WARNING: PayPal Security Blocked Sending Money to Family Member

[CateP]

US transactions. Family member sent $9,000 to me. Money went into Paypal balance. Three days later I wanted to send it along to another family member on PayPal. I got a message saying there was a problem. Called PayPal and spoke to three people at various levels. As it turns out the PayPal security system flagged my transaction and blocked it from happening. I was told it was because it was a large amount of money. (Sending limit is $10,000) They could not overide the system. I was not able to send the money. BEWARE. PayPal security system may block sending money without any notice or any written criterai for what you can send. If it is essential that you are able to send money at a certain time to a family member or friend DO NOT TRUST OR USE PayPal. Use some other form of transferring money. Their security system may block, your ability to send money to a family member. 

[DPCreations]

Extremely suspicious activity.  Why are you the middle person for this transaction?  What didn't your sender send the money to the person you want as the recipient.  In addition to be a large sum, the combination of transactions is very high risk of blocking.  It looks like a money-laundering scheme and could get your account limited.

[Whac-A-Mole]

There is also a question -why Paypal for such a large sum  of money?

Why not onlinebanking,western union,moneygram,mail a check,domestic or intl wiretransfer? 

[CateP]

The money was sent to me because I was the only family member with a PayPal account at the time. We set up the other family member so she could recieve the money through PayPal. Paypal allows up to $10,000 to be sent to family and friends. I saw absolutely no reason why we couldn't move this money from one family member to another. Isn't that the whole point of PayPal? We have sent and received thousands of $$ through PayPal up until this point. 

[DPCreations]

No.  PayPal is to facility money transfers from one person to another; not to relay suspicious payments, especially when new accounts are involved.  There are much better ways to transfer large sums of money rather than use PayPal.

Why was't the new account set up first for a direct payment?

Where are all the parties located?

Why can't one just withdraw funds from a bank and write a check?

Why not bank to bank wire transfer?

[CateP]

Our son is 21 years old and lives in a paperless world. He had no problem sending the money home through PayPal. The problem arose when I tried to send it to another family member with PayPal. We thought this wasn't going to be an issue, but apparently it was. The reason why we didn't have our son send the money to the other family member drectly is because she didn't remember her PayPal password and I use my PayPal account all the time. Nothing nefarious there. A few days later we decided to send the money to the other family member's PayPal account because she was going to pay a college tuition bill with it. Again, PayPal says you can send up to $10K, so how were we to know sending $9K would be a problem?

My issue is that PayPal does not make these kinds of security issues known in plain lanaguage so people can make informed decisions about how to transfer money. I understand the need for security and I'm glad they are vigilant. However, in this case it was extremely frustrating to find out PayPal could block our money transfer and that no live human could lift the security block after several long discussions on the phone. There must be a way to verify parties involved so that families can send money to each other. 

[Whac-A-Mole]

@CateP

your thread is so confusing,so you have a son who lives in a paperless world,but who is 'she',and if 'she' does not remeber her password,what difference does it make whether it is you or your son sending her payment? 

Paypal has security models which monitor our activities,the fact that you sent high dollars to different members in a short period could raise some alarm.

With high dollars ,what is wrong with doing bank to bank transfer,it cost you nothing,dont tell me she cant remember her online banking password?

If so,send money gram or western union or just mail her a check.

I am a veteran buyer and seller using Paypal,I dont trust paypal for anything I i considered time sensitive or important.

[CateP]

Sorry for the confusion. I was just trying to explain wny I tried to send family money I received along through PayPal. The details really don't matter. My point is that Paypal should make it clear about restrictions around sending money so people can make informed choices. Obviously we were not informed. 

Now, after much frustration and worry about getting our funds to right place we are better informed. Hence, my warning in my first post. 

[JonnyAlé]

You don't need to apologize mam. All you people replying that it is a suspicious transaction need to take a deep breath. It is none of our business what the money is for. WHY? BECAUSE "This is America!". It should be enough that it is a legal transaction with all parties verifying their identities through multiple means. I myself have been blocked from sending much smaller amounts ($180, $90, and .67¢!!) and have been told their is no human power that can push it through even though my identity has been vetted and cleared through multiple means. If anything PayPal should allow you to pre-verify a transaction if they are going to arbitrarily block it.

[sraiyan]

I AGREE COMPLETELY I HAVE HAD EVERY SINGLE TRANSACTION BLOCKED WITH THE STUPID RESPONSE THAT THE COMPLEX SECURITY SYSTEM DOESNT ALLOW THEM TO KNOW WHY NOR DOES "IT" ALLOW FOR HUMAN OVERRIDE NOR WILL THE TRANSACTION GO THRU BECAUSE IT HAS BEEN DEEEMED POSSIBLY DANGEROUS!! IF I CANT GET AN ANSWER I WANT MY MONEY TO GO WHERE I WANT IT TO GO. IT SEEMS AS THOUGH ANY ACTIVITY IS CONSIDERED UNUSAL ACTIVITY AND I DONT SEE WHAT USE PAYAPL IS! THIS IS FEELING MORE AND MORE LIKE A SCAM SINCE I HAVE VERIFIED, LINKED, CONFIRMED ETC ALL THAT CAN BE POSSIBLY LINKED CONFIRMED OR VERIFIED! AND I HAVE UPLOADED COPY OF MY ID AND SOCIAL SECURITY CARD!