PayPal limits my account because of selling a gambling domain

[Brand Herald]

Paypal permanently limits my account because I sold and received payment for a gambling related domain? Then they site there policy about not receiving funds from gambling as their reason.

When since is selling a domain gambling.

 

[-REECE-]

I'd phone them and try to explain the situation... Some of their workers seem like braindead zombies, so I hope you have better luck than me.

 

[Mark]

Nothing I hear now about PP really surprises me ... Some peoples accounts have been closed/limited for a lot less.


Good Luck :td:

 

[PowerUp]

I wouldn't be using Paypal if Google Checkout is avaliable for my country. I've heard many many many many many stories of how eligible merchants have their money frozen by PP.

Why didn't you use escrow.com?

 

[Ronald Regging]

How would they even know what domain you sold? Or was it sold through Ebay?

 

[HcDomains]

That is a really sad story... I nerver realized that can not accept payment for Gambling domains through Paypal before..

I am curious that does it because of the amount of your sales is very big so catch Paypal's eyes? I think that I have 2 or 3 Casino domains sold in the past and take payment through Paypal without any problem (But all of mine are $xx sales only, however, one payment from Sedo write clearly what is the Domain in subject)

 

[Brand Herald]

Here's what I think happened

The deal was only worth $20 so escrow was out of the question.

I guess they knew about it because the buyer selected to put the name in the comment box when he remitted funds.

I have emailed them and explained so fingers crossed.

 

[italiandragon]

My nightmare with PayPal finished only yestarday after 16 days of e-mails, phone calls, faxing documents, bills , my passport...everything only because I moved $300 from an account to another one.

They just told me that it`s not allowed without explaining me why......it was my money......I just can`t get it. They frozen the money for 2 weeks.

 

[dhscott]

My nightmare with PayPal finished only yestarday after 16 days of e-mails, phone calls, faxing documents, bills , my passport...everything only because I moved $300 from an account to another one.

They just told me that it`s not allowed without explaining me why......it was my money......I just can`t get it. They frozen the money for 2 weeks.

They take suspicious activity very seriously. To me, I reckon it looked like money laundering to them.

Also, back to the Original Post, if you are American, they might be getting pressured by some group somewhere. I know I should have no troubles for gambling names because I am British.

 

[dkh]

I'm probably going to be the contrarian regarding PayPal's limitations, but PayPal has saved my butt twice by catching suspicious activity that unscrupulous sellers were trying to perpetrate. Their vigilance, combined with my use of a credit card (the charges on which I could reverse, if necessary) was all that saved me from losing big money to a couple of really shrewd operators who had their scam ducks all lined up. I'm not talking about phishing scams, but rather domain/site sellers on eBay that claimed to have domains and sites that made X amount of dollars and received X amount of traffic when in fact they didn't have either. Lots of really nice fake Photoshopped images and Quicken documents (supposedly showing traffic and revenue). Obviously learned my lesson there, but fortunately not the extremely hard way (though there were definitely anxious moments).

These limits that PayPal places are for everybody's general protection, though in this case, I'd agree that a call to their customer support might help them understand that a domain sale is not gambling, per se.

 

[DomainMayhem.com]

They take suspicious activity very seriously. To me, I reckon it looked like money laundering to them.

Also, back to the Original Post, if you are American, they might be getting pressured by some group somewhere. I know I should have no troubles for gambling names because I am British.

I think they're just crooked as could be. I had my account frozen repeatedly just for checking my balance from an IP address that wasn't my own! Then an ex-husband of a good friend of mine just recently got his account locked because after years of selling on eBay, he decided to buy a large-screen TV for $600. They locked up his account because since he didn't usually buy such expensive items, it looked suspicious. Here is the kicker, he had had the account for years, and hadn't used his main email address for quite some time, so he couldn't remember it. They said they wouldn't unlock his account until he did. He lost all of the money in the account, and has to use another payment service for selling on eBay.

Also, they aren't a bank, so the consumer that uses them has no protections from the federal government (yet-I would think due to all the problems they've had, and all the times they've been sued, online payment services will have to become certified as a banking institution sometime in the relatively near future).

I just don't like them.

 

[webfreak]

Also, they aren't a bank, so the consumer that uses them has no protections from the federal government (yet-I would think due to all the problems they've had, and all the times they've been sued, online payment services will have to become certified as a banking institution sometime in the relatively near future).

True, but PayPal does not hold money itself.

http://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=xpt/UserAgreement/general/FDIC-outside

 

[RJ]

All I can say is be careful and don't get overly comfortable with PayPal. They can close your account for any reason, at any moment, and will hold your funds for a minimum of 6 months often with no ability to appeal.

