Multiple unauthorised transfers from PayPal by 16 year old daughter

maryjane11 · 6 October 2020 at 9:20AM

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

molerat · 6 October 2020 at 9:23AM

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 · 6 October 2020 at 9:27AM

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.

maryjane11 · 6 October 2020 at 9:35AM

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.

maryjane11 · 6 October 2020 at 9:38AM

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 · 6 October 2020 at 9:42AM

maryjane11 said:

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.

maryjane11 · 6 October 2020 at 9:46AM

noitsnotme said:

maryjane11 said:

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

noitsnotme · 6 October 2020 at 9:54AM

maryjane11 said:

noitsnotme said:

maryjane11 said:

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

They don’t ask for identification from anyone at the point of application even if you’re 99! I doubt they’re going to change their processes after years and millions of customers just to stop a few criminally minded under aged fibbers 🤷‍♂️

Peter999_2 · 6 October 2020 at 9:56AM

It's not illegal for an account to be open in Paypal under 18 but it is against their terms and conditions. If she'd have tried to apply for credit using paypal no doubt they would have verified her identity then. Either way, the fact she opened her own account fraudulently doesn't have any bearing on her using her mother's account and stealing money from her.

It's an awful situation to be in, I do feel very sorry for the mother but unless she wants to report her daughter to the police I don't see any other way to get the money back. The thing is the daughter stole the money and spent it, why should anyone pay it back than her? If she's 16 then it's time to get a job and pay back the proceeds of her crime.

maryjane11 · 6 October 2020 at 9:57AM

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 · 6 October 2020 at 9:57AM

How did she log into her mums account?

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Multiple unauthorised transfers from PayPal by 16 year old daughter

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