PayPal - Unable to Change from My Unofficial 'nick Name' to My Official Name - Now My Money Stuck There!

blitzzbargain on 22/12/2020 - 20:10

Hello Ozbargain Community,

Just wanted to get some advice, comments etc from you.

I opened my PayPal account a while ago and I made a mistake using a nickname for the account. I made many purchases and my last transaction was to receive payment for selling an item on eBay (first time selling) it was less than $50
Then came a notification from PayPal that I needed to verify my identity, which I required by sending my ID and also a phone bill to verify my home address twice.
It also put a restriction on my account preventing me from withdrawing my money.

Now PayPal says I can't change my name to anyone else's (but it's me!) And advise me to close my account.
Have you experienced a similar situation?
Since I can only send a message and it takes a long time to get a response, how do I escalate this issue?
Can I get my money back if I close my account?

Thanks.

Regards,

Financial

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Comments

  • whooah1979 on 22/12/2020 - 20:13

    Pro tip. Don't lie on your KYC.

    • [Deactivated] on 22/12/2020 - 20:21

      (profanity) KYC

      • whooah1979 on 22/12/2020 - 20:23

        blitzzbargain is one that's being pounded by Paypal.

    • Daabido on 22/12/2020 - 23:53
      +1

      When I get a bag from KFC, there's a 50% chance they're lying to me about my order.

  • [Deactivated] on 22/12/2020 - 20:23
    +1

    I think you can close your account and wait 6 months for the funds to be released. Alternatively, tell them to (profanity) themselves and put a complaint in to the relevant authority. You'll get your money, PayPal will permanently limit your account and then you can open a new one and hope they don't catch on to it.

    • Zachary on 19/04/2021 - 17:50

      Many people have waited the supposed 6 months and after that paypal just takes money as "insurance" for damages caused or something or rather along those lines. Look it up on ebay forums and paypal forums. It's stupid. And what relevent authority would force paypal to release your funds that are taken as hostage?

  • scrimshaw on 22/12/2020 - 20:32
    +2

    I also used a nickname for my paypal account for more than 13 years and I recently changed it to my real name

    The issue was pretty much fixed with 1 phone call, I sent them all the supporting documentation (passport, license, copy of a gas bill that shows my home address) plus an explanation as to why I want to change my name ( I just said the name change is to comply with Australian legislation about providing correct details).

    Account was unlocked the day after.

    You probably won't have to close your account. It seems like an overkill solution and whoever suggested that might have been incompetent or lazy and didn't want to fix up the issue for you.

  • JCrown9 on 22/12/2020 - 20:40
    +7

    make a purchase and spend the money.

    or see if can send to a friend.

  • brendanm on 22/12/2020 - 21:13
    +4

    I did a similar thing, had incorrect name on a PayPal account I had used once 3 or 4 years ago. eBay for some reason changed my preferred account to this one, I received a bit over $1k in it, then couldn't get it out. PayPal didn't care, wouldn't budge no matter how much info I sent them. Escalated to financial services ombudsman, solved straight away.

  • Randxyz123 on 22/12/2020 - 21:59
    +2

    Can you call them? There seems to be a option here https://www.paypal.com/au/smarthelp/contact-us

    The other option you could try is transfer the money via paypal to a friend or family member then they can withdraw and transfer to you.

  • steven6 on 23/12/2020 - 01:36
    +2

    You could lodge a legal name change application with Births, Deaths and Marriages and change your real name to "blitzzbargain"?

  • afah0447 on 05/05/2021 - 10:54

    I had the same problem. Had to close account and start again.

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