Paypal

[zoley]

Sold my camera on 1/7/ 13. The buyer paid by paypal into my paypal account . Received an email from paypal informing me they were holding the money but could not release it until I supplied them with a few details.
A scanned copy of my current driving licence.
A scanned copy of my passport.
A scanned copy of my birth certificate.
A scanned copy of last years tax return statement from the ATO.
A scanned copy of current utility receipts.
A declaration that I am not in political office.

When I supply these details they will review my status and decide if they will release MY $790.00 after taking out their fee of 20.00 from the original payment of $810.00.

Is it just me or are these details just about all someone requires for a classic case of identity theft ??

[ameerat42]

DON'T SEND ANYTHING yet!
Was there any inkling of anything wrong with your account before this?
I DON'T THINK they can ask for anything like that. They constantly change their T&Cs, but I'd say have a read of them again to see whether
they ask for any such stuff. If nothing's listed, then it's suspicious.

It sounds suss to me, anyway
Am.

[mechawombat]

Give them nothing until you contact paypal direct through searching for them on google, rather than any links on the email.

this the link I got from the web

https://www.paypal.com/au/webapps/mpp/home

[Ionica]

It seems very suspicious, and worth questioning.

[wmphoto]

According to their website they may ask you to confirm your identity with those documents, however they only ask for ONE document from group A and ONE from group B.

https://www.paypal.com/au/webapps/mp...l-verification

[zoley]

Give them nothing until you contact paypal direct through searching for them on google, rather than any links on the email.

this the link I got from the web

https://www.paypal.com/au/webapps/mpp/home

That's the webpage I used from google.

I even used a bodgy password which was denied.
I then used my correct password and was logged in.
It then instructs you that you have limited access and directs you to Resolve Issues. That's where you are asked to provide all the details, they give you 43 days to reply.

[Darren Oster]

From experience, getting money from PayPal is a pretty rigorous process, although you may (could be wrong here) be able to use that money for PayPal purchases. I helped set up a PayPal account to receive money for a camp we were running, and after sending all the documents to PayPal International, I then had to go through it all again for PayPal Australia! The nice thing is you only need to do it all once (okay, twice in our case), and any future payments you receive will be released immediately. The usual advice of making sure you are working on the REAL PayPal site always applies though. Hope you are able to get it sorted out without too much hassle!

[Dazz1]

I just sold something on eBay, and immediately afterwards transferred the money (just over $100) from PayPal into my bank account - no questions asked at any point.

[ricktas]

How new is your paypal account or how often do you use it? I have had a paypal account for years and use it at least 2-3 times a month, and never have any trouble. I reckon they flag new accounts, or inactive ones, that suddenly have reasonable $$ value transactions, as a protection mechanism, then require identification proof.

I think this is not a bad thing. They want/need to make sure YOU are not the scammer.

[zoley]

How new is your paypal account or how often do you use it? I have had a paypal account for years and use it at least 2-3 times a month, and never have any trouble. I reckon they flag new accounts, or inactive ones, that suddenly have reasonable $$ value transactions, as a protection mechanism, then require identification proof.

I think this is not a bad thing.

2004, roughly 30 transactions, biggest was $2400.00, one other at $1900.00 never had a previous problem. This is the first time I have been the seller for a significant amount, usually I am the buyer. Maybe that could have something to do with the problem.

- - - Updated - - -

According to their website they may ask you to confirm your identity with those documents, however they only ask for ONE document from group A and ONE from group B.

https://www.paypal.com/au/webapps/mp...l-verification

Hi,
I don't know if you have ever had your paypal account limited, but if you ever do, best of luck submitting TWO documents.
Group A has THREE SECTIONS: Proof of I.D.
Proof of address.
Confirm Identity. Once you have used a document in one section you cannot use it again in another section.
Group B. My utility account is not in my name but they will accept another document I.D. provided I have not used it in any other section.

