" you've been using your PayPal account in a questionable manner..."

[DorianLS]

I've been most baffled, not to mention frustrated, by this situation.   First I received an email, ostensibly from Paypal with some of Paypal's symbols on it.  But the contents read like they were written by someone with an 8th grade education.   It informed me that my account was limited because information was needed and to click on the link given in order to give the information to unlock my account.  As far as I could see, it was a clear (and not very good) phishing scam.  But then I came to Paypal a little while later only to find that my account was limited for some unspecified reason, telling me that I have been using Paypal in a "questionable manner".  What the heck is that supposed to mean?   To fix this problem they need a photograph of me, a copy of my bank account and two other bits of information which I've forgotten.  The message sent to me was:

"Your account access is temporarily limited.  We noticed that you've been using your PayPal account in a questionable manner. To understand this better, we need more information from you. You'll need to provide the requested information to regain full access."    Reference ID: PP-L-232745059946

How can I find out, first of all, what this vaguely worded charge of  "using Paypal in a questionable manner" is about.   I have been using Paypal in the exact same way that I have always used it, and I'm talking about more than twenty years.   Why should  I send them a photograph?  I'm not a criminal and if I am charged with something by Paypal I would like to know what it is.  And that weird coincidence of receiving that spam letter just as Paypal was limiting my account for 'questionable' use of Paypal.   That is, more or less, what that phishing email charged me with.   Can anyone shed light on this or suggest how I can find out why they are doing this?   Thanks,  DorianLS

[Cbird63]

I think until this Coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic is somewhat under control, it's going to be difficult to resolve anything when you can't reach a real person. I ended up disputing this charge with my credit card company to surprise me by not reimbursing me. I forget the exact wording but they were unable to help. I will dispute this but I would think that PayPal could resolve it quickly. I can't actually file a dispute with PayPal because the company who sold me this item is PayPal!! What's really annoying is that I purchased this item via Facebook on an ad and when I saw that it was from a PayPal company, I didn't worry about receiving my item but I wish I had did a bit of research and I will from now on. Good luck and please keep us updated, thank you

[sferrer]

Same here. No one at the other end when trying to reach Paypal.  I think that the only "questionnable behaviour" is Paypals. Blocking  without prior warning even the incoming funds. I could understand blocking the withdrawal... but incoming... My Clients are at a loss, and I'm trying to cope wit it, taking visa payments on the phone. 

On top of that they are not addressing the issue. Covid?  they could  all too well work from home. Lame excuse to reduce staff.

 This sucks, really. I find no solution, so I assume the best is to have patience guys, and reply the 8 grader questions (which could be asked in the first place when the account was created).

in my humble opinion, It is the arrogance of success. From my side, nor I neither my business will contribute to this success and move to another platform less "questionnable" asap.

[savvy3275]

I am facing the same problem with PayPal, it said i questionably using PayPal, and asked for the documents & limited my PayPal, but I have company funds in my PayPal,, now I cannot withdraw the money,

[Carl665]

I've just had a similar thing pop up[ now while trying to purchase something on ebay .. same as I do ALL THE TIME .. as I'm a commission painter and get paid through paypal the majority of the time which then I try to put into my bank I'm going to be a bit **bleep**. I've sent them a complaint already demanding they get this fixed by the end of this weekend else I'm closing my account, and also demanding to see the proof that I've been "Using paypal in a questionable manner" This is just yet another in a long line of issues I've had with paypal. They're getting worse by the year, and now you can't even talk to a person to clear things up it's all stupid options that all lead back to the same questions. Can only say I'm pretty **bleep** off at this .. and Paypal ..

[Youwooden]

Someone I know sent me money today. I went to withdraw it only to find there's a limitation on my account as "you have been using your account in a questionable manner", wtf is this "questionable manner"??? I thought the whole point of Paypal was so that people can send you money, wtf is questionable about that??? I don't use Paypal a lot, I have it set up on my website but all my customers have paid by card so far thankfully! I had to submit my photo ID and proof of address and now I have to wait for however long it takes Paypal to sort it out. I had problems a few months ago when a customer paid using Paypal and I couldn't access the funds for 10 days. It's an absolute joke. My bank is quite security conscious and I have never had the problems I seem to have with Paypal everytime I use them. So the upshot is that this limitation means that if a customer wanted to pay by Paypal on my website they can't. I'm a new business starting out and I really don't need this, what a joke! This is why I don't use Paypal a lot, cos everytime I do it's just hassle that I could be doing without

[Robyn79]

They done this to me back in feb I sent them everything they ask for even though I have no clue what this questionable manner is then they limited my account for good with $1000 in it said I couldn’t use PayPal Any longer then yesterday April 2nd I got a email that my account was restored so I tried to transfer my money to my bank card and it wouldn’t let me then I wake up today on the April 3rd and they have limited it for the same damn thing again PayPal is a joke and once I do get my money off of it if I ever do I’ll never use it again.

[EBFN]

I have the same problem. I received a payment from a customer who is happy and received her goods. Yet now I can’t withdraw the funds because of an account limitation. I have drawn the conclusion that Paypal is limiting accounts in this way to withhold funds and accrue extra interest on those funds during the time it’s with them. Banks invest funds overnight and every day the funds are withheld, it‘s more cash in their greedy little pockets. Where is the legality in withholding funds in this manner? When does this become an act of corporate theft? Since receiving this limitation I removed the ability to pay via PayPal on the website. Only by taking action have we any hope at all that this disgusting company will take notice.

[Badthepaulass]

I too had this same problem, and the fact that they're asking for my bank statement? RIDICULOUS! I'm never going to give anyone my bank statement, except my BANK. I'm just going to consider my funds a loss and move on to a different platform... Good luck

[DMJohnston1]

Same problem, with a wrinkle I've heard from a few other people: The "restore account" process requires I submit a detailed explanation as to these allegedly "questionable" transactions...but the section is blank, with only a link to my entire transaction history.

Adding to the confusing nature is the language implying that this over something I sold. This isn't a sales account - I occasionally receive money from publishing markets, but not recently.

So I'm meant to explain my "questionable" behavior, but no one will tell me what that behavior is? Big fans of Kafka at PayPal, I guess. The only thing I've even done recently is set up PP's crypto feature, the one that's integrated into the site. This means that it's possible that PP locked me out of my account for using one of their own features that they've been promoting. Charming.