Can Paypal Take Money Back Off You?

[Wandy]

For a while now while selling items on ebay I have stated that I would send the item to the winning bidder once the PayPal payment has transferred into my high street bank account, which takes 5 working days. I started to do this because I was sure I had read on these forums cases where people have had money taken back off them by PayPal when they were paid by a fraudulent credit card.

I have just had an email from a prospective buyer categorically stating that is not the case and that PayPal dont have any right to do this.

Can someone clear this up for me once and for all? Did I read correctly on here or have I just imagined it?

[Wandy]

Anyone?

[TWINSET]

If you are paid by a fraudulent credit card, paypal will take the money back off you, even if it means your account goes into negative funds.

I had this a while back with a mobile phone sale, but thankfully the payment, fraud discovery and subsequent claw-back all happened in one night, before I had the chance to post anything

Also, with regard to monies after the payment; I'm currently trying to get money back off a seller, so phoned paypal about the procedures.

First off, if they find in my favour, they will take the money back from the seller's account.

If 'he' has no money in that account, they will earmark my money so if someone else sends him money, it comes straight to me.

So, from the sounds of it, even if you do withdraw the $$ to the bank, if someone claims against you, paypal will effectively blockade your account until the buyer has all his $$ back.

It's getting to the point now where I don't sell to unconfirmed addresses and I only ship by 100% traceable means.

[Wandy]

If you are paid by a fraudulent credit card, paypal will take the money back off you, even if it means your account goes into negative funds.

I had this a while back with a mobile phone sale, but thankfully the payment, fraud discovery and subsequent claw-back all happened in one night, before I had the chance to post anything

Also, with regard to monies after the payment; I'm currently trying to get money back off a seller, so phoned paypal about the procedures.

First off, if they find in my favour, they will take the money back from the seller's account.

If 'he' has no money in that account, they will earmark my money so if someone else sends him money, it comes straight to me.

So, from the sounds of it, even if you do withdraw the $$ to the bank, if someone claims against you, paypal will effectively blockade your account until the buyer has all his $$ back.

It's getting to the point now where I don't sell to unconfirmed addresses and I only ship by 100% traceable means.

Cheers for the reply TWINSET, however that sounds like a good explanation of what happens when the seller is a fraudster.....but what about when the buyer is the fraudster? ie if I am paid from a stolen card, but transfer the funds into my bank before the bad card is discovered, can the money be taken out of my bank account by anyone?

[TWINSET]

if I am paid from a stolen card, but transfer the funds into my bank before the bad card is discovered, can the money be taken out of my bank account by anyone?

I've no idea if you've actually managed to withdraw the funds; it's probably more of a legal issue than Paypal policy issue as, should fraud/theft have been comitted, you're probably going to be part of the investigation anyway.

With my phone, the owner of the card/account realised at some point during the day her account had been compromised and paypal/ebay had shut her account down after the 'thief' had paid for my phone using her account to BIN and pay for it (never store passwords on a laptop!)

It might be worth phoning paypal and asking them what the score is, they seem very helpful when you're asking about their poloicies - the two guys I spoke to in the last week were both quite knowledgeable and didn't have to 'keeping being to be putting you on hold' whilst they looked up the answers.

[WillyChang]

Cheers for the reply TWINSET, however that sounds like a good explanation of what happens when the seller is a fraudster.....but what about when the buyer is the fraudster? ie if I am paid from a stolen card, but transfer the funds into my bank before the bad card is discovered, can the money be taken out of my bank account by anyone?

I haven't heard of PP taking $$ out of your creditcard or bank a/c yet.

However if the buyer is dodgy and claims that he hasn't received the item, if you haven't got proof of

posting/receipt paypal oft finds in their favour and will refund $$ from your PP a/c to the payer.

Hence many sellers are opting to empty their PP a/c before shipping the goods... albeit a lousy vote of confidence for what they're selling imho.

[HereBeMonsters]

PayPal have taken money off me due to a buyer's payment being reversed (hacked account for a phone way back in 2002). My balance went negative, and they then called me about three times a day saying I had to upload funds to bring the balance back to 0.00.

This was seven years ago though. A lot has changed on eBay/PayPal since then!

[TWINSET]

I've never confirmed my bank details with Paypal, nor signed a direct debit, so I don't think they can legally remove money from my account - as that's basically them making a decision on the outcome of any fraud enquiry?

However, I guess there's nothing stopping them 'freezing' any suspicious payments on my Paypal account, even if it does result in that account going into negative balance.

With the case I have going through at the moment, the chap I spoke to said even if the seller empties his account, they mark it as owing me money, so any funds that are paid into that account will be immediately deducted to pay me.

It might be worth checking any direct debit agreements you have with Paypal - that's usually the second step to be completed after you add a bank account to paypal.

I regularly empty one paypal account into another, just so if there are any problems, I have the money and paypal can't touch it until I'm satisfied they've done all that's required before taking it.

[terry.sc]

if I am paid from a stolen card, but transfer the funds into my bank before the bad card is discovered, can the money be taken out of my bank account by anyone?

It depends on whether you fund your paypal payments from your bank account or a credit card. If paypal takes money from your bank account when you buy stuff either through direct debit or a debit card they can take the money back out of your account, this was one of the reasons Time Tunnel stopped accepting paypal. You might find this useful http://www.tamiyaclub.com/forum/index.php?...st&p=130726

[TA-Mark]

From a bank account is called an eCheque on Paypal and takes a few days to complete a transaction and as with any cheque, you can call your bank and halt payment (How I use eBay/Paypal). Many places that accept Paypal do not accept an eCheque via Paypal I've found and leaves me no choice but to shop elsewhere. Credit cards and Debit cards on paypal are instant charges and charge-back is instant too.

[HereBeMonsters]

From a bank account is called an eCheque on Paypal and takes a few days to complete a transaction and as with any cheque, you can call your bank and halt payment (How I use eBay/Paypal). Many places that accept Paypal do not accept an eCheque via Paypal I've found and leaves me no choice but to shop elsewhere. Credit cards and Debit cards on paypal are instant charges and charge-back is instant too.

I thought E-Cheque and Bank Funding were two different methods? I'm sure I can bank fund something (as I had to when my card expired, and I didn't have the new one on me) which makes an instant payment, or E-Cheque which takes a few days?

[TA-Mark]

Bank funding is where you go to Paypal and request funds from your bank to be sent to your Paypal account. An eCheque happens when you buy something, your Paypal is empty, and it needs to source funds from the bank account. Really the bank sees both as a cheque transaction and both take a few days to complete for me. Once those few days are over and the money has appeared in my Paypal account from the funding proceedure, the transaction is instant as Paypal already has the funds.

When I first started on Paypal I would add funds to the account, wait a few days for them to get there from the bank, then go make my purchase and pay instantly. Now I just let it do the eCheque as it takes the same amount of time to complete.