Niponwave

I had given my Paypal details to a friend currently in US so that he could buy a calling card. Little did I know that I was violating Paypal TOS. They were quick to detect third party access & block my account and restore it later after getting scanned copies of several documents. Pretty impressed by their security! Also, lesson learnt - Paypal account cant be shared with friends.

The mail PayPal sent me read like this:

We have reason to believe that your account was accessed by a third party. We have limited access to sensitive PayPal account features in case youraccount has been accessed by an unauthorised third party. We understand that having limited access can be an inconvenience, but protecting your account is our primary concern.

For your protection, we have limited access to your account until additional security measures can be completed. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

StepsI had to follow to restore account access:

1.  Set a new password
2. Enter the full credit card number OR full bank account number associated with my PayPal account. I entered my SBI account number.
3. Send PayPal a valid photo ID. I scanned both sides of PAN card and uploaded it.
4. Send them a proof of address viz. utility bills like telephone bill, insurance bill, etc which has to be recent (6 months). I wanted to upload an insurance bill.

PayPal was quick to act and restored account access with me completing only the first three steps.

Lesson learnt:

I am supposed to keep access to myself alone. But it never dawned on me before. Who reads the TOS anyways? In sharing my account with someone else I violated their rules. I can’t let the world use my account. From the PayPal TOS:

You may not reveal your account password(s) to anyone else, nor may you use anyone else’s password. PayPal is not responsible for losses incurred by Users as the result of their misuse of passwords.

A quick look at What you can/can’t do while your account access is limited?

You can * receive payments
* place logos into your auction listings or on your website
* update your account information

You can’t * send or request money
* electronically transfer funds from your PayPal account
* close your account