I have a now-former friend who had been paying me back for a long-term loan over the last year via PayPal using Friends & Family. As it's not a good nor a service, and is simply paying back money owed, there is nothing associated with the purchase. Two people exchanging money. Today as of this writing, this person has, through his credit card's financial institution, reported that 14 transactions over the last 6 months were unauthorized. I know he used a credit card to fund these transfers, because the amount I received might have been say $500, but the amount I'm hit with in the dispute is $500 plus the fees that were charged for using the credit card. The total amount is now over $8,000.
After speaking with a couple different PayPal reps, they have stated that given this person's pattern of use and their internal security tools, it is next to impossible that he didn't authorize these charges and it doesn't look like his account was hacked in any way. I still have a sinking feeling that PayPal is just going to say **bleep** it and stick me for the entire amount at once and cause me a major financial meltdown. As it has been a long time since this money has come in, it has been used to pay for things or moved to banks and is not just sitting in my balance anymore.
My major problem here is with the dispute resolution center. They say they want me to respond to each of these claims "from a buyer" (nothing was bought), and the only options are to provide proof that I delivered the item (no item) or that I have already provided a refund. How can PayPal itself not seem to understand that these were Friends & Family payments and not for goods/services? There are no relevant resolution/response options. Is this scam artist really going to just get away with this? You can just send money with a credit card then charge it back and just get it back like that? The PayPal reps have told me just to wait and watch my email but I'm now living with the constant worry that I may suddenly be out over $8000 and have to deal with that mess.
Has anyone else dealt with a situation like this? I asked him this morning what was going on and why he was doing that, and at first he played dumb, but after I sent him screenshots of the first two emails from PayPal, he promptly blocked my number. The people you think are your friends will be among the first to stab you in the back. Just try to help a friend out during a pandemic. I dare you.
