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Ask HN: A check from PayPal to me was stolen and cashed. What can I do?

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Re: Ask HN: A check from PayPal to me was stolen and cashed. What can I do?

#51

Post by paypal_woes »

TheLoafOfBread wrote: post #47
beAbU wrote: post #44

1/ I find it personally shocking that it's still OK to use checks in 2023, and doubly shocking that it's possible for a random 3rd party to cash said check without any, as you say, checks and balances in place in order to verify the identity of the cashee, and to verify that they are indeed the intended recipient of the value of the check. If it's this easy to cash a check by a 3rd party, why don't we forgo all the p…

USA is using cheques a lot. I believe it is some kind of combination of regulatory capture which resulted in ancient and inflexible banking system.

I think it's because the alternatives all suck. One is PayPal. Another is Venmo, which is owned by PayPal. Yet another is Zelle, which has its own problems I can rant about if you like.

Re: Ask HN: A check from PayPal to me was stolen and cashed. What can I do?

#52

Post by sshine »

paypal_woes wrote: post #39
sshine wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

tl;dr: The hours spent are probably not proportional to the monetary gain, so consider it a hobby. Conversely, I’ve read other HN stories where big players will react to small claims court.

I would be more than satisfied if I had to eat the loss, but PayPal lost their license to act as a Money Services Business, at least in my state.

You don’t seem satisfied in spite of the default being that you eat the loss.

Re: Ask HN: A check from PayPal to me was stolen and cashed. What can I do?

#53

Post by paypal_woes »

n_ary wrote: post #23
Brushfire wrote: post #5

I'd suggest you file a claim in small business court. It will get resolved very quickly.

This is the best approach moving forward. I also had a similar incident where I received a wrong shipment object from eBay and promptly returned it on same day. The seller issued a refund in a nonexistent PayPal account(I owned that e-mail too but PayPal never sent any notifications). After 5 months of helpless back-n-forth trying to explain what happened(I didn't receive a refund yet), eBay simply decided that my ac…

Fuck yeah!

Re: Ask HN: A check from PayPal to me was stolen and cashed. What can I do?

#54

Post by paypal_woes »

warrenm wrote: post #49
paypal_woes wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's never been a requirement AFAIK. I've had this PayPal account for 20 years and have never attached a bank account, only credit cards. When I tried to attach a bank account, they wouldn't let me: they required a phone number to proceed, but refused to accept mine. Also noteworthy for anyone else reading this, there are two ways to add a bank account: directly, by providing the routing and account numbers, and then…

I've likewise had a PayPal account since before they IPOd (pretty sure I opened it in 99, but it might have been '00 - definitely pre-eBay acquisition) You had to have a bank account then to open it :)

I mean, I have a bank account, of course, I just never wanted to give it to PayPal. Finally, after decades, I decided to semi-cave and open a new account just for them. Then they don't let me add it, because my phone number isn't good enough. The check becomes the only option, and then this happens.

Re: Ask HN: A check from PayPal to me was stolen and cashed. What can I do?

#56

Post by jupp0r »

hanniabu wrote: post #45
jupp0r wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What makes you think PayPal would behave differently in case of a stolen Ethereum wallet?

Because you won't need to use Paypal, the functionality of sending money between 2 parties quickly and efficiently is built in to the protocol

It solves a problem that OP doesn't have. He's fine with inefficiencies and third parties, he wants great customer support if there are problems.
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