debt collector help (urgent)

little_green

posted a thread back in april re other half getting back details stolen - basically 3 x unauthorized payments of varying amounts were taken from their bank account. On the statement it showed as Paypal followed by retailer (cdkeys & kerrymaid). However on paypal under account activity/summary the transactions did not appear.
Upon realizing what had happened my OH immediately closed the paypal account (not sure why) & contacted them asking to investigate. A response was never received. The paypal account was linked to my OH debit card hence the money was taken form that account.

It was also reported to the bank who investigated reimbursed the money (hence i assume confimed they were fraudulent). The original debit card was cancelled/blocked & a replacement sent out.

A few days ago OH has received a letter to the home address from ARC Europe.
It states: "this account has been passed to us as our client, Paypayl, has been unable to obtain payment of the above balance from you.
Clearing the balance will life the limitations our client has applied so you continue using your paypal account.
If we don not hear from you within the next 14 days we will obtain our clients further instructions on the recovery of this debt. We therefore urge you as soon as possible to discuss your account."

I am deeply concerned OH is very much bury your head in the sand type & doesn't seem the least bit phased by this., meanwhile i'm freaking out & imagining a cant pay take it away type situation.
OH has reactivated their paypal account & we have been in contact with them via paypal messages asking for clarity however they keep encouraging us to phone & i'm keen to keep a paper trail. They have said they dont know why it would have been sent to the debt collectors as there has never been any transaction on the account.
We have emailed ARC europe advising of the situation however have not had a response.

I'm also worried that IF the debt has been accrued it's clearly by someone else (hence fraud) ... what's the stop them continuing to carry out transactions & accruing more debt?

Have also spoke the bank but they say to deal with paypal direct. I thought they might be able to help since they confirmed fraudulent activity on the account. Couldnt they liaise with paypal given they have proof?

sourcrates

Hi,

They are just a debt collector acting on behalf of their client, in this case PayPal.
They do not own the debt, so cannot do anything except run though there range of threatening template letters.

PayPal will want there money, and are looking to him to repay it, as he is technically responsible.

He will have to demonstrate to PayPal that this was fraud, which frankly won’t be easy.

Your bank will automatically refund a disputed payment, it doesn’t mean they agree it’s fraudulent.

little_green

sourcrates wrote: »

Hi,

They are just a debt collector acting on behalf of their client, in this case PayPal.
They do not own the debt, so cannot do anything except run though there range of threatening template letters.

PayPal will want there money, and are looking to him to repay it, as he is technically responsible.

He will have to demonstrate to PayPal that this was fraud, which frankly won’t be easy.

Your bank will automatically refund a disputed payment, it doesn’t mean they agree it’s fraudulent.

why is my OH "technically responsible" when there in black & white on the paypal account there has been no activity. Absolutely no transactions are listed therefore how can paypal say there is outstanding debt on the account when clearly no transactions have been made. If they can provide details of transaction(s) relating to the alleged debt then OH can raise them as fraudulent however how can they (paypal) state there is alleged debt but refuse to give details what this actually relates to?

sourcrates

little_green wrote: »

why is my OH "technically responsible" when there in black & white on the paypal account there has been no activity. ?

Someone has attempted to defraud both your OH and PayPal, using his PayPal account.
PayPal are notoriously difficult to deal with in matters such as this.

They obviously believe he is liable for this phantom debt, hence the involvement of the DCA.

They should provide evidence though when asked, but they are an American company, based in Luxembourg, and getting anything other than a generic email out of PayPal is very difficult indeed.

little_green

sourcrates wrote: »

Someone has attempted to defraud both your OH and PayPal, using his PayPal account.
PayPal are notoriously difficult to deal with in matters such as this.

They obviously believe he is liable for this phantom debt, hence the involvement of the DCA.

They should provide evidence though when asked, but they are an American company, based in Luxembourg, and getting anything other than a generic email out of PayPal is very difficult indeed.

what do you mean defraud both OH & Paypal?
Also how do we put a stop to it? I mean this person could continue doing so & the debt linked to OH's name will continue to grow? There must be a way to stop that?

sourcrates

little_green wrote: »

what do you mean defraud both OH & Paypal?
Also how do we put a stop to it? I mean this person could continue doing so & the debt linked to OH's name will continue to grow? There must be a way to stop that?

I don’t know the detail, i’m literally going on what you’ve posted.

How people commit these frauds, I don’t know, you’ve cancelled the card, that should hopefully be sufficient.

little_green

The card was cancelled back at the start of march as that's when the transactions appeared on my statement/account. This is now the end of may. However given time lapsed between then and now it could be commensurate with PayPal getting in touch with DCA