Limited PayPal access

July

Hi,
I'm having trouble with my paypal account. At the moment I have limited access to the account i.e. I cannot use it to make any payments out.

I have been getting emails saying they were from paypal and that I needed to take some sort of action to keep my records up to date. Sorry, I don't know the exact wording because the emails went into my junk mail so are now gone. McAfee marked them as a potential phishing scam so I didn't open them.

A few days ago I tried to pay for some items on eBay with my paypal account and I couldn't. Paypal said that they believe a 3rd party accessed my account so my account has been put on limited access. There is a 'resolution link' that I followed.

In this 'resolution center', there are three steps to rectify the problem.
1. Change security question and answer
2. Change password
3. Proof of address

Ok, I did 1&2 but for some reason I'm reluctant to do no.3. I know that doesn't make sense as if I felt confident to do 1&2, I should have the same trust in no.3. I'm just afraid I'm not in the 'real' paypal or something, even though I'm in www.paypal.com/ie/blah blah blah and there is the little padlock at the bottom right of the screen.

The proof of address is asking me to either fax or upload a utility bill that shows my name and address I used when registering my paypal account.

Does this seem like common practice for paypal?

Incidently, I have emails from what I believe to be the real PayPal -PayPal (paypal@email.paypal.com)- over the past while asking me to update my records but I ignored them.

Bottom line.. just wondering if others have experienced this and should I just go ahead with no.3? If I don't, I can't use my paypal account. I'm just really scared of falling for a stupid scam!

Sorry, this is confusing me so much, it must be very hard to read.

Zorba

I wouldn't be too keen on sending them a utility bill for proof of address, maybe u should email them direct and see what they say ? Then again i've never had my account accessed by a 3rd party. I've also got them emails about maybe needing urgent action but there went to a email account that i don't have registered with paypal so i knew they were scams.

Worse case just close down the account and open a new one.

Comrade Zed

I got a couple of mails telling me my PayPal a/c had limited access. I forwarded them to spoof@paypal.com and got a reply confriming that these were not sent by PayPal

jor el

The mails received may well be fakes, but since your account is definitely being limited, it has to be Paypal. If you go to Paypal's site, type it in manually to make sure, and you log in then you know you are in the right place. Asking for a utility bill or bank statement to prove address is common practice, and until you do it. you're account status will not change. Fax might be the best solution, if you're not too keen on uploading it if someone might be watching you.

sue97

i got the same message on my business paypal account. They say its due to eu law and the fact that I got over 1000 euro lodged into my account.

Only got the message yesterday so have not done anything about it to date.

Logged into paypal and it says it there also so figure its legit

boardsie08

sue97 wrote: »

i got the same message on my business paypal account. They say its due to eu law and the fact that I got over 1000 euro lodged into my account.

Only got the message yesterday so have not done anything about it to date.

Logged into paypal and it says it there also so figure its legit

sure, I got the exact same message today too because I've had over 1,000 Euro received in payments and they gotta check out my account due to EU fraud and money laundering law yada yada yada

July

Update:
I scanned my motor insurance renewal and sent it to PayPal last night. Account restored today so all is well again.

I never used my PayPal account to receive money so my case is not the same as the above posters'. PayPal said they had reason to believe that a 3rd party had accessed my account. Nothing untoward was done so hopefully that's how it stays. It should anyway since I've changed my password.

Overheal

Dont ever email them information: they have utilities for that inside of the paypal site/client.

boardsie08

I am so p*ssed off with PayPal right now, I faxed them off copies of my passport and some utility bills, my account is still limited, I cannot send/receive funds and I run an online business, I have bills to pay, people are trying to send me money and getting refused, I'm losing out on customers and business because of this.

I just rang PayPal asking when my account wil be restored only to be told "It could be sometime next week" - apparently my faxes are sitting unnoticed in some in-tray somewhere waiting for someone to check and verify them and restore my account.. not happy at all with PayPal right now.

I'm getting a bad name with companies now cause I can't pay them and customers are wondering what sort of shoddy business I'm running where I can't send them an invoice and they can't pay me. Ridiculous!

July

boardsie08 wrote: »

I faxed them off copies of my passport and some utility bills, my account is still limited

I know faxing them was one of the options you were given but you could try the other option of scanning your documents and uploading them to PayPal.

When I did this, my account was restored within a day.

It's extra hassle on you but it sounds like it would be worth it to you.