Pre-approved payments fraud - unauthorised transactions

[Shahn27]

I have been charged by a trading company plus500...I have used this company before with no problems however this time they had taken out over £800+ broken down into smaller transactions which I had no idea about nor authorised. I've not used them during the period the funds were taken and the payments were not authorised. I filed an unauthorised transaction claim however paypal has decided it wasnt unauthorised as there is a preapproved payments agreement in place. They have closed the case and there seems to be no option to appeal Now what I would like to know is does having a preapproved payments agreement in place mean the merchant can take out how much they want, when they want without you even using their services or perhaps your account with them being hacked. I feel its really unfair to be charged like this when I havent used them nor authorised the payments however having pre approved payment agreement in place seems to mean they have permission to take as much money as they like when they like regardless of if i purchase or use any of their services / my account with them is hacked Could someone please advise on where I stand and if I could get my money back/the process to follow?

[kernowlass]

@Shahn27

How to cancel a monthly payment / subscription >>

Click on the profile tab (icon next to log out) > Click on payments third option along on the thick blue band top of page > and under "manage upcoming payments" top left of page second option down is pre-approved payments.

If you have set up a subscription to a service or company then yes its like a direct debit and they can take your funds but only according to the terms of the subscription you originally agreed to.

[Shahn27]

Hi - thank you for the response. Yes I have already cancelled it. Only issue is recovering the funds which were lost - according to paypal as there is a billing agreement in place the payments are authorised However the issue is does this mean the merchant can take as much as they want - when they want and however they feel regardless if I use their services, agree to the payments or not as setting up a billing agreement seems to mean automatic payments can be made as and when the merchant feels...so in essence they could take as much as they like Surely this cant be the case..if I havent used their services it means either the merchant is exploiting this loop hole for their benefit or my account with them has been hacked and someones comitted fraud In either case I believe I should be refunded as I am not at fault..I always trusted paypal to be secure but its now really sad to see such loopholes in place which fraudsters clearly exploit... What would you suggest I do in terms of recovering the lost funds?

[kernowlass]

@Shahn27

Only you would know what you agreed to when the subscription was taken out but if they have broken that authorisation then the small claims court is your best bet.

OR

if you funded those paypal payments via a card then contact your card issuer and see if they will chargeback for you.

[badservice11]

Happened to me too, but with a lot less money. G2A charged me out of nowhere, all they do is sell digital videogame keys.. I had no idea I had a subscription with them at all, they didn't email me or deliver any product or service for what they charged randomly.

Thanks for the dishonour fees and double thanks for making me wait almost 2 weeks for this lousy reasoning and apology. Such a wide open loophole. PayPal was meant to be secure. I guess not

[kernowlass]

@badservice11

If that was directed at me then I have NOTHING to do with Paypal (thank goodness).

I am an Ebay seller that helps on here and I have the 'users' of Paypal understand how Paypal works and hopefully save them from being scammed.