[jpzk]

I've been a "member" with PayPal since 2008 and, for the very first time last week, I am having some major problems:
1. No previous incident since 2008.
2. Lots of buying and selling through them: no problem.
3.
Last week: after sending some ??? (cash) to a family member via my Paypal account (which was successfully received at the other end), I am getting a "limit" on my account !!?? I have done this sort of transaction in the past with no problem whatsoever.
They wanted to verify my identity (no spam/phishing emails here - direct from PayPal).
They ask: certified copy of a piece of ID, signed and verified by a guarantor !!
Try all I could to find what was going on, I decided to "oblige" and got someone (guarantor) to sign the downloaded form from Paypal, faxed to a requested number.
They are supposed to acknowledge receipt of the said documents within 24 hours.
Now, I am getting daily messages from several DIFFERENT departments at Paypal asking for those documents.
They are there, they finally acknowledged one hour ago.
Check my account: still "restricted".
That will be one week tomorrow morning ... still waiting for the restrictions to be lifted.

Anyone had/has similar problems lately or in the recent past?

JP

[monochrome]

Your situation might have been triggered by the amount of cash, or by several small cash transfers summing to a larger threshold amount. If that is the case you might have run afoul of money laundering triggers.

[THoog]

From what I could find, this is a PayPal Canada thing, to clamp down on money laundering/tax evasion/stealthers (a word I just learned - basically ebay accounts with false information to bypass suspensions or banning).

[jpzk]

Your situation might have been triggered by the amount of cash, or by several small cash transfers summing to a larger threshold amount. If that is the case you might have run afoul of money laundering triggers.

That could be. Why all of a sudden is this happening? That is want I asked myself last week.

From what I could find, this is a PayPal Canada thing, to clamp down on money laundering/tax evasion/stealthers (a word I just learned - basically ebay accounts with false information to bypass suspensions or banning).

I think you are right. I did minimal Google searching and found a few cases "similar" to mine.

I wonder how long this will take to settle though.

JP

[jpzk]

Update:

Just was successful to actually talk to someone at PayPal via Customer Service.
Had a good discussion and the fellow did make an effort to see what was going on:
He said: all documents are in and are fine.
There should not be any "restrictions" on this account and that he will "write a ticket to expedite" the process to remove the said "restrictions".
I even got his name!!

So, hopefully, this will be a thing of the past soon enough.

BTW, yes indeed this is a Canadian thing and they have been contacting (or will be) all Canadian PayPal account holders.

Cheers!

I will return to give a final update.

[Adam]

Update:

Just was successful to actually talk to someone at PayPal via Customer Service.
Had a good discussion and the fellow did make an effort to see what was going on:
He said: all documents are in and are fine.
There should not be any "restrictions" on this account and that he will "write a ticket to expedite" the process to remove the said "restrictions".
I even got his name!!

So, hopefully, this will be a thing of the past soon enough.

BTW, yes indeed this is a Canadian thing and they have been contacting (or will be) all Canadian PayPal account holders.

Cheers!

I will return to give a final update.

Happy to hear it all worked out!

Sounds like the Canadian terms are very similar to the US terms. In the US, if you don't provide your SSN (for tax reporting) you can't withdraw more than $500 from the account per month. PayPal is probably starting to roll out similar policies in other countries as online shopping/paying becomes more common.

[Ex Finn.]

In the US, if you don't provide your SSN

Sounds like pay-pal skipped that cyber-security training class!

[jpzk]

Happy to hear it all worked out!

Sounds like the Canadian terms are very similar to the US terms. In the US, if you don't provide your SSN (for tax reporting) you can't withdraw more than $500 from the account per month. PayPal is probably starting to roll out similar policies in other countries as online shopping/paying becomes more common.

Sounds like pay-pal skipped that cyber-security training class!

Your SSN is similar (same) as our Canadian SIN ( no pun intended) -- Social Insurance Number.
One thing I did notice on my PP account is that there a place where you can enter, for security purposes/ID, your SIN .... "optional".
They don't actually "demand" it.
Is this the same in a US-based account?

[johnyates]

One thing I did notice on my PP account is that there a place where you can enter, for security purposes/ID, your SIN .... "optional". They don't actually "demand" it.

They are not legally allowed to demand your SIN.

[Digitalis]

They are not legally allowed to demand your SIN.

Unless they are catholic clergy...

( sorry I couldn't help myself)

[MSL]

That could be. Why all of a sudden is this happening? That is want I asked myself last week.

Because paypal and ebay recently separated and this led to paypal needing updates/verification and changes in policy

https://www.paypal.com/webapps/mpp/paypal-ebay-update