My complaint:
Case Reference: 07719688
It all started on august 19, 2023, when at 17:25 Stripe sends me an email informing me that unauthorized payments have been identified in my Stripe account by cardholders and, as a precaution, Stripe will no longer accept payments to my Stripe account. They also announced they would begin issuing refunds for card payments on August 24, 2023.
To this email I replied that I have noticed strange transactions in my Stripe account and that I have nothing to do with those transactions. I am a serious person, I have been working with Stripe since 2019., I wrote them. I also asked them to send the money back to people’s cards and unlock my account.
On august 19, 2023, at 18:34, I receive an answer to my request. It informs me that I have to send my business documents to Stripe to do checks.
In less than an hour, I sent them all the requested documents and sent them by e-mail ( august 19, 2023, 19:12) the following : I hope that this problem will be solved as soon as possible, because I have customers who want to pay my books with their bank card and cannot at this time.
Please refund all amounts not due to me from my Stripe account and leave only my amounts in the account.
They refused to reopen my Stripe account, even though I sent them all the necessary documents, proving to them that I had nothing to do with those transactions. I have told them that I am at their disposal at any time for any information they need from me, but I ask them to open my account.
I wrote to them: it’s a big mistake you’re making.I want to talk to one person on the phone., without this happening.
I felt extremely frustrated because they gave the impression that I had anything to do with those transactions. My family and I felt insecure because I didn’t know what was going on in my Stripe account. There were over 10,000 suspicious transactions, of which more than 1,700 successful transactions with amounts ranging from $ 1 to $ 20, which we learned from Stripe were part of the so-called fraudulent card testing action.
On August 21, 2023 (08: 32), I asked them to answer some questions, being very scared of what was happening:
1. How is it possible for so many transactions to take place in my Stripe account without my knowledge? I only have one website that sells books. If something like what happened to my Stripe account happens, it means that it is very serious as far as you are concerned and can happen to anyone.
2. How is it possible that even if I send you the documents you asked for, you would block my account?
3. What happens to my personal money that I already had in my Stripe account before those donation transactions?
4. When can you give me an official explanation for what happened on my Stripe account and what will happen next?
On august 23, 2023 (09:58), after 4 days, they sent an email that my Stripe account has been reopened : it was a mistake on our part, and we just reactivated you contul.We are very sorry for any disruption this may have caused to your business, they wrote to me.
I was still very frustrated and angry about everything that was happening and I wrote them the same day the following:
Dear Stripe team, please know that I do not accept your apology. I’m sorry to say this, but your security breach that happened on my Stripe account (Yes, your mistake shouldn’t have happened), caused me a lot of emotional and financial problems.
Emotional problems came on the basis that I could suffer something (financially or legally), because all these illegal transactions happened on my Stripe account, and someone might think that I, a serious person, would have something to do with such transactions. I couldn’t sleep a couple of nights in a row because of it.
The other problem is financial: We lost customers due to Stripe account blocking. Some of the customers even thought it was something suspicious because they couldn’t make purchases through my website and told me they didn’t feel safe making payments through my website.
So no, I don’t accept your apology. I’ll talk to my lawyer to see what needs to be done. Finally, I will also resort to the press.
I do not understand why I have to do something in my Stripe account to be protected from such transactions. None of your business? Do you not have the resources to prevent the occurrence of such problems?
I’ve been cooperative from the beginning. I sent you all the documents you requested, but you kept my account closed, as if I had anything to do with those illegal transactions.Please send this message to all your superiors. I expect compensation from you for all this image, material and emotional damage.
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They later wrote to me via another email ( august 23, 10:02 a.m.), that it appears that card testers are using your integration to make payments with stolen credit card information.si to combat card testing, we recommend adding friction to the payment flow to make it more difficult for card testers to make payment attempts. While we recognize that this can also add friction to your regular customer payments, we need to address fraudulent activity in your account to ensure regular processing continues.
They told me what to do in the future, but no word on what exactly will happen to the money that got into my Stripe account. They just told me to be careful if there are cashes that managed to get in and to give the refund as quickly as I can to avoid disputes, without telling me about the fees of these actions.
I was shocked. I had no fault in everything that happened, but I still had to act and be careful on my Stripe account. Moreover, I was (and continue to be) under direct threat of those cardholders ‘ disputes. Each dispute had a commission of $ 20. I found out later, at the first dispute of this kind. Also, they did not tell me that when they give a refund, the refund action has no commission, but the initial commission charged on each of the 1700 successful transactions, will not return to the account.
