that number on their paypal account. I asked paypal to shut that phone number down and they didn't know if they could do that.

That's how you get treated wehn you pay a company hundreds of dollars in fees every year.

[sharpiemarker]

Ask the gf about the history of her phone number.  Did it belong to someone else before she took it over.  It doesn't hurt to call the number to test it.

[mirxtech]

I called the number and texted the number. It belongs to my son's girlfriend. She doesn't know who would have had it before this.

Even if my bank lets me dispute the problem I'm still out $20 because I paid part with paypal balance and part with my bank account.

So the word to the wise is don't send any money to a phone number unless you know that phone number is correct in the pay pal system because pay pal will just send it to anybody they want.

[mirxtech]

PS try it. Send a penny to (number removed by moderator). It goes to a person who is NOT my son's girlfriend. I have the right number.

[nhlaholic]

I'm curious if you made any further progress with this. I lost $40 due to a nearly identical situation. I've confirmed the number as well as the owner (a relative). The payment was sent to the correct mobile number but collected by an unknown person. My relative never received a text notification for either of the 2 payments sent. Clearly, someone has hijacked - for lack of a better term - the phone number and attached to his account.