jesseledesma

Join Date 12/2003

Ebay, bite me, you racist company

Response to an email identified as coming from Paypal

Ever since all this conflict with muslins and mexican immigrants started I have been concerned about the possible back lash from govenment entities and private companies against people of race.

About a week ago I recieved an email from some one claiming to work for PAYPAL. The emial is listed here after my respnse.

I am about as non-consequential as you can get. The american government has no case against me and no reason to fear me.

The email claims they are taking the action they are taking because of their cooperation with American federal govenment. Since I know I am of no consequence to any one, the only reason I can see for this email is my spanish last name.

Let me tell you I have very little patience for biggots and racist. Thats why I wrote the respnse I did to the email that was left as a contact email.

I post it here as a reminder of how easy it is to judge people just on superficial basis such as name and birth place.

MY RESPONSE
This is a response to an email that stated in its content that my account with your company is frozen because of cooperation with the American federal government.

I cannot see any reason why the American governemt would have any problem with me.

The only reason I can see that adminsitrators and/or staff of Paypal and Ebay may have trouble with me may be my spanish last name.

This is my response to your request for information to verify my identity.

Keep your racist and biggoted attitudes to your self. I neither need paypal nor Ebay.

I not will spend any of my money at comapnies that hold such racist attitudes.

EMAIL IN QUESTION

Dear jesus lopez,

PayPal as a regulated financial services company is required under law
to assess its customers against certain lists of individuals and
entities which have had sanctions imposed against them. PayPal as a
financial institution is required to comply with these regulations in
multiple jurisdictions where we do business.

Where a potential name match is identified, PayPal's policy is to lock
the account and request further identifying documentation. The decision
to lock your account has been taken solely by PayPal in line with its
compliance policy in regards to the legislation covering financial
sanctions

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, however, in order to
regain access to your account, please follow these instructions and
provide the requested documentation within the next seven (7) days:

1. Provide a copy of a government-issued photograph identification
(i.e. passport, driver's license) that provides date of birth; AND
2. Provide a copy of a utility bill verifying your address; AND
3. Include your email address on all copies; AND
4. Fax the information Attention: Compliance to +303-395-2802; OR
5. Mail the documents to the following address:

PayPal Inc, Attention: Compliance
P.O. Box 45950
Omaha, NE 68145
United States

PayPal currently does not accept scanned documents. Reply to this e-mail
with all questions at [email protected].

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.

Sincerely,
Michael
PayPal Compliance Department
PayPal, an eBay Company

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muslin

With an 'm', actually, unless they're racist against cotton.

The name matching is going to be much more common amongst hispanic- and arabic-named persons, yes. It is unfortunate that the actions of others taints the good names of the innocent, yes.

Correct me if I'm making an unfounded assumption, but Jesus Lopez would be a fairly common name. Perhaps not as common as John Smith, or Mohammed (anything), but...

If you feel the (federal) policy in general is racist... okay. Your opinion. But if it's just this one instance? Seems a little narrow sighted to me. I'm assuming, of course, that the email you received is legitimate and it reflects actual federal policy (law). It would be erroneous to blame eBay/Paypal for following federal law, IMO.

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my spidey sense is tingling

its not a scam?

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I am willing to bet that the email didn't even come from PayPal and you've just been scammed into providing verification of your email address to spammers. You've probably been suckered.

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NightTrainthedark

Join Date 07/2003

+255

You've probably been suckered.

no probables here, you have been suckered.

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Good lord... have we really gotten so paranoid that we would believe it when they say the government is freezing the assets of everyone named Jesus Lopez??? Did you check to see if you were actually locked out of your Paypal?

Scammer? Probably. This also sounds like a great election year dirty trick, frankly.

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Island Dog

Join Date 06/2003

+1051

I get e-mails claiming to be from eBay and Paypal every single day. I ignore them all, they are all scams.

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i get...tons of penis enlargement email spam. (sry its random but lol

)

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I have gotten notice my paypal account was "hacked" and they needed my information to re-open account.

name, social security number, address, and home with work phone number.

Boy was I upset, my account hacked!!

the only thing is, I have no paypal account, never have had one.

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PayPal is one of the few companies you can trust. What you cannot trust is email. If you check the address where the email came from you will find out it isn't PayPal. Your Spam Blocker will take care of the problem. You did what they wanted you to do. Now they have your info.

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That is harsh, man...

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PayPal Inc, Attention: Compliance
P.O. Box 45950
Omaha, NE 68145
United States

Me thinks this should have been the first obvious & visible clue right here. They're out of California for one thing.

The only thing lamer than the people who send these are the people who actually buy into it without even bothering to check it out.

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Submit your story to the editor at the the Daily Sun. They might be able to provide you some solid media support.
I can just see the headline now...."Dow Slips As Ebay Demands That Jesus Confirm His Identity!"

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Jafo

Join Date 03/2001

+1883

It's a scam.

Nothing more...nothing less.

All they want is a legitimate identity of an Ebay/Paypal customer - whatever....so that YOU GET THE BILLS.

Put ALL Ebay/Paypal/Bank communications into the trash where they belong.

