Paypal credit fraud letter

pedro257

A family member has been receiving letters from PayPal Credit over the last 3 months saying payments have been missed and that a £12 late fee has been added to the account.

The problem is they do not have a PayPal Credit account.

At first, we assumed it was some kind of scam trying to get them to call the number on the letter, as the number didn’t appear to match anything obvious online:
0800 368 7151

The letter also lists this an address, which seems odd because the location and postcode don’t match:

PayPal Credit Collections
PO Box 5299
Unit 1-2 Chartwell Business Centre
Wigston
BN11 9UJ

We contacted PayPal directly using their fraud phone number from their official website (0800 368 7155) to report that the account does not belong to my family member.
PayPal has issued a fraud reference number and are looking into it further.

Since reporting it, several credit card providers have reduced available credit limits. We’ve also checked credit report sites and can now see an outstanding PayPal Credit account showing on their credit file.

We have reported this to:

• Action Fraud
• Experian
• Equifax
• TransUnion

Has anyone else received similar letters from PayPal Credit? Are these letters actually legitimate, or could this still be some form of fraud/identity theft?

The address and phone number on the letters don’t seem to appear in Google searches as official PayPal details, which is why we were suspicious and thought it was a scam.

Okell

Is there any reason the "family member" cannot post themself rather than you doing it second-hand?

If they don't have a PayPal credit account and PayPal have issued a fraud reference number, why are you asking whether the letters could be "legitimate"?

user1977

We contacted PayPal directly using their fraud phone number from their official website (0800 368 7155) to report that the account does not belong to my family member.

Didn't you ask them about whether the letter was genuine?

(the postcode not matching the address isn't unusual - the Royal Mail link the PO box to the sorting office. Would be an odd fraud for them to set up a PO Box anyway)

Boohoo

Does the family member have a PayPal account?

If they do it could be a pay in 3 or over a year in some cases.

PayPal is normally linked to an email address so the family member should check all their email addresses for anything from PayPal.

As for credit card limits being reduced then I think there maybe more to this than what the family member is telling you.

Check all credit references agencies asap for unusual activities and credit accounts opened recently.

pedro257

I'm posting on behalf of my mother as she doesn't use forums, and I'm not exactly an expert myself. I'm trying to investigate this for her because it's been very stressful and worrying.

Hopefully we've done everything correctly by reporting the fraud, as the amount owed is over £800. Before reporting it to PayPal, there weren't any issues with her credit score.

My dad spoke with PayPal and asked whether the letter was genuine, but they wouldn't confirm either way. They did confirm that Kellie McSherry is a real person, although that's easy enough to find online.
Doing a Google search for the PO Box 5299 from the letter doesn't show it belonging to PayPal but 5298 is associated with PayPal.
Doesn't that come across a suspicious?
The reason I'm asking here is to check whether we're doing the right thing. The letter initially appeared to be a scam, but now that her credit score has been affected, we're starting to doubt ourselves. I was wondering if anyone else has received a similar letter and could confirm whether it turned out to be genuine or a scam.

pedro257

@Boohoo yes my mum has a PayPal account, but there's nothing for her to pay in 3 and as I previously mentioned she doesn't have PayPal credit. One of the first things we checked when the first letter arrived.

The letter also shows the last 4 digits of the account, but they're not the same as my mum's PayPal account no#

dumpster_fire2025

Googling the first line of the address comes up with this result (among others)

https://www.paypal.com/uk/digital-wallet/ways-to-pay/credit-services/faqs

How can I contact you if I have any further questions?

For more information, you can call PayPal Customer Service on 0800 368 7155.

Hours of service:

Monday to Sunday 8am to 6.30pm (GMT)

If you’re calling from outside the UK, call 0044 800 368 7155 You can write to us at PayPal UK Ltd, c/o PayPal Credit Customer Services, PO Box 5298, Unit 1-2, Chartwell Business Centre, Worthing, BN11 9UF, UK

The slight difference in PO Box numbers is probably just to separate general post from collections-related post.

Ergates

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6668299/paypal-credit-fraud-letter

Whilst, in theory, anyone could send a letter claiming to be from Paypal, they wouldn't be able to add a marker to your mothers credit file for a missed payment. Only a legitimate creditor would be able to do that.

pedro257

@dumpster_fire2025 Thanks for showing me that
The letter has a different PO Box, Town and postcode.
PO Box 5299 (Tacoma, WA 98415 is associated with MultiCare Health System and Mary Bridge Children's Hospital)
Wigston (near Leicester)
BN11 9UJ (Worthing but not near Chartwell Business Centre)

I'm sure the letter isn't legit.

I'm just hoping that PayPal the credit agencies are just going through process of getting this all sorted.

Ergates

I'm sure the letter isn't legit.

Why? The information in the letter lines up with information that you have recieved from PayPal directly. There is a debt in your mothers name and there is a marker for missed payments on her credit file.

I'm just hoping that PayPal the credit agencies are just going through process of getting this all sorted.

Whilst legally this not not your mother's debt, and it is PayPal's responsibility to sort out, just hoping they'll do that isn't necessarily the wisest course of action at this point. You've raised it as fraudulent with PayPal - which is a good start - you need to keep on it with them. You also need to insist that they remove the marker from your mother's credit file.

dumpster_fire2025

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81998630#Comment_81998630

The postcodes are literally next to each other and this is a PO Box

Both of those are from the RM postcode checker

I don't know what the stuff about Tacoma in Washington State, US has to do with the PO Box.

If you cycle up the postcodes in the RM postcode checker (try putting in BN11 9U) you can see from the dropdown there are a load of businesses using PO Box services there all using separate postcodes. I don't know how that works as I don't work for RM but it's entirely above board.

Edit: And Google Maps shows a Royal Mail DO at BN11 9UJ & BN11 9UF (it's the same location.)