Resolve Limited Access Paypal Account

Online Shopping
source: ocf.borkeley.edu

Picture this, it was a bright day when everything seemed so calm and conducive for goods purchase from internet. The transaction had been settled and everything was ready and the goods/ services had been processed successfully. While the next step for this purchase was being prepared, the seller sent notification email that fraud activity had been suspected that canceled the last transaction made and account locked.

This was exactly what happened to me. I was able to get this domain late at night. I was so excited waking up because I could finally apply the new template we had been working for a long time, to find out that it was later removed on the next morning. This domain was brought down and consequently my account was locked. Apparently, Paypal had put my transaction on hold due to security measures.

So how can a customer resolve this issue as fast as possible?

For those who have not encountered this problem before, firstly Paypal will send an email regarding the limited account access:

As part of our security measures, we regularly screen activity in the PayPal system. During a recent screening, we noticed an issue regarding your account.

We have reason to believe that your account was accessed by a third party. Because protecting the security of your account is our primary concern, we have limited access to sensitive PayPal account features. We understand that this may be an inconvenience but please understand that this temporary limitation is for your protection.

The important thing to note from this email is the Reference Number right after the statements above. It should be something like: PP-XXX-XXX-XXX-XXX (X =digit). This number should always be supplied while working with the fix via email or when contacting the customer service.

Now login to Paypal and an auto-generated message should appear on the first page after successful login.

Paypal might ask for identity verification by supplying "Full Account Number". Full bank account number should be entered correctly. Thanks to me that I did not know what account-number they were referring about: should it be bank account numbers, Paypal unique id or Paypal account numbers, now people would know what to do (read paragraph below). I indeed had entered my correct bank account numbers but apparently I did not notice that I also included my branch code in my numbers. Unable to pass the verification, I had tried 10x choosing the right combination of numbers and at that rate, my Paypal account was totally locked (instead of limited).

Continue reading this part if you enter incorrect numbers for 10x, otherwise you can skip this part:

So if anyone happened to recklessly entered the wrong numbers either and had the account locked, the message generated would say something like this (after successful login too):

Sorry - Your last action could not be completed

At this rate, no matter how many successful logins a customer could make, he would not be able to check his account summary (balance, transaction, settings etc). The only way to resolve this was to contact customer service. Tell them that the account had been locked due to incorrect 10x verification. They would first ask full name and last 4 digits of the corresponding bank-account. So one should have the numbers ready before contacting customer service. They would later give a 4 digits that you would enter to a form which link and numbers would all be provided from the email. This was to 'reset' the Paypal account.

After this, changing password and security questions might be required for several times.

Skip to this part if you can enter the "Full Account Number" correctly:
Now below message should appear. Proceed to Resolution Center by clicking on the link on the box.

Paypal Account Overview

The steps to remove the limitation should be given (see "Begin a limitation review" section). For my case, the step I needed to do was to change my password and security question. And also to submit evidence. Click the 'Resolve' button. 4 or 5 options for evidence supply might be given. The team herself told me that by providing photo ID was the fastest way to let them investigate and solve the problem. So I would also recommend everyone to also provide photo ID instead of choosing other options such as credit-card evidence for this verification.

Paypal Steps to Remove Limitations

A photo ID could be the first-page of passport and should also contain these information: Full Name and Address. These data should be exactly the same with the ones provided for Paypal account. I uploaded my bank statements (2-month period) for this complementing my passport first-page.

Depending on the case and luck, the total time needed to solve this issue might take days to weeks. However for my case, Paypal unlocked and remove the limitation of my account a few minutes right after I supply my 2 bank statements and took a total of 1.5 days to fully solve the problem.

Some people might just give up as well when they found out that their Paypal account was limited or locked and swore bad words to Paypal on public forums and discussions (I have seen many of these users during this process). However I really encourage everyone to try the steps mentioned after reading this article, moreover, if the account had some dollars inside.

The key to resolve the problem is patience. The customer service team was friendly and knowledgeable that they could address the problem spot on and treat all valued customers professionally.

The customer service contact could be found from the 'Contact' link below every Paypal account pages. However, this number could be use if one was in Asia region:

Singapore
(+65) 6510 4584

Good luck reviving Paypal accounts!