PayPal limited my account. Someone made a fraudulent purchase using my account. Why am I at fault?

[JerryD1]

I opened a PayPal account on 5/18/2018 and linked my bank debit card to the account. I opened this account because I put and item on eBay and wanted to make it as easy as possible for potential buyers. On 6/12/2018 I got and email from PayPal showing a receipt for a purchase made through my PayPal account. The purchase amount was $303.00 and it showed that the buyer was someone I never heard of. They purchased a pair of Nike Jordan shoes. I am 72 years old and do not wear or purchase $300 tennis (basketball) shoes. I immediately contacted my bank to stop the payment, contacted the seller of the shoes and explained the situation and contacted PayPal. My bank refunded my $303. The seller thanked me for contacting them. PayPal has basically terminated my account. Can anyone help explain why I seem to be at fault? As I am very new to all of this, did I make a mistake somewhere along the line. I sure would like to know what happened here! 

Thank you for any help!

[PayPal_Michelle · Accepted solution]

Hello @JerryD1 and bless your heart!

No, you did absolutely nothing wrong, and the limitation you described is a security precaution to make sure that your account isn't used until the password/security questions have been changed. This prevents the fraudster that obtained your password from making any other purchases. 

You are 100% protected and please know that the limitation is removed once we know that only you have access to the account. If you need any assistance at all with this, please contact our customer service so they can help walk you through the steps. To do this, please follow the Help & Contact link at the bottom of the page, or you can also reach us on Facebook or at @AskPayPal on Twitter. 

I sincerely hope this helps and thank you so much for joining the PayPal Community!

Michelle

If this post or any other was helpful, please enrich the community by giving kudos or accepting it as a solution.

[JerryD1]

Thanks for straightening this out....much appreciated