PLEASE- EVERYONE CALL KOTHANEK NAD TELL HIM OFF! __________________ Remember the guy who got escorted out of Office Depot by the police for trying to get the pricematch?? Well here's another story about how hot dealin' can get you arrested:Like many of us, i signed up for p@ypal and xc@m back in January Feburary for the Hot Deal of FREE MONEY..what could be better, right? Seemed so good I told all my friends and family to signup to...heck I even let them signup on my computer! Even did the direct deposit from p@ypal into xc@m so we could access our money through the ATM... signed up six people from my family, and alls well, right? WRONG! Recently checks started bouncing at one of the xc@m accounts, even though there was $2000+ in there! WTF? Never heard a word from p@ypal or xcom...then login to the new combined x entrance and find all the p@ypal accounts are "restricted"...the x checking accounts do not show a restriction, but wont let you move any money within them, indicating they were frozen too...apparently they did this July 2... ...come TODAY, this idiot, John Kothanek (JKothanek@x.com)"Fraud Investigator" calls and says "youre in big trouble buddy, we've tracked your IP address and found you have created several accounts from there" I say yes I indeed have, whats the problem?? My mom, dad, me , friends etc, all signed up using my computer,,hell i even typed a couple of the apps...as soon as he heard that he flipped, stating what a HUGE Federal crime it was b/c I was opening accounts for other people, regardless of ANY facts, such as they were there, or had given permission, or were disabled and couldnt type (all true)..he says that alone is a violation of TOS and is wire fraud..i asked him to point out where it states it is not permitted to help type someone's app for them (in some cases it would be violating the Americans With Disabilities Act if these people were denied access to apply due to a disability).... ....this idiot then states he wants to talk to my mom and dad regarding charges on p@ypal from my CC deposited in their xcom accounts...i tell him to screw himself, after the way hes talking to me, theres no way imma let him talk to my mom and dad like that, especially since they are more "innocent" when it comes to the net and could actually get freaked by the BS this guy was running...he basically used that conclusion to prove I was engaged in fraud and said he would be "contacting the authorities". I told him go ahead, and whats gonna happen to the $2000+ in my checking account you have frozen, with checks getting bounced right and left - first he says he will allow a partial restriction, then makes the "executive decision" and says they will stay COMPLETELY frozen during investigation...Thats ridiculous, since if we had the P@ypal money sent to a non-affiliated bank or sent by check they couldnt pull this, only b/c xc@m and P@ypal have merged was he able to pull this, We specifically didnt want to give P@ypal our main bank # for this specific reason! he didnt care, so I told him im gonna dispute the last CC-charged p@ypal deposit into an xc@m account that cant be accessed, since we didnt get the product we paid for. So in the end its really no big loss, just a lot of hassle...this guy, feeling outwitted, he sends an email after the conversation with this nice ending: """John Kothanek (650)251-1141 PS what about the meeting with your parents,you and myself to discuss this in its entirety. I could bring law enforcement if that would make you more comfortable. """ This guy is talking like im 15 years old, when i happen to be 25 and have been a law enforcement officer over 3 years ago! Since when has YOUR local bank threatened to come visit you with the cops?? This idiot seems to forget I am a CUSTOMER with over $2000 of my money in their accounts, not some criminal who stole anything from them..... I know there are more people who have had problems with these 2 companies, and want to warn others who may have signed up their friends/families from their computer....watch out! BE CAREFUL!!! Ive seen their new requirement that you "link a bank account' at P@ypal....WHATEVER YOU DO, DONT LINK YOUR MAIN BANK ACCOUNT TO P@YPAL!!! They are tracking IP addresses, and from reading recent epinons on xcom, they are FREEZING peoples bank accounts left and right! This is one hot deal that definitely went bad....I was all for their services till this started, and reading other's experiences it seems once there is a problem youre screwed b/c they have NO customer service or concern!! I'll keep ya posted if this guys' threats have substance behind them __________________ I have also contacted news.com and a reporter has responded to my news tip. I should be talking with him soon, anyone else who wants to be in on this story can email me and I'll pass along to news.com. Email to mdeutsch0@aol.com.Thanks, Mike __________________ Screw them, Call the Banking Authorities in the state in which you live, and the State in which they do business. they have frozen your accounts because of wire fraud?... Where is the court order to do this, at most they are entitled to their piddiling dollars back, the rest is yours. Oh and make sure he brings his Mom and Dad with him.BTW I remember when the banks used to give toasters for deposits and they cost more than $10 then and they gave kids a lollipop, so get a cherry one for me please. __________________ Thanks..nope, they are freezing ALL the accounts in my family on the MERE SUSPICION of fraud.....does anyone know the proper authorities to contact? I tried the District Attorney and they said get a lawyer if they pursue anything...there must be some governmental protection![This message has been edited by freenet (edited 07-18-2000).] __________________ Um.. I have two questions on this issue..