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Paypal is giving me an invasive audit.

Does this sound familiar?

         

Roxster

10:21 pm on Oct 1, 2020 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



They want audited balance sheets, tax returns, bank statements, vendors, etc. More invasive than any bank or credit card merchant account. At first I thought it was a phishing attack, but it's in my "resolution center" in my Paypal account when I log in. They're claiming to cut my account off Oct. 15th. Has this happened to you?

tangor

9:15 pm on Oct 3, 2020 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member Top Contributors Of The Month



That does sound a bit harsh! Usually that kind of detail is reserved for IRS audits!

lammert

11:04 pm on Oct 3, 2020 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member Top Contributors Of The Month



A specific country where this is happening? PayPal Australia was recently under scrutiny for compliance with local crime laws.

RhinoFish

8:36 pm on Oct 4, 2020 (gmt 0)

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The PayPal resolution center lets Buyers and Sellers directly communicate, to resolve disputes. Are you 10,000% sure you are communicating with PayPal itself, because if it's a Buyer communicating with you (you're the Seller) in the Res Center, well, you should not be sending them what you described.

To help you, people would need to see specifics, a lot of them, and WebmasterWorld might not be the ideal place for that type of back and forth. I suggest you ask PayPal Support to help you clarify the identity of the party requesting this data from you.

Essex_boy

10:39 pm on Oct 6, 2020 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member Top Contributors Of The Month



Ive never heard of this happening.

tangor

11:06 pm on Oct 6, 2020 (gmt 0)

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Kind of reminds me of phishing...

Roxster

12:28 am on Oct 7, 2020 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



Quick update. On the below, they also needed 3 months bank statements too. I uploaded the documents only to the Paypal Resolution Center, from my normal login ignoring any link in the URL. It's in the Paypal Resolution Center. While I uploaded all the documents needed, and emailed them back on the COVID contingency questionnaire, I'm considering bringing in Amazon and Apple Pay/Android. If Underwriting is hassling me as if I'm buying a house, they must be having some bigger problems.

Here at PayPal we strive to provide our merchants with a safe and secure payment ecosystem. In order to support a safe payment ecosystem, we will periodically review and assess the financial well being of all merchants who use our products.
A periodic review of a company's financial condition in a payment processing relationship is a standard practice in the payment processing industry. Our periodic reviews serve to enhance our understanding of your business and help us avoid any unnecessary impacts to your account. These reviews typically occur annually but may happen as frequently as monthly or up to annually based on the risk profile of your business.
In order to complete our review, please supply the following items:
1.The company's most recent two years of audited* financial statements, which includes:
1.Balance sheets
2.Income statements
3.Cash flow statements
4.Notes
2.Interim year-to-date financial statements (same requirements as above).
3.The latest three months of your business’s bank statements. If you have multiple accounts, please include all statements (checking, savings, investments, etc.).

Please also provide the following information:
· * What do you anticipate your processing volume with PayPal to be over the next 12 months?
1.Are any significant changes to your business anticipated within the next 12 months? (for example: name change, shift in business model, growth plans, etc.)
2.Does your company carry inventory?
3.How long does it take for buyers to receive the purchased items?
4.Any other updates or information we should know about?

The spread of COVID-19 (Coronavirus) is causing disruptions to businesses worldwide. PayPal is carefully monitoring the situation and are connecting with some merchants so we can best assist in managing risks associated with COVID-19.
We have the following additional questions:
1.Who are the top 5 vendors your company uses to supply you with merchandise or materials you sell to consumers? Please include their names, addresses, and contact information along with recent paid invoices to these vendors
2.Do you expect any impact on your ability to deliver products or services?
3.Are there any other operational impacts to your business? Examples, staffing challenges, changes in customer support levels, shipping companies or web providers? What contingency plans do you have in place to counteract this?
4.What contingency plans do you have to sustain your operations?
5.Will you be experiencing an increase in refunded transactions?
6.Will your payment volume be impacted? If so, please explain the impact on your total sales processed through PayPal short- and long-terms.
7.Are you making or have you made any changes to your shipping or refund policies in response to COVID-19? If so, please describe the changes you are making along with the effective date these changes start.
8.Do you have sufficient liquidity to cover refunds and dispute cases for the next 3 / 6 / 12 months? If not, do you have alternative sources of cash?
9.If your use of alternate cash source is a LOC, please provide terms (i.e. limit, current outstanding, availability, maturity, etc.). If governed by borrowing base, please send the most recent Borrowing Base Certificate.
*If audited financial statements are not available, we can also accept CPA-reviewed financial reports, managerial statements, and your business’s federal tax returns.

To ensure prompt review, please provide the requested information by 10/15/2020. Please provide the documents within this timeframe to avoid any interruptions to your PayPal Services.

lammert

6:00 am on Oct 7, 2020 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member Top Contributors Of The Month



Let's assume this is a genuine Paypal request.

The only time I have seen a request of this level of detail coming from a financial institution, it was when at some management level in their organization, they already had decided that doing business with you is a too great risk and want to bully you out of the system to protect their own liability and financial well-being.

engine

8:25 am on Oct 7, 2020 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Administrator 10+ Year Member Top Contributors Of The Month



My senses are on edge for these things, Roxter.
I'd want to check PayPal are not assessing for a loan. Worse still, it's a loan made by someone else. ie, fraud by someone else.

In general, PayPal are a law unto themselves and are intransigent. You do it their way, or no way. This is through my personal experience of dealing with them, and i now avoid using them where possible because of their attitudes. That's just my personal view.

Lexur

8:47 am on Oct 8, 2020 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member Top Contributors Of The Month



Although nobody here is sure enough to tell you clearly, I have the feeling that we all suspect it: you are being swindled.

You should pick up the phone and have a call with a Paypal representative about this issue.

tangor

5:11 pm on Oct 8, 2020 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member Top Contributors Of The Month



^^^ True ... I've been with PayPal since the beginning and NEVER had anything like described done to me. Just sayin'!

Roxster

6:55 pm on Oct 8, 2020 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



It's legit, it's coming from inside my Paypal account, all documentation was uploaded to the resolution center in my account. It's a genuine Paypal website, going to Paypal.com. My rep said I've reached a certain threshold. It's a new rep so if it was a scam, a new rep could have been "in" on the scam.
It's un unreasonable request, but it is a genuine Paypal request.

tangor

7:38 pm on Oct 8, 2020 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member Top Contributors Of The Month



As noted above, this may be an attempt to "drive you off" ...

At this point, in this venue, perhaps the lass you say the better off you will be when you FINALLY get an attorney involved to take of the conversation with PayPal.

YMMV!

Lexur

4:57 am on Oct 9, 2020 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member Top Contributors Of The Month



I still think you're being scammed: Resolution Center is a tool to let third parties, not Paypal itself, to solve their differences.
Did you really had a phone call with the official Paypal support? (and once again, not he number "they" suggest through the resolution center)