Forum

Anti Money Laundering More ID Requirements For Paypal Australia
 

I recently got the following email from Paypal Australia (had a fewactually);

'Dear XXXXX,
We are contacting you because changes to Australian anti-money laundering laws require PayPal to confirm the identity of its customers whose accounts reach a specific transaction level.

Our records indicate that your account falls into one of the following categories, and requires your attention:
- Your account has almost reached the transaction level. Once this level is reached, PayPal is required to confirm your identity; otherwise a restriction will be imposed on your account preventing you from sending payments or withdrawing funds.
- Your account has previously surpassed the transaction level (the anti-money laundering laws apply retrospectively from December 2007). *If your account reaches this limit again or you do not respond to this request within 60 days, a restriction will be imposed on your account preventing you from sending payments or withdrawing funds.

Please act now and avoid any potential restrictions. Log in to your PayPal account. On the My Account Overview page, look for the notice that directs you to the steps required for confirming your identity.

If you have any trouble completing these steps, please call Customer Service at 1800-073-263.

For reference, your case ID number is PP-xxx-xxx-xxx.

We appreciate your business and patience in helping us comply with Australian law.



Sincerely,
PayPal



Please do not reply to this email. We do not monitor this mailbox, and you will not receive a response. For assistance, log in to your PayPal account and click the Help link located in the top right corner of any page. If your enquiry is regarding a claim, log in to your PayPal account and go to the Resolution Centre.'

This account has received just under $6000 Australian in the period it has been opened for (under a year).

Paypal are asking for fax/email of Passport, Licence, Utility Bill and Government ID. This is more ID than a bank requires to open an account and not everyone has a passport and certainly not government ID. I just wonder if this is to comply with the law here in Aus or is Paypal using this as an excuse to 'know more about us'.

It is also really going to stop the more honest members of society from having bogus Paypal accounts, its not hard to run up copies they are asking for on the computer and fax them in no way will Paypal be able to confirm the details on the documents are genuine or not ( I think).

Anyway this is meant as a heads us for my fellow Aussie Paypal users but other opinions would be interesting

Any bank in Australia wants 100 points of ID. Looking at your post, paypal does the same. Government ID is the medicare card or a pension card. OZ & the UK are more proactive these days with the money limits. Just a matter of being prepared. Must say it does scare
you to get those types of emails.

its the request for utility bill thats annoying, I do not think its a hassle for me at the moment its more the big brother thing I guess. I have been thinking of a work around open a Paypal account normally with bank etc and use it normally until the amount of money going through is getting close to the limit and then just link to another Paypal account in the same name etc but different bank account... think that would work?

Different bank account and different name works. Funds routing does not match names to BSB/ACC #. You can put Dr Frankenstein if you like as long as the numbers are correct.

EDIT: Whats the limit where they ask you? I have no idea how much Ive put through the PP acct. I responded to the ID verification warning with photoshopped Drivers Licence and power bill.

They asked me to this on my last account i just gave them the info they wanted :D and several hours later they removed the limit. no biggie

I think the problem comes in for those who have had to open a Paypal account with account details that are different to those that we easily supply. I know of 2 established Aus accounts where Paypal have asked for details as mentioned above after a few thousand dollars have gone through, another which was a new account but had sales for around $1000 within a week.
What I find laughable is that Paypal are asking for either a scan or fax I'm sure we all know that a scan or document to be scanned can easily be 'adjusted' in an imaging program to suit ones' requirements. This being the case requesting this information seems something of a waste of time. Of course I am assuming Paypal can not verify the documents they are requesting.

They dont verify anything. My account was back to regular standing within 30 minutes of uploading the 'custom' documents

Every time I reach around 7-8k in sales through paypal on a new account, they limit me and ask for s.s and other documents.

Is that a Paypal verified or unverified? I got that when I got 1k in sales on an unverified Aus Paypal account and I was just selling stuff from around home (to build up feedback).

LMAO :thumb:

Hi aliman, when you mention funds routing does not match name to BSB/ACC #, does it means I can put in any name for the first name and the last name and I could still get my funds into my bank account so as long as my BSB/ACC# is valid?