#1 - Does this belong in the deals forum? #2 - If you're really 25 years old, why would he want to talk to your mom and dad? Sounds fishy to me. If your parents and other people signed up legitimately, he would have their contact information. I think perhaps you got other's permission, but you solely signed them up for the bonus money, therefore his accusations could indeed have merit. JMO. Maggie __________________ Usually there is a Banking department in your state, also look at their site for the state in which the state is chartered. I would read their policy and see if it specifically says IP address or one per house, if not you should copy the web page for reference. I can't say good luck becasue it is not a luck issue it is right and wrong and they are wrong to freeze the account for their weakness. __________________ MAGGIE: I think it belongs in got deals b/c many people who got in on this hot deal are now seeing the "add a bank account" message on P@ypal and need to be wary...He wants to talk to my parents b/c I sent THEM the money, from my credit card..he wanted to know if maybe I was just one of the "users" of their cards, sending money to themselves via CC to avoid cash advance fees...I am the PRIMARY cardholder and he can take his suspicions and shove them. AND SO WHAT if we signed up just for the bonus money---WHAT IS WRONG WITH THAT??!!! their site never said you can't signup just for the bonus money - thats the only reason many of us did! ESSM: thanks, youre right its not about luck, its about not being able to do something so ridiculous to anyone! [This message has been edited by freenet (edited 07-18-2000).] __________________ so does this mean that they are freezing accounts created by users who are inside a firewall or a private network with NAT (network address translation) enabled? I asked because I think that in both situations, the outside world can only see one public ip address, but that doesn't mean that all transactions took place through one computer, it just means that they all use the same gateway.__________________ This is really ridiculous. If they are doing this, they will be freezing millions of accounts. Why make such an assumption? Because many students uses their school's computer to log onto the internet, and school computers go through just 1 IP address.__________________ I will bet that EBAY would love to hear about this incident__________________ I heard about ecount closing account for having more then one account, but really if they going to freeze accounts because of having same ip they can just freeze all accounts. I wish you luck on getting all your money back (plus intrest).__________________ This sounds fishy to me too. I have several questions:1. If you are/were in law enforcement "3 years ago" (whatever that means), you should know the laws and your rights. Why do you not appear to? 2. As Maggie mentioned, if you're over 18 then the company's beef lies with you *individually.* If they have a beef with your parents, that is addressed seperately as you are a legal adult now and responsible for your own actions (i.e. "let me talk to your parents" works up through highschool, but after that you deal with your own messes.) 3. I think you mean that your PayPal account was frozen; these people cannot freeze state or national bank accounts without a court order and you would definitely have heard about it. I think there is something we're not being told here... G __________________ I was on a plane flight home yesterday and I was reading the July PC World magazine and there was an article in their about all these online escrow services and how only 2 of them had licenses to operate, and three were applying for them. No names were mentioned (that was rather odd) but the gist of it was that in some states (esp. California) those services are illegal because they do not have a license to operate their business.In other words, a lot of those escrow services out there might not be legit w/o a license. After all, their might not be that much of diff. between giving money to a stranger and giving money to a strange escrow service that has no license? __________________ Call the Business Bureau on them and report this. I am pretty sure they need like a court order or something to freeze your account. Also, get everyone together that geot screwed and file jointly. The more people on your side, the better your chances are.CALL THE NEWS--I don't know what you got where you live, but down here there are segments devoted entirely to companies screwing you. (Al Sunshine's Shame on You Report). You'd be amazed how fast things get solved once a company thinks it might lose business on the deal. Happy Hunting.  __________________ Maybe you should try getting in contact with a reporter at News.com to bring the story out completely in the open. This should put a tremendous amount of pressure on Xcom/Paypal. News.com seems to be very responsive to the public.[This message has been edited by Jago215 (edited 07-18-2000).] __________________ I have been restricted at PayPal too. I was restricted for posting an unsolicited message on Usenet. My money has been frozen for a couple of weeks now. The worst thing about PayPal is once those nazis decide to freeze your account, there is no one who can assist you via telephone or email! All you can do is file an appeal and wait for a reply. They answer their appeals in the order they are received and I assume they have weeks of email backlogged. They have frozen $200 of legit money, I haven't even received one referal bonus!- Mike __________________ freenet already contacted news.com someone working on it i have no problems with paypal and x.com but when you do something like this with bank company next time use free isp and clear your cookies dial again so you would have different ip#, but i did have same problem with ecount but i called up management and my account was unlocked immediately and accounts of family members were unlocked too.__________________ quote: once they invented something called a ".", pronounced "period"... __________________ Well I hope you are all being honest with us here in the forums cause i just called that guy and gave him a real good ass reaming and I also told him that he is doing some serious damage to paypal and his dept by threatening people too. I also informed him that his name and phone number are on the web and that we are all going to call him and just be a-holes until he lays off our boy. and then i hung up-LOL__________________ so i guess i should cancel my paypal account that i just opened__________________ first off aj shut up already about spelling and period's"." your like a pest,secondly granpa just because he(freenet)was or is, in law enforcement does not mean he knows all the laws ---there is a thing called lawyers. well they them selves dont know all the laws and why would they want to speak to his parents?? to see if its true what he said but all in all this sucks and now we know screw p@ypal and get a lawyer and sue for the interest that your losing and time best of luck [This message has been edited by ranger498 (edited 07-18-2000).] __________________ I want the news to put paypal to shame- it should be pretty easy to get this story published in the news as well as bring good exposure to apex too. Also freenet-why havent you written anymore in this thread. U need to hook up with sinioutlaw cause this reporter is probably going to want to interview you and stuff. Lets all band together and bring down paypal in the media and focus on this guy-Has anyone called him yet besides me?__________________ I just requested all my paypal be wired out because of this impending ruckus that may affect my dealings in online auctions. I guess I'll just have to use ecount or payme.com now.__________________ quote: you keep getting on my nerves. SHUT UP. We can criticize Vladik's posts any way we see fit. If you got a problem: leave. We like cutting on him. No one said SH!T to you. Please stop following around my posts and trying to make fun of me. I hope no one posts: "AJ youre uptight and mean" and the like- EVERY post i make, this loser, in poorly spelled posts, critizes my grammar and spelling. He just doesnt stop. I hope you dont mind my directing light verbal abuse at him (not you, him)... __________________ Has no one else noticed who is posting in this thread though multiple aliases? I should have known he was in on this.Mods: lock this thread, there is no deal here. This belongs in off-topic at best. __________________ I agree, this sounds "fishy" and I can't say that I'm completely convinced PayPal is fully at fault.__________________ Best of luck on getting your money back. I live in canada, i will send the link to a local news cast... if they bite then it'll be downhill in a very steep way fer paypal.cheers. __________________ I E-mailed PayPal and asked if they are licensed by their State or by the Federal government. Their response: Confinity, Inc. the parent company of PayPal was founded in December 1998 by a team of experts in finance, encryption, telecommunications, and the Internet. Confinity is backed by the venture arms of industry leaders Nokia Ventures, idealab Capital Partners, Goldman Sachs, and Deutsche Bank. Furthermore, PayPal makes a profit by investing the float funds while they are in the PayPal system. I also asked why they freeze accounts. Their response: We freeze accounts if we suspect fraudulent use of your PayPal account, if a chargeback has been done against PayPal, or if credit card information does not verify.__________________ quote: what are the other names- you think ranger is him too? that was brought up before... Mavi forum |
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
ARRESTED TRYING TO GET HOT DEAL #2!!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
0 comments:
Post a Comment