This Is So Stupid My Head is Hurting!

@FourWalls (86661)
United States
May 23, 2016 9:13pm CST
Every now and then something so fabulously stupid happens it'll make your head hurt. That happened to me today. I got a letter from PayPal....not an e-mail but a real, "snail mail" letter. It seems perfectly legitimate: my name and account (usually the scams start "dear customer" and never use your name or account number), even my ZIP+4 ZIP code! The letter said there was "suspicious activity" on my account; and, as a result, they froze my account. As this was "snail mail" and not an e-mail, I was a little more inclined to believe it. I got online and checked my PayPal account. There was nothing suspicious showing. The last two activities were my payment and the myLot deposit. Still suspicious, I looked up the bank that is listed as PayPal's "parent" credit agency. I called that number (instead of the one on the letter). Sure enough, my account was frozen for suspicious activity. Now for the kicker. Do you know what the suspicious activity was? I PAID MY FREAKING BILL. I kid you not. They said making a $75 payment was "suspicious." I told the guy on the phone that I've made payments over a thousand dollars that haven't triggered any suspicions. And it wasn't like I was trying to buy a $120,000 RV on my PayPal account or something. (My last purchase was my hotel for the country music conference later this week, a piddly $375 charge.) This is beyond stupid. This is so stupid it makes a politician look intelligent. WHO goes around scamming people by paying their bills instead of trying to take money from them? Oy. To settle my nerves (and at least give you some entertainment out of this, if you're not doubled over laughing from this -- and I swear this is absolutely true!!!) here's Patsy Cline singing a most appropriately-titled song written by Willie Nelson:
From "Pet Milk TV" in 1962
10 people like this
10 responses
@celticeagle (189838)
• Boise, Idaho
24 May 16
They go by the activity recently on the account. At least they are trying to help you out. Weird that you got a letter though.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (86661)
• United States
24 May 16
Paying a bill shouldn't be "suspicious." We're supposed to do that. I pay my bill every month. It isn't like I tried to buy a Corvette or something. I'd be fine if they could just tell me WHAT they deemed "suspicious" on the account. Hey can't and that's why I'm upset.
1 person likes this
@celticeagle (189838)
• Boise, Idaho
24 May 16
@FourWalls ....Very upsetting. Just trying to let you see it from their standpoint. As JJ says, moronic Good word.
@FourWalls (86661)
• United States
24 May 16
@celticeagle -- I posted something on my Facebook wall about it, and my cousin said they did the same thing to her. So apparently it's a glitch in their system. That does make me feel better. But JJ's right...it's moronic!!!!
1 person likes this
@TheHorse (238305)
• Walnut Creek, California
24 May 16
Well, at least they're looking out for you. But would your account have been "frozen" had you tried to pay for a $10 CD on Amazon? That could have been ugly!
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (86661)
• United States
24 May 16
I would probably not be upset if they had said, "Okay, hillbilly, here's what tripped the alarm." This wasn't like my credit card that got frozen because someone in Chicago tried to charge $100 worth of goodies at Walgreen's at the same time I was using it in Kentucky (the credit card company told me exactly why the card was frozen). This is me simply doing what I agreed to do when I opened the account: pay my bill!
@MGjhaud (23228)
• Philippines
24 May 16
they probably change something in their system that triggered the letter. i hope that wont happen again..
1 person likes this
• Philippines
24 May 16
I don't see the point of freezing your account for paying your bill. It's not even a huge amount. I have some dollars sitting in my account. I've been planning to use it to buy something online. It makes me wary to use it now.
1 person likes this
@JohnRoberts (109841)
• Los Angeles, California
24 May 16
That is the damndest thing. A snail mail letter that ended up legit. I guess you should be grateful is was them for whatever reason and not real suspicious activity. But it's very odd and adds fuel to being uneasy about any of our online accounts.
1 person likes this
@teamfreak16 (43586)
• Denver, Colorado
24 May 16
Bizarre. I don't know what other word I could use.
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (169448)
• United States
24 May 16
I think I would just want to cry. It is that stupid.
1 person likes this
@Hatley (163772)
• Garden Grove, California
28 May 16
Love that song by Patsy but do not need to hear it again Im ju st trying to fathom why yyhour pang 75 dollars should seem suspic ious thats just plain nuts.
@JudyEv (382036)
• Rockingham, Australia
24 May 16
This is pretty unbelievable really. What are they thinking? Oh, of course, they're not thinking.
1 person likes this
@slayer08 (2377)
• Philippines
24 May 16
oh men.. whoever was behind it must have hit his head somewhere.. how can $75.00 be suspicious, I wonder..
1 person likes this