PayPal
Customer Service
RE: Wrongful actions by PayPal and PayPal users
To Whom It May Concern,
I am writing you due to issues I have encountered with the management of my PayPal account and the funds therein. My name is Juan Salazar and my PayPal account is linked. Specifically, in recent weeks I have been subject to wrongful transaction reversals (and therefore deposit reversals) and to my ten-year-old account being blocked, as a result of individuals with the intent to defraud me.
In the past few weeks I have been transacting with Bitcoin on a platform called Paxful. Prior to initiating these transactions, I read the PayPal terms and conditions, where I found no indication that users are not permitted to use PayPal to transact with cryptocurrencies, so I began using PayPal to receive payment for the sale of my bitcoins. My business is the sale of fragments of Bitcoin to different users and transactions via the Paxful platform. Once I have verified that the user has deposited the correct and total amount of the transaction in my PayPal account, I send the respective portion of the cryptocurrency that the user bought via the crypto-wallet, under the assumption that since the funds are in my account, they cannot be withdrawn without my authorization. This is especially important because once I send the cryptocurrencies, I cannot get them back, is imposible. The nature of cryptocurrency trading prevents me from filing a claim to get a refund or anything of the sort. This is normally not an issue because cryptocurrency traders are conscientious of this and we take the necessary precautions to prevent fraud - such as verification of the reception of the funds prior to sending out the Bitcoin.
However, in my current situation, what is occurring is that I verify the depositing of funds in my PayPal account, I send the user the crypto-currency via the Paxful platform, and once the user receives the Bitcoin, more than seven days later, they then file a claim with PayPal, stating that there was unauthorized access to their account or that the transaction itself was not authorized (those are factor that i can't manage). PayPal then proceeds to open a case against me and reverses the payment in favor of the claimant. At this point, I am feeling extremely cheated. I have fulfilled my part of the deal - transferring the Bitcoin - without receiving remuneration for it. There is no avenue for me to request my Bitcoin to be returned, not to mention that the subject at matter is not the reversibility of Bitcoin transactions, but rather why PayPal is reversing transactions and withdrawing funds from my account balance without consulting me.
I am the victim of unscrupulous individuals that are taking advantage of the seriousness with which PayPal responds to fraudulent activities by falsely claiming that I defrauded them in order to get both the Bitcoin and a deposit to their PayPal balance. If this is not the case, then I am the victim of both these individuals and PayPal allowing its platform to be used to scam law-abiding citizens like me. I know that this is not PayPal's intention, but I want to make the following facts clear:
- PayPal is a common method of payment for users on the Paxful platform.
- Paxful is a private platform and operations are conducted between two anonymous users that do not have each others' contact information. There is no way for a third party to log on and get my PayPal user ID and then wrongfully access the buyers' PayPal account and send me funds for the amount I am selling the crypto-currency for. Nowadays, users receive notifications about finalized transactions from both PayPal and their banks. It does not make sense for users to claim an unauthorized transaction, especially not more than 24 hours after said transactions were conducted, and definitely not after 8 days of finalizing the transaction.
- Even if the transaction or the access to the account were unauthorized, PayPal has several security features to prevent wrongful use of accounts, such as Two-Factor Authentication. The responsibility to use electronic payment methods safely falls on the user and, at the most, PayPal. It is not my fault if someone is carelessly using their PayPal account and is scammed. I am a good faith third party and, if anyone should be held responsible for wrongful use of the platform, it is PayPal, not me.
- The way Paxful operates is that a user makes an offer on the cryptocurrency, I provide my payment information, once I receive the PayPal deposit I "release" the cryptocurrency and we finalize the transaction on the platform. If I do not deliver the Bitcoin, the user can file a claim on Paxful and flag me as a fraudulent user. This is not the case, as I am a verified user on Paxful and my identification and contact information has been provided. It does not make sense for users to claim that I did not deliver the Bitcoin.
- I do not understand the closing of my account, given that I am not transacting with anything illegal, nor am I violating the terms and conditions set forth by PayPal. I have provided Paypal with ample documentation in order to verify that I am actually a good faith third party trying to conduct a business operation in a legal and legitimate manner.
- The damages brought upon me, especially financially, as a result of these fraudulent claims and PayPal's wrongful actions, are incalculable. I require a solution as soon as possible.
- I want to be clear that my wife Olga Chacon with his account and my brother Gustavo Salazar try to do some deals and the same happens. I ask them to stop dealing after the buyers start the claims to me.
- I am losing almost USD 10.000.
I kindly request the following:
- Investigate all of the operations, how often the claimants are making them and how often they are claiming they didn't authorize them.
- Investigate how the scammers are using platforms as paxful using paypal to commit this crime.
- Move forward with any and all pertinent verifications to recover the funds that were wrongfully debited from my account without duly informing me and allowing me to defend myself.
- Explain why my account was closed and reopen.
- Refund all my money to my account and leave it available
I must make clear that I have sustained significant economic losses as a result of PayPal's actions. I understand that wrongful actions are not your intention and, as such, I am prepared to move away from taking legal action. However, should I not obtain a resolution to this matter with you directly, I will be forced to move forward with any and all pertinent legal actions in order to recover my funds, given that an inadequate resolution to this matter, in my eyes, constituted PayPal's indirect support of individuals committing crimes via its platform.
Sincerely,
Juan Fernando Salazar
