Someone got into my bank account. What can I do?

[blondechick89]

This is a long story so I will make it as short as possible.

On November 13th, I received an email that someone had gotten into my PayPal account and was attempting to take out $500. I never authorized this payment and hadn’t been in my PayPal account for months. I immediately opened up a dispute through PayPal and called my bank and PayPal. PayPal assured me that because I took out a dispute against them that payments have been stopped and nothing would go out of my account. At the time, I only had $2 in my account so it was impossible to get $500 out. A few days later I received an email that I did not have the money in the account so they would be going back into my account to attempt to take the money out. PayPal did this 4 or 5 times. My bank charged me $35 each time plus $8 a day.

I have been calling PayPal and my bank and both refuse to do anything. I was promised that all charges would be covered since I did not authorize the payment, but neither has done anything so far. I have gone to the bank and opened 2 disputes up. Once my account reached a -$250, the bank closed my account.

My bank has told me that they will only cover $96 of the charges and that I must pay the rest. I am a full time college student and currently unemployed so I have no stable income. I am trying to get everything figured out because I have student loans that I need in January, but no one will bother helping me. I have a Facebook friend who told me that someone got into her bank account and they told her that, by law, since it was unauthorized, the charges have to be covered.

I just don’t know what to do! Does anyone know what I can do? Should I turn the bank or PayPal into the better business bureau? Should I attempt to sue PayPal so I can get my account back?

[tro]

this is ID theft maybe you need to report it to the police

[Sabina]

I agree with tro. This sounds like ID theft. Unless you get it resolved, it will follow you around (and haunt you) for years. If I were you, I'd skip the email communication and go to the bank in person. You'll get much more sympathy from a real person instead of writing through email. Additionally, they'll likely suggest things that will help you get this matter resolved.