It's a shame because of how widely used it is, and as dkh says, their fraud detection is above average for payment processors.

 

[Brand Herald]

Paypal

Maybe Google Gbuy will come to the rescue. But Paypal truly s*ucks

 

[Turco]

I have never heard of something like that. Thanks for the info, and I think it is meaningful.
There are amny gambling sites and we can't know which is scam and whish is real. On the other hand, gambling is some bad, not good for everyone. Something like a drug, when you get addicted, you cannot give up and when you lose and and again, you try again, so you get bankrupt.

Maybe for that reason, paypal doesnt wnt to see the customers bankrupt because of itself.

 

[dhscott]

I have never heard of something like that. Thanks for the info, and I think it is meaningful.
There are amny gambling sites and we can't know which is scam and whish is real. On the other hand, gambling is some bad, not good for everyone. Something like a drug, when you get addicted, you cannot give up and when you lose and and again, you try again, so you get bankrupt.

Maybe for that reason, paypal doesnt wnt to see the customers bankrupt because of itself.

They don't want US Citizens using their payment services for illegal activities. Online gambling is illegal in the United States of America. That's the only reason.

As mentioned before, I have no troubles with PayPal and gambling as I am British. Infact, PayPal advertise Ladbrokes (Big Betting and Gambling Company) on the homepage of their site in the UK! Same with BetFair I believe.

 

[Brand Herald]

Paypal

It was a Paypal UK a/c

 

[dhscott]

Gambling is illegal in China isn't it? PayPal (like many other companies) seem to adhear to Chinese laws a lot harder than they would U.S. laws I feel. It's probably an over-reaction if you are from China as your location says .

If you are based in the UK and your account is based in the UK, I have no clues left as to why they did it unfortunately.

 

[Domagon]

FDIC pass-through insurance is basically a fiction - PayPal, for all their faults, has some slick attorneys and creative marketing folks so as to make them appear to be a bank when in fact they are NOT!

An excerpt from PayPal's explaination of FDIC pass-through insurance (which again is basically a fiction)...
http://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=xpt/UserAgreement/general/FDIC-outside

FDIC pass-through deposit insurance protects you only against the failure of the bank at which PayPal places your funds, and does NOT protect you against PayPal's insolvency.

First, the all capitalized NOT in the above text is their emphasis ... however, I bolded some of the text to further emphasis that PayPal is NOT a bank and thus funds they hold are NOT be FDIC insured ...

And it gets even worse - the so-called FDIC pass-through insurance may not
even exist ...

Another excerpt from PayPal's FDIC pass-through insurance page:

Pass-through deposit coverage is contingent upon PayPal maintaining accurate records and on determinations of the FDIC as receiver at the time of a future receivership of any bank at which we place your funds.

So, from my reading of it, it assumes that PayPal will have accurate records, further assumes that the FDIC will be willing to cover such funds, assuming sufficient funds even existed in the banks PayPal uses at the time of receivership ... and all of that assumes that the FDIC would step in to begin with.

And all of this FDIC insurance talk further assumes that PayPal account holders would be first in line in the event of financial trouble, such as bankruptcy ... that's an assumption that one shouldn't bank on from the NON-bank PayPal.

Ron

 

[Ronald Regging]

And all of this FDIC insurance talk further assumes that PayPal account holders would be first in line in the event of financial trouble, such as bankruptcy ... that's an assumption that one shouldn't bank on from the NON-bank PayPal.

Ron

Great post. I think it lies solely on the accuracy of their records. If a bank goes under where your money is deposited and Paypal has no record that your money was deposited in that particular bank, essentially you have no means to prove that it was (since its all done for us behind the scenes.)

As for the FDIC insurance... Given accurate records on the part of Paypal, I don't think the FDIC would be able to deny your claim, because in fact, you are entitled to the pass-through insurance. All it takes is Paypal having the records to prove that they did deposit a specific amount of money on your behalf into that bank.

Also, as far as the bankruptcy goes. If it's a bank that files bankruptcy, than yes, people would still get their money. If it's Paypal that goes under, well, good luck As you stated, Paypal is NOT a bank, so their bankruptcy proceedings would be the same as any other company. From my understanding of bankruptcy proceedings, the customers are the LAST in line... So, if you are entitled to money, it may take you years to get it, if you ever do.

On a lighter note, if Paypal does go bankrupt, I'd be willing to exchange their debt to me for X.com