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Multiple unauthorised transfers from PayPal by 16 year old daughter

I’m asking this for my friend who’s 16 old daughter somehow was allowed to open her own PayPal account without getting her age verified.She then without permission was able to log in to her mothers PayPal account and over a period of several weeks made multiple transfers to her own account and was then able to withdraw into her  own bank account totalling £1225. The money has been spent on herself & treating her friends.
The mother discovered this when seeing her bank account. Daughter confessed and after a lot of screaming and tears the mother opened a dispute with PayPal for each transfer, which they closed the case stating In their opinion there was not any unauthorised transactions, which I understand is there usual reply to such cases, even in cases where it’s obvious. They did not address the underage account.
Im asking if anyone knows if the bank can get these funds back via chargeback. The mothers account is funded by a debit card with HSBC 
Also wondering about the consequences for daughter as mother doesn’t want her getting a criminal record or ruining her credit etc.
i read of one similar case where Paypal did refund the money to parent  and left underage account with negative balance, which they did not pursue due to the son being underage.
Any help welcome 
thanks 
«13456

Comments

  • molerat
    molerat Posts: 33,286 Forumite
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    edited 6 October 2020 at 8:26AM
    So you want the bank / Paypal to stump up without the criminal being affected ?
    Yes, the bank will likely repay the money once they are given a crime reference number.
  • Emmia
    Emmia Posts: 4,456 Forumite
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    Unfortunately I think if the mother is not willing to report this crime (which it is) then not much could be done.

    I presume the daughter will be getting a job etc. to repay her mother?

    Also, I'm surprised she didn't notice the amounts going out either on her bank statements, or via any email notifications sent by PayPal. 
  • molerat said:
    So you want the bank / Paypal to stump up without the criminal being affected ?
    Yes, the bank will likely repay the money once they are given a crime reference number.
    Not me, the mother.I think PayPal should take some responsibility for allowing a minor to open an account.
  • Emmia said:
    Unfortunately I think if the mother is not willing to report this crime (which it is) then not much could be done.

    I presume the daughter will be getting a job etc. to repay her mother?

    Also, I'm surprised she didn't notice the amounts going out either on her bank statements, or via any email notifications sent by PayPal. 
    Yes the daughter has said she will try to pay it back.
    the mother hasn’t used her PayPal for ages so didn’t monitor it and didn’t use that email address anymore. She did notice it on her bank statement as mentioned in OP, but weeks after it started 
  • noitsnotme
    noitsnotme Posts: 1,170 Forumite
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    molerat said:
    So you want the bank / Paypal to stump up without the criminal being affected ?
    Yes, the bank will likely repay the money once they are given a crime reference number.
    Not me, the mother.I think PayPal should take some responsibility for allowing a minor to open an account.
    The daughter would have been asked for their date of birth when opening the account.  If they used their true date of birth it would have been denied.  Therefore they lied about their age as you have to be 18 to open a PayPal account.
  • molerat said:
    So you want the bank / Paypal to stump up without the criminal being affected ?
    Yes, the bank will likely repay the money once they are given a crime reference number.
    Not me, the mother.I think PayPal should take some responsibility for allowing a minor to open an account.
    The daughter would have been asked for their date of birth when opening the account.  If they used their true date of birth it would have been denied.  Therefore they lied about their age as you have to be 18 to open a PayPal account.
    No !!!!!! Sherlock, I’m talking about how they let it happen by not verifying her age 
  • I read this opinion the Guardian in a similar case, where parents got money back through bank.

    As a newby I can’t post links so hers the relevant bit or search 

    “A parent’s story: ‘Our son stole from us, courtesy of PayPal”

    “The PayPal staff I dealt with were pretty nonchalant about their lax processes that had allowed a 17-year-old to behave in this way. However, thankfully, after a lengthy discussion, they admitted they would be unable to pursue David for the negative balance on his PayPal account due to his age.

    Bank of Scotland covered itself in glory after a shaky start. It refunded the £211 – an act of generosity that means I will be its customer for life.”

    “ • PayPal told Guardian Money: “All financial services companies are obliged to take steps to verify the identity of their customers and the financial products they use. PayPal takes this responsibility very seriously. We use established industry practices to verify our customers at multiple stages ... in addition to sophisticated technologies that constantly monitor and mitigate risk.

    “We go to great lengths to prevent misuse of our services; however, family fraud can be particularly difficult to identify and resolve. These cases can be extremely challenging for all parties involved, and we always try to do the right thing for our customers in such sensitive circumstances.

    “After carefully reviewing this case, we found we could have done more to support [David’s parents] ... and we apologise for falling short of the high standards rightly “

  • CocoM2020
    CocoM2020 Posts: 253 Forumite
    100 Posts Name Dropper
    How did she log into her mums account?
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