[Mathy]

It sounds suspicious to me. I have a PayPal account that I use infrequently, and through which I have bought and sold items for the sort of money (and more) than you're looking at here. However, my account is verified, is yours? Verification involves a transaction processed by PayPal either on your bank account or credit card (unless that's changed).

Here's a link to some information on identifying PayPal phishing scams http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-sca...r-fall-for-it/ , take note of this particular section:

"5. Does the email ask for personal information?
Does the email ask for any personal information such as credit or debit card numbers, bank account details, driver’s license number, email addresses, or passwords? Ignore, ignore, ignore.PayPal will never ask for any personal details in an email."

Personally, I would be emailing PayPal and discussing this with them before I did anything else, cheers Deb

[ktoopi]

I would be very careful....... there are a lot of scammers out there pretending to be paypal and I get these very authentic looking emails regularly. Check the email you recieved supposedly from paypal and see if it is addressed to you with your name. If it says something like Dear Paypal user or anything else apart from your actual name on your paypal account.... delete it immediately.

[Mark L]

Check the email you recieved supposedly from paypal and see if it is addressed to you with your name.

Yes, if it's not addressed using your name, it's not Paypal.

[I @ M]

I have never had ANY problems with online transactions when using a credit card or direct deposit for numerous purchases and sales, I have had significant problems when using pa$pal on one of the very few occasions when I used their "se$vices", needles to say I don't have an account with either them or that flea market site that they are part of any more.

Generally people only wake up after the damage is done.

[WarChild]

I have been promoted for most of those things when setting up my wife's business Paypal account, was extremely painful. It did advise that your require a lot more detail setting up a business Paypal account unlike a personal. This was 6 months back. Stupid thing about it is with all their security, i did anything, include authorising myself on her account so i could speak to them on the phone.
I think in the end from the day i signed up to having the limits lifted on the account took week half to 2 weeks.

[cupic]

Its a SCAM
Someone tried this and also said the FBI was on my case LOL


cheers

[ameerat42]

Anyway, let PP know - at their correct address - and also if your money has not arrived.

[Warbler]

There are some very authentic looking paypal scam emails doing the rounds. The best one I've been sent was a genuine purchase email that had been doctored to show me as the purchaser and with the link to contact if you believed the transaction to be in error going to an Indian IP address. Even if they do come with your name on them, I'd beware. I'm a paypal seller and I don't recall ever being asked for proof of id documents like those you mentioned. Like Matty, I'm a verified user and money flows into and out of my paypal account seamlessly. I do get plenty of scam emails too. It seems my customers are not as fastidious with protecting their email accounts as I am. Never had an issue with Paypal. Fingers crossed!

[WhoDo]

The OP has been to his legitimate PayPal account via the web and found the same requirements there. This is not a scam. It is a result of much tighter government controls on financial institutions under the guise of preventing money laundering and payments for illegal goods, etc. Read the PayPal T&C and recent policy and you'll see that is the case. I have already been through this miserable process and hope to never have to go through it again!

If you want the money you have no choice but to comply. Furthermore, if you don't supply ALL of the documents quickly enough, those you may already have uploaded will go out of date and become useless for the process. It's a major pain in the butt but what's the alternative?

Of course you don't send anything to them via email. Of course you should change your account password regularly, too. As for getting your identity, correct me if I'm wrong but don't they already have your bank account and credit card details? Unless you have a security clearance for some high-level security government body, what else could they be after?

I sympathise with your dilemma but don't let government red tape leave you paranoid. It'll drive you crazy enough without that as well!

[Warbler]

...correct me if I'm wrong but don't they already have your bank account and credit card details? Unless you have a security clearance for some high-level security government body, what else could they be after?

I think the concern is not with providing the info to PayPal, but making sure IT IS PayPal that you're providing the information to. Further to that, a very similar doctored email with links to bogus sites would gather that info for the person sending the scam email. That's the whole point. Make it look genuine. Ask for something that matches a genuine request. Redirect to your site.

The OP's case may well be genuine though, but you should always check the links in any email before clicking on them.