With in Australia interbank transfers between Australian banks only use BSB & Account number the National Bank state this on the web site. I once accidentally put my ebay user name in as the Bank name and the transfers still went through.

Regarding the amount of money going through an account before they want to sight docs .. there appears to be no rhyme or reason in my experience only after a few hundred dollars to some accounts that have are still going strong with no requests. My opinion is that Paypal are applying this law (if there is such a law) when it suits them

It's supposedly 1700 GBP for us in the UK. I'm just waiting for the emails now as I am getting close to that on a few of my accounts.

Not sure until yet whether I am going to try and get past it or just abondon the accounts.

CaptainJack

You only need voipfone and entropay to left the £1700 limit in the UK.

I have already lifted the initial limits on my accounts that way.... I was under the impression further documentation was required to get past the anti money laundering ceiling limit of £1700.

CaptainJack

Well i provided my uploaded information and within 12hrs my paypal account was frozen for 180 days.
Be careful

It would seem that Paypal are trying to confirm personal details with a third party. I've noted that there are companies in Aus now who will confirm identities. They can it seem run passport numbers (at least of those people in Aus on a Visa).Paypal always ask me for passport number but I am based overseas so this may be why, when I am back in Aus I will see they still ask. They are not doing this confirmation with account opened in 2007 or earlier (Paypal have a blurb up explaining this confirmation).

Discount, .....what sort of information did you upload? ;)

hi, guys

my account was limited over 180days now and still cannt withdraw money, it was limited due to this new rule---anti moneyXXX, I was required to send photo ID and Utility Bill, which I dont have, I used ⊗⊗⊗⊗ name and address...

just wandering if anyone can help?

as I understand it Paypal are supposed to forward any funds in the account to you after 180 days, I'd have thought they would have sent it to your bank account. It may pay you to contact the Financial Services Ombudsman and make a formal complaint

thanks, mate, but the problem is, the name and address on paypal file are not mine...I used ' created' name and address; can I still to claim my money?

will it get limited if its bank verifed already?

A Paypal account with a verified bank account can be limited, if you add bank account details BSB Acc# that you have used before to a Paypal account that is still current or 'restricted'Paypal will say its already linked ..if you close or remove the bank account from the earlier account I am not sure of the response you would get if you tried to add it to a new Paypal account. But its very easy to open a new bank account in Australia so opening new Paypal accounts is really dead easy

i have a verified paypal account, never used this account number before, i got $900.00 in this account and became limited, not only did i become limited but paypal also decided to put in 4 disputes on my payment they cleared three of them and reversed 1 so not only do i not have the product ( i sent it registered post and put the number in paypal) i dont have the payment. Im sure they did that to rub salt into my wounds.

I have sent in all required documents 1 week ago and im still limited and no reponse from ebay.

Now that I only have $700.00 left in the account what i would like to know is "what happens to the money"

I cannot access any of it, all my items have been sent out and paypal know this as they have all tracking information.

will the account be reopened or do paypal just keep my money forever as due to the limitation is have a section 9 cit notice from ebay.

any thoughts or help appreciated

my friend opended up a new paypal account and ebay account and immediatly put in his drivers license and withing 30 min gets a letter from paypal saying his account has had the limitation removed so now its unlimited and he hasnt even used it yet

how does that work

I'd be lodging a complaint with the Banking Ombudsman, assuming this is a fair dinkum account of course and not a stealth or similar account. Rumour is that once the Ombudsman gets onto Paypal they become a lot more helpful..

its not a stealth account as such

its an account in my sons name and his paypal account

In that case I'd lodge a complaint so you can at least get your money back etc. As for getting your account back up and running I cannot help you, when this has happened to me I have just moved onto new account(s). If you need a hand opening new ones let me know I'll be more than happy to help if I can.

it would appear that paypal are going to do things my way

not only have I proven them to be incorrect with their information as they have accused me 4 times for not posting items when i used online tracking. on three accounts I sent them through cut and paste the australia post information stating that the buyer recieved the items several days ago. I have done this for them three times and got all my payment reversed back to me after they sent the payment back to the buyer.

because I had these disputes (which paypal put on not my customers) will this be enough to have my account limits lifted as I have also provided them with bank statement and DL.

