Paypal Prenote Transaction

[kcw4]

I recently saw a $0 Paypal Prenote transaction posted to my linked checking account.  I have never seen this before.  As I understand it a prenote is a way of validating account information. I did not recently setup any kind of direct deposit. Is this normal or some sort of phishing/fraud attempt?

[SamBam9487]

I also had this happen. I removed my bank account because I haven't heard anything good coming from it

[vinpmd1967]

me too , I tried contacting PayPal through the message center but they didn't understand what I was asking 

[RoxRis]

It is fine and legit. Go to PayPal "Help" and then put "prenote" in the Search and up will come the answer that PayPal does this, the reasons for it, verifying it is legit.

[naegle11]

I woke up this morning stating that my online bank account had been blocked overnight. After getting into my bank account, I found an unknown transaction type titled "DIRECT DEPOSIT PAYPAL PRENOTE (Cash)". I did not initiate a paypal transfer recently. Additional background is that I did recently receive a notification from Apple stating that my email and passwords were recently discovered in a "data leak." I subsequently changed all my passwords. 

In summary, I absolutely believe this to be an attempt to take my money. Take care everyone. 

[robatino]

I got a $0 transaction in my linked bank account with the exact same description (DIRECT DEPOSIT PAYPAL PRENOTE) dated 7/1. It's not listed in my PayPal account under Activity. If it does actually originate from PayPal then they should list it under Activity to confirm this.  Otherwise it's not clear whether a third party with my bank account info can create a transaction with the exact same description (does anyone know?).

[miguelpakalns]

Happened to me as well, I had to wait 30 minutes after calling PayPal to have somebody call me back.

The agent didn't seem to know anything about it.  They told me if you were linking a bank account in Paypal, they do a debit but not for $0.00, it would be for a penny or a few pennies.  Beyond that, no real help.  My paypal account has two-factor, and I have no transactions (honestly almost never use it), so I'm fairly positive this isn't related to somebody getting into my pesonal Paypal account. 

Contacted my bank, they definitely seemed more concerned.

If Paypal and/or Venmo decided to reconfirm some checking accounts with a $0.00 debit, would really be nice to let us know so we don't freak out.  If it wasn't them, then it seems like it must be a scam.  

[dianecu]

What did your bank suggest? 

I'm also concerned, but I do think it's strange that there were no reports of this at all and now a lot of us are here this week. Seems like the user who reported that Paypal was checking exisiting accounts might be right? They really should confirm if that's the case, because closing bank accounts is a huge burden to put on users to protect themselves. 

[miguelpakalns]

First they wanted to fully freeze my account.  Naturally, I get a paycheck on the last day of each month, which is currently pending, and it seemed a full freeze would prevent it from posting.  A good example of the surreal hassle created.

A banker is supposed to call me back, though still waiting.

[kcw4]

After posting the above question, I unlinked my bank account from my Paypal account because I really had no current reason for them to be linked.

I also talked to the fraud department at my bank.  They seem to think it was a valid account verification transaction by Paypal.  However, they annotated my account to note the issue/concern and will keep an eye on my account I guess.