Your bank will phone you....and the others can be contacted by YOU contacting them direct.

Never respond via a link from one of 'their' emails.

Ever.

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Hawkeye666

Join Date 03/2001

+35

That email smells phishy to me!

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I have a very anglo last name...and I got an email too. Not just like this one, but close.

Could it be real?

hahahahahahahahahah

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starkers

Join Date 05/2004

+1153

My wife recently received an email 'from Visa' to say that someone had accessed her card in Belize, that her bank and Visa accounts would be frozen if she didn't reply in 7 days - to data match/verify her details, they needed the bank account number to which the card was attached; a utility bill showing current address; home and work phone nos; a gov't issued photo id with signature.

Knowing that banks/financial institutions do not send emails, she ignored it and continued to operate the account without interruption. Given the prevelance of identity theft these days, we never respond to information seeking emails but approach institutions/companies directly (via a business address or known phone no) with any concerns we may have.

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The Government is racist. They found out I was an alien but they thought that meant illegal alien - idiots.

What we need is equality for Vulcans

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Through here I will respond to all of you.

The email did come from paypal. In addition, paypal made the decision they claim to freeze my account based on information they have revieved from the federal governemt concerning the name jesus lopez.

Let me make myself prefectly clear, if requested to cooperate with any american governemt agency I will do so with out any protest or conditions.

When a private company acts out against me for no other reason then my name matching a name on a list i will respond to then "screw you and the donkey you rode in on".

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Jafo

Join Date 03/2001

+1883

Let me make myself prefectly clear,

Likewise....

I'll type a little more slowly...

It is a scam.

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It may not be a scam. There would be no harm in finding out from PayPal. Contact them directly and ask. If it is or it isn't a scam, either way it doesn't have anything to do with PayPal, so you are being a crass little baby to honk at them about it.

Obviously, if the email is genuine, they don't have any choice in the matter. In the US the OFAC handles the list and makes it available to financial institutions that have to comply. Before anyone goes off the deep end about Bush, the EU, UK, etc., have the same offices doing the same thing. Freezing assets isn't something that came from the 'war on terror', they were doing it a long time before that.

So, if your name is on the list and you can verify that you are dealing with paypal, just clear up who you are and shut the hell up about it. If you don't like it, address your issues with the government, not the companies that have to comply or face punishment. Businesses like Paypal have created powerful means for criminals and terrorists to transfer money quickly and quietly, so expect this to be the norm.

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You would do yourself a big favor if you just let it slide. I have been with PayPal and eBay for years. It is a scam. Anytime you answer one of those emails you are letting the sender know they have a legitimate account. PayPal has phishing statements and the like posted all the time so we don't get upset like this. I will admit they are getting better. They used your name in the address, unless you did that yourself. If not, then that's new.
You can keep safe with PayPal by always manually entering their address into your browser and then ask them directly about a letter. You can also call them. Try to get concerned over things that really matter and don't sweat the small stuff so bad.

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I get these constantly, and I don't have and account, but my hubby does. Best thing you can do is to forward any emails of this type to spoof*at* ebay dot com, or spoof*at* paypal dot com. (trying to save them from spambots) I send anything I get there. If you have a feeling they may have gotten your identity, go herehttp://www.ic3.gov/ That is the federal govs. site for scams etc. Hope it helps.

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Never reply to mail you don't positively know the source of, and, never put personal details in an e-mail.

I am currently dealing with someone who supplies a service free with my bank account. In order to answer my request by e-mail they want me to send: full name, date of birth, address and bank account number... Yeah, right - like anyone would be stupid enough to put all that in an e-mail.

At the moment they are 'disappointed' in my lack of confidence in their security protocols and are unable to service my request. Sod 'em!

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muslin

With an 'm', actually, unless they're racist against cotton.

x's 10, seriously ROFLAMO

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The email did come from paypal. In addition, paypal made the decision they claim to freeze my account based on information they have revieved from the federal governemt concerning the name jesus lopez.

Let me make MYSELF prefectly clear. If we don't see proof of this, we're going to all assume it is a Phishing Scam, because that is what these always turn out to be.

If Paypal really is turning off the accounts of innocent Americans, then maybe we need to know. In which case, produce some hard evidence (scan the letter, record phone calls to PayPal's HQ about this, etc)..

Now as far as acconts getting locked, that can happen for a variety of reasons. Myself, my Paypal Debit card quit working one day out of the blue. I called them up, and it turns out the fraud department was concerned about recent activity. I explained to them that I was using the card almost exclusively to earn the 1.5% cashback bonus (now 1% but my account is grandfathered to the higher rate). The rep verified some of the actual purchases I made, read off what the amount was and I told her that those were indeed charges I'd made. How did she identify me as ME? Caller ID, as I was calling from the phone associated with the account, and asking LAST 4 digits of my social. Foolproof? No.. But no system really is currently.

I doubt seriously that the kind of information you "claim" is required to be sent is true. I thought as everyone else that perhaps you were falling victim for a phishing scam. NOW I believe that you are simply intentionaly perpetuating this kind of urban legend yourself for some gain (vendette against paypal)?

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