They also told me to implement so-called mitigations in my account. I don’t know how to do this, I’m not a programmer, nor do I have the money to hire one. I was still shocked. I was the victim, and Stripe, instead of doing everything they had to do in my account to solve the problem, made me do even more, pay for every transaction. I wrote back to them on august 27, 2023, at 08:43, as I do not understand and do not know what I need to do in my Stripe account to continue my business. I am not willing nor do I have the financial means to hire a programmer to help me. I don’t consider the security of Stripe accounts to be my business, even though I (probably) accepted your terms when I opened my account..
I tried, however, to refund those transactions from my Stripe account. When I reached a number of about 700 refunds, I realized that my account balance is on the minus. I asked them for explanations in another email, dated august 27, 2023, at 13:20: I wanted to refund fraudulent payments from my Stripe account, but I found that the account balance is negative. How is that done? I get fraudulent money, I want to give it back, but I have no money? I am waking up the next day to find that you are taking money from my personal card to repay? God, how professional you are. Will you help me or won’t you help me solve the problem?
They answered me after two days, on august 29, 2023, at 07:43,: when you create a refund, the full amount of the payment is returned to your customer but the band fees are not returned.In addition, the fees appear to have been made in a currency different from any active bank account registered in your account.the fee was made in USD and you currently have bank accounts denominated in LEI.
I was shocked again. I’m the biggest victim of all the payments involved. I’m forced to do certain actions that I don’t know about and that I know I don’t need to do. I am forced to pay a lot of commissions (disputes, arising from refund and exchange rate conversion), for which I have no fault that they happened in my financial account. If a fraud had intervened in a bank account, any bank, anywhere in the world, would have given me justice and they would have intervened to cover all costs. Stripe won’t.
I agree to support all fees for refunds, currency conversions or disputes, but only those related to my business. I agree to all of these fees because I agreed to the Stripe terms and conditions when I opened my account.
I do not understand why Stripe does not solve these problems without me appealing to you. I’ve lost a lot of clients this time. I lost a lot of time and nerves over this dispute. No one gives me back my clients, my time and my money.
I understand that I am not the only one with this problem. I’ve looked at similar situations and noticed that there are a lot of people with small businesses destroyed because Stripe doesn’t take steps to stop these things from happening again. That’s what I want from Stripe. So that such problems do not happen again, and if they do, Stripe will no longer profit from the victim Business. We are talking about a company that had (in 2021) revenues of USD 12 billion, so it has the financial resources to prevent and cover the damage caused to small businesses.
Stripe will say that I had to make sure these things didn’t happen on my account. I know my consumer rights. If I go to the store to buy a gluten-free bread, the seller will give me a gluten-free bread, guaranteeing at the time of payment that the bread is gluten-free. It is not my obligation to check whether the bread is gluten-free, because it is not my job and I do not have the resources to see if the bread has gluten or not.
What happened to me can happen to anyone. Anyone who has a small or larger business and who wants to implement card payment through Stripe services, can fall into this danger in which I fell, with absolutely no fault. We are then made to pay for all damages because Stripe does not want to invest more in preventing these frauds.
I want to assure you that I will go all the way, even with a lawsuit against Stripe. Everyone who was damaged by Stripe gave up making claims, thinking they would fight someone very powerful. I’m confident I can win against Stripe.
I just want you to do justice. I just ask you to put yourself in my place and see all this from my point of view. Thank you.
Suggested solution:
1. Send me the money from my Stripe account that is related to my business (813,27 lei). I have been waiting for them since 24.08.2023. You have no reason to keep my personal money. I've had a Stripe account since 2019 and I haven't had any problems so far with transferring money to my bank card. My Stripe account is no longer blocked. Why is my money from my business not transferred to my card?
2. I want the fees charged for that disputes, in the amount of 206.16 lei, returned to me, because that disputes has nothing to do with my business. It has to do with card testing done on my Stripe account, without my knowledge.
3. I want all the fees charged from my Stripe account, in the amount of 1.231,24 lei, cancelled, because that fees has nothing to do with my business. It has to do with card testing done on my Stripe account, without my knowledge.
4. All future disputes to be resolved exclusively by Stripe, without charging commissions from my money, because testing the cards in my account is Stripe's security mistake. There are over 1000 fraudulent transactions in my Stripe account. Does it seem normal for you for me to pay all these fees from my personal money as a dispute fee or refund fee for each such transaction?
5. Please refund all fraudulent payments without me being charged.
6. Free my account from all those fraudulent transactions and let me continue my activity.
7. Show me a compensatory offer in money for all the damages caused by Stripe. The damages brought by you are psychological and financial.
