Earlier quoted context omitted.
Perhaps you should read the linked article which states that the EFF examined his paypal history and found nothing remotely suspicious.
From what he shared.
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PayPal shuts down long-time Tor supporter
111–120 of 196 posts
Re: PayPal shuts down long-time Tor supporter
#112"We don't like what you are doing, and are going to hold your money for six months. I hope you don't subsist on it, or have any business obligations to attend to. We'll call you." This should be illegal for Paypal to do, period. Absolutely illegal. And if it is on behalf of a government or banking/fraud regulations, then the person should be referred to relevant agencies. Let's be clear and drop the pretense: They ar…
The funds you deposit with PayPal are held on their balance sheet. They are no longer your property, and in return you receive some rights according to the contract you signed at account opening.
If you want to reduce liquidity risk, store your funds in an escrow account. The funds in an escrow account are legally your property, and the custodian is legally required to follow your orders (simplified).
Re: PayPal shuts down long-time Tor supporter
#113Earlier quoted context omitted.
Personal experience: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23506276 https://fairshake.com/paypal/how-to-sue/ http://www.screw-paypal.com/resources/small_claims_court.htm...
It's easier to file a report with the CFPB: https://www.consumerfinance.gov I did get my PayPal account back by doing this, after I sent out an eBay order so fast they decided I was a scammer because the tracking info already said it arrived when I added it to the invoice.
Ironically, the CFPB exerts the regulatory pressure that causes payment processors to close accounts. I'm not sure who you're reporting to who at the link above.
https://cfpbactions.com/2021/03/24/cfpb-files-lawsuit-using-...
Re: PayPal shuts down long-time Tor supporter
#114This looks a lot like what might happen due to a Suspicious Activity Report. [1]
> This section ensures that national banks file a Suspicious Activity Report when they detect a known or suspected violation of Federal law or a suspicious transaction related to a money laundering activity or a violation of the Bank Secrecy Act.
Note also this part [1]:
> No national bank, and no director, officer, employee, or agent of a national bank, shall disclose a SAR or any information that would reveal the existence of a SAR. Any national bank, and any director, officer, employee, or agent of any national bank that is subpoenaed or otherwise requested to disclose a SAR, or any information that would reveal the existence of a SAR, shall decline to produce the SAR or such information, citing this section and 31 U.S.C. 5318(g)(2)(A)(i), and shall notify the following of any such request and the response thereto: [...]
I don't know to what extent this applies to PayPal, but it seems to be happening more and more frequently that people are just essentially barred from having any kind of bank account because of some opaque reporting trigger ("could be money laundering"), during/after which no bank will probably want to do business with you. [2]
Let me also leave you with something whose sheer existence should be horrifying given the above. [3]
[1]: https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/12/21.11
[2]: https://sperrinlaw.net/suspicious-activity-reports-would-you...
[3]: https://verafin.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/suspicious-ac...
Re: PayPal shuts down long-time Tor supporter
#115"We don't like what you are doing, and are going to hold your money for six months. I hope you don't subsist on it, or have any business obligations to attend to. We'll call you." This should be illegal for Paypal to do, period. Absolutely illegal. And if it is on behalf of a government or banking/fraud regulations, then the person should be referred to relevant agencies. Let's be clear and drop the pretense: They ar…
> This should be illegal for Paypal to do, period. Absolutely illegal.
In the US, it *is* illegal for any bank or other regulated financial company. But PayPal claims that they aren't that.
There are lots of other ways to send or receive money and most of them don't have the reputation that PayPal has.
Re: PayPal shuts down long-time Tor supporter
#116This is why the idea that people who are being censored by large tech organizations should "build their own platform" is an inherently bad faith apologia.
Re: PayPal shuts down long-time Tor supporter
#117Earlier quoted context omitted.
So PayPal is holding onto his money in case he incurs expenses as a result of going out of business due to PayPal cutting him off? And this seems normal and good to you?
Where did you think the money comes from when a consumer complains to their bank about a charge on their credit card and the bank credits the consumer? It sure as heck ain't the consumer's bank that pays for that. Nor is it Visa or Mastercard or whichever company owns the card network the card is part of. No, it is the merchant bank that processed the charge. To be allowed to process charges through Visa, MC, etc, th…
Exactly. One difference having used both services.
Your merchant bank will know you, there is a relationship manager who wants the rest of your business, they may have lent you money etc etc. In short, someone spends more than 5 seconds dealing with you. And they do charge more for sure.
PayPal - no one there cares at all about you. They offer something convenient, but that's it. You are SOL when things go wrong.
Re: PayPal shuts down long-time Tor supporter
#118Why would anyone support Tor? I mean, really, it allows for absolute evil. I would rather read about terrorist attacks in countries because of discontent than read about a tor site, okay? I used it once to try and find an anti-government website, something like the anarchy cookbook but practical and a forum, and I found a Tor site that looked normal but just scared the bejesus out of me. Never used Tor since. Well, I…
Please do not pollute the informational commons.
Re: PayPal shuts down long-time Tor supporter
#119Earlier quoted context omitted.
PayPal has been doing this for more than a decade now. I wouldn't be surprised if its part of their business model to hold funds indefinitely and to collect interest on them.
There's hardly any such thing as interest in the US and there hasn't been for at least a decade. Besides, if that was their business it'd be in their S-1 and it isn't. (IIRC it says they keep customer funds in interest free accounts)
s/interest/short-term cryptocurrency speculation/
Re: PayPal shuts down long-time Tor supporter
#120Earlier quoted context omitted.
Monero + Distributed Exchanges will go a long way to fix these kinds of online payment problems. Unfortunately, at least near term you'll still need fiat-tether "on ramps" to convert your local currency back and forth to tether before you move them to a distributed (or at least a non-KYC) exchange to Monero, then sending to your local wallet, then use online.
Not touching tether with a 10 ft' pole. Stay away from that junk. Use USDC or something else to on ramp.
Yikes. Why not get a little usdt while you're at it.