This is just one of many irritations relating to the fact that I recently sold a lump of hi-fi on ebay. This item was at one time held to be the best preamp in the world, but it has been superseded now, and this particular one had been sitting on my shelf for a while. So it was time to find it a new home with someone who will enjoy using it.
With ebay it's almost mandatory that you offer PayPal as a payment method. I have had a PP account for ages; I don't use it much, mostly it is a means of paying my monthly Spotify sub. But occasionally I sell things, and the money passes through. In this case, a bit over 1500 euros.
I get a message as follows, relating to the possible future limitation of my PP account:
"PayPal is constantly working to ensure security by regularly screening the accounts in our system. We recently reviewed your account, and we need more information to help us provide you with secure service. We would like to return your account to regular standing as soon as possible. We apologize for the inconvenience.
So I read this and it seems to expect me to infer that extra information is needed to ensure the security of my account, but that's not actually what it says: it wants the information to "help provide me with secure service". So it could be about security, or more simply, with the provision of any service at all. The latter is more likely.
They go on to say:
"You have received €1,800 or more in total payments to your PayPal account in this calendar year and are therefore approaching our annual receiving limit of €2,500. PayPal is required by law to comply with European Union Anti-Money Laundering regulations by collecting information from customers when they reach this limit. "
So am I supposed to infer that "our" annual receiving limit is part of some rule that PP apply? It seems like it, only that's not what the following text implies. Being required by our lords and masters in Europe to provide extra information when a limit is reached sounds like "our ... limit" is something imposed on PP by eurocrats. But I haven't even reached this limit yet. I suppose the only good thing about this is that by asking well in advance, they potentially avoid limiting the account when the threshold is reached, pending being satisfied that I'm acting legally.
This is nothing but an irritation, and does nothing to deter determined money lauderers. These meddling interferences in our ordinary lives get right up my nose.
End of rant.
8 comments:
Are you 100% sure this is a real email form Paypal? It smells of a phishing scam to me.
Valid question, but this was by logging directly in to my account at paypal.com, rather than clicking on any link. It is also supported by the fact that they delayed transferring the money to my bank account until they did their "random" verification. It is possible of course that my browser has been hijacked, but I don't think so.
That does, I suppose, make sense. For those who read this who do not know, paypal has a special email address spoof@paypal.com to which any emails that one is unsure of can be sent.
Even if one is sure that an inbound email is a scam and would otherwise delete it and ignore it paypal benefits from being forwarded it. They take steps to close the offenders down.
Hijacking of your browser is unlikely, though wise folk run a mile from the clutches of IE, which does have a single use: Use it to download a decent browser!
They cannot do anything but interfere and make things awkward, for no good reason. 2500 a year - money laundering? Whose leg are they trying to pull?
More likely that, desparate for taxes, they are looking for the smallest tax evasion, I reckon.
Probably linked to the French taxman panting for a chance to fine you 1,500 euros for not declaring your Paypal account....
You have to declare a PayPal account? I shall have a word with my accountant......
On the plus side, PayPal have politely told me that if I get 2500 euros in revenues they have to tell the government about my account so I have 700 euros left to get my act together.
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