There is a lot of information on this page - please read everything carefully

PayPal:

You have withdrawn the cash from your PayPal account and have spent and/or sent the money.

Cease all correspondence with the scammers.  Do not open or answers their emails.  If you have caller ID, do not answer their calls.  If you do answer the phone, hang up as soon as you realize who is calling you.  If they persist, blow a whistle into the telephone.  If you are being threatened, please go here: http://www.fraudaid.com/threats.htm

If you have been corresponding with the scammers by email and/or have gone to a web site they told you is theirs, you are at high risk of Identity Theft even if you have bad credit.  Go here: www.fraudaid.com/id_theft.htm.

File a Scam Email Report with our Law Enforcement Support Division.  You will find step-by-step graphic instructions for your email service here: www.fraudaid.com/find_headers.htm.

You have withdrawn the cash from your PayPal account and have spent and/or sent the money.

Dealing with the consequences of withdrawing funds from PayPal that were credited to your account by a scammer can be tricky.

There are many possible scenarios when facing a PayPal debt.  Below you will find information that covers most situations.

The moment PayPal receives notice that the deposit was fraudulent, they freeze your account.  They will also attempt to recover the money from whichever account is attached to your PayPal - your bank or credit union account or your credit card, as is their right.

You may end up having to deal with both your financial institution or credit card company and PayPal.  Of the options, working with your credit card company is by far the easiest.

  Keep a log of each person's name, title, phone number and extension, date, time, and what was said.  Do this for the entire time you are working with your bank to repay the debt, regardless of who you talk to.  So long as it has to do with the repayment or the scam, keep a record of your contact in your contact log. 

It may seem like a bother now, but you will really be glad you have the log later.

File a police report and get a copy to PayPal and your bank/credit union/credit card company.  You always want to make a record of your knowledge that a crime was committed.

If your local police object to taking a report, ask them if they will consider taking a General Crime Report so you can present a copy or the report number to your creditors.

Contact PayPal and your other creditor immediately and explain that you are a scam victim.  Ask what arrangements can be made to repay the debt.

Contact Western Union or MoneyGram, depending on which you used to wire the money, and ask for a tracking report of the money you sent off to the scammers.  You may need a copy to add to your police report, and you may need a copy for your creditors.  This is not an essential step, but is still a wise one.

Your financial institution may freeze your account and "sweep" it, meaning debit whatever balance you have.  It depends entirely on the your history with your financial institution and the manager or Operations Officer.

PayPal has to immediately return the money to the rightful owner.  Their first debit is from your PayPal account and if the balance is insufficient, they go to whatever account you attached to your PayPal account.

If that balance is still insufficient, it's possible you can work through your financial institution to reimburse PayPal for its losses.

On the other hand, your financial institution may reimburse PayPal for the entire amount even if you do not have sufficient funds to cover the amount owed, leaving you owing your financial institution instead of PayPal.

If you attached a credit card to your PayPal account, PayPal will simply debit your credit card to cover their losses.  Your credit card company may deny you further credit on that card until an allowable debt balance is restored, or nothing may happen other than the size of your minimum payment.

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To work with your financial institution. prepare your Budget Packet:

• Your Budget Worksheet: all money in, all money out.  Be sure to include your quarterly and annual expenses, such as auto insurance, taxes, clothing allowance, money you put aside for emergencies, automatic savings withdrawals, school expenses, etc.  Do this even if you have no money left over or are in the red.  Click HERE to view and download a free budget worksheet.

Your budget is a negotiating tool, nothing more.  This is not a pass or fail test, it's merely a statement of fact.  Please understand that everything you note as an expense must be verifiable by your bank or other creditor, so don't lie or try to add in expenses that cannot be proven by your cash flow statement or bank statement.

• Write a cover letter to go with your Budget Packet.  Go to How to Write a Cover Letter for Your Budget Packet.

• Backup for the claims on your Budget Worksheet: Gather together copies of bills, expense receipts, loan statements, and credit card statements to back up your budget sheet.  See Assemble your Budget Packet.

• A copy of your police report if available or the police report number.

• A copy of the Western Union or MoneyGram tracking report, if available.

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Following the instructions found on the How to Write a Cover Letter page, assemble your Budget Packet.

       Take your budget packet to your financial institution and sit down with the Manager.  The more aggressive you are about reaching agreeable terms, the fewer problems you will have.

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Consider that you may have to file bankruptcy, which does not mean you will lose your home or your cars.  See BankruptcyAction.com where your questions about bankruptcy will be answered: http://www.bankruptcyaction.com/questions.htm.

However, if your situation has reached the point where the creditor's court has issued a judgment for the amount owed, be sure you don't wait more than 90 days to get the bankruptcy filed or you may find you still have to pay the debt.

On the other hand, bankruptcy may be the solution that allows you to pay the debt.  Only you can make that determination with the advice of your bankruptcy attorney.

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DO NOT IGNORE THE SITUATION.  We can guarantee you that if you decide this is the bank or the store's problem, not yours and you refuse to answer their calls and correspondence, you will either be taken to civil court or arrested or both!