Thats really good to read, nice to know Paypal does do the right thing. Mind you legally they most likely do not have much of a leg to stand on.

i got the same email today i want to know that if i enter bank account information only did paypal removed this limit from my account ?

I think it would depend if they asked for any more information, I have used unverified Paypal accounts linked to Ebay accounts (all Aus based) and after I received a certain amount of money or listed a 'high risk item' I have been asked to verify the Paypal account before listing. Once bank account added and Paypal deposits received I was right to go.

hey im having the same problem but can paypal hold ur funds forever because of the anti money laundering laws or just 180 days? coz i had a mate transfer me 3.5k in one go which wasnt a smart idea. also can paypal check the passport numbers with the australia government to see if they match?

I'd not be surprised if they could use your passport number after all they go out of their way to ask for it. I have found that when they ask for more ID they give you plenty of time to withdraw any money. If your account is all above board get onto the Ombudsman

ABN no. and trading name: a legitimate way to reclaim your money
 

My first Paypal account was hacked by scammers, got a refund from Paypal but resolved to open a ⊗⊗⊗⊗ Paypal account for any non-Ebay transactions where I was a bit doubtful of the buyer/seller. I hit $1000 quickly and the account was restricted.

This worked for me, so just suggesting it's worth a try. If you don't already have an ABN (Australian Business Number) then apply for one as a "sole trader" -it's free. Under the "trading name" section, put your ⊗⊗⊗⊗ name plus whatever you e.g. if your ⊗⊗⊗⊗ name was "John Smith" then your trading name will be "John Smith Electricals" or whatever you buy and sell the most. Enter all the other details correctly and honestly.

Go back to your ⊗⊗⊗⊗ Paypal account. Change the date of birth, address, email address etc to your actual details. In the address section, do something like this:
ADDRESS LINE 1: (your real name) trading as John Smith Electricals
ADDRESS LINE 2: your actual address.

You see, when you have a basic Paypal account you can't enter two words in the Surname field, so it's easy to claim you had to leave the word "electricals" out to make the new Paypal account.

Once you've done all this, you can just go ahead and give Paypal your passport number, a digital copy of your ABN status and trading name, faxes of drivers licence, rates notices etc until all their identity checks are okay. And of course it's all legitimate.

If Paypal wasn't satisfied with all of this, at least you have a pile of evidence to present to present to the Ombudsman and I think they would have to give in quickly.

Hope this helps. I don't want anyone using this info to do anything illegal, and hopefully you can't! But it does annoy me that Paypal has probably claimed hundreds of thousands of dollars through ⊗⊗⊗⊗ accounts worldwide.

was anyone asked this question....
 

this was on my original account in my real name.... My Ebay & PP accounts have been active for 4-5yrs as a buyer and bits'n'pieces and house hold stuff seller, some major life events happened to me last year and needed to make a 2nd income that fitted in with my current 1st income, decided on ebay selling..
Anyways listed 10 I guess less then reputable products as Buy it now about a month and a half before xmas, then *BAM* 2nd day of selling I was hit with the anti-laundering limit with around $1800 going thru my account. Paypal asked me for 2 things.
The first thing was like everyone else verify the account so faxed scans of Passport, utility for address, and licence. The second thing was a bit weird, Paypal asked me if I worked with, was connected to or collecting money for any public figures or Politicians. To answer, I could click a yes or no button for the answer.. Has anyone been asked this question ???
It took 6 days for PP to un-limit my account and during this time I found this forum and not long after A student of the Stealth guide ;)

I've been asked the politician question every time I've had to go through the anti-laundry process. My accounts though are not limited until a long time after they ask these questions and in that time I have been able to operate as normal

Whats the latest on this?

Do you have to provide a ID or Passport Number to them. Then a previously used address?

Or

Do you just fax them a ID and Utility Bill?

Never the passport.

Driving licence &utility bill usually works.

Dot forget the $1000 anti-money laundering requirements to overcome :juggle: