PayPal crucifying anything related to "Cuba"!

[SilverPlatinum]

🤒Here is my story:
- Won an auction for 3 Cuba silver coins on auction website based in Austria.
- Logged on to my PayPal account and entered EUR74 to the person who owns the auction website in Austria.
- Clicked send to "Friend and Family" so I pay the commission per my agreement with the person who owns the auction website in Austria, and I typed this in the send notes: "Cuba silver coins"
- Immediately I received 3 emails from PayPal:
    First one: "Your payment to ***** on 13-Feb-2022 is pending".
    Second one: "Your PayPal account is restricted".
    Third one: "We need some information regarding your PayPal account (Ref ID - *****)"

After chatting with PayPal customer services to know why exactly they did that, it turned out that their PayPal system flagged the word "Cuba" and Immediately restricted my account! I really did not know why they did that, but after researching more on the Internet, I found out that other people had the same issue!

This is the screenshot of the email PayPal sent me after I told them that I won 3 silver coins and I was paying the person in Austria:

As you can see that PayPal is crucifying anything related to "Cuba" (even if it's not located in Cuba) which is totally not acceptable to me, PayPal crucifying anyone just because they say the word "Cuba" or collect something the world "Cuba" written on it! We are in year 2022 and we are still doing this!!!!

🥺I was totally shocked by this, and this emphasize how important the possession of physical precious metals to us, in case banks just freeze our accounts just because of a "word" politicians told them to ban!

Today PayPal reversed my transaction and returned the money back to me and restored my account access. However, I'm still in a shock! So I opened a "WISE" account instead.

I really did not know where Cuba is, I had to Google it to find the location of this country! I just liked the coins!

[MJCOIN]

I'm afraid we are going to have to get used to this level of interference in our lives.  Look at what happened to those who donated money to the Canadian truckers.  All sorts of bad stuff.   

If the people don't start fighting back every single transaction we make will be subject to 'approval' by a non-elected 3rd party.  

I think PayPal and other payment platforms are in for a nasty shock in years to come.  They have no right in interfering with perfectly legitimate transactions.  

I note they only do it when they want to.  

[ady]

2 minutes ago, MJCOIN said:

I'm afraid we are going to have to get used to this level of interference in our lives.  Look at what happened to those who donated money to the Canadian truckers.  All sorts of bad stuff.   

If the people don't start fighting back every single transaction we make will be subject to 'approval' by a non-elected 3rd party.  

I think PayPal and other payment platforms are in for a nasty shock in years to come.  They have no right in interfering with perfectly legitimate transactions.  

I note they only do it when they want to. 

Although fiat cash is eventually worthless, will this not promote an interest in cash, like Catherine Austin Fitts - cash Fridays. Maybe a run on the banks as would have occurred in the past. I know my bank hates me for emptying anything from my account without their scrutiny

[GoldDiggerDave]

Some banks will not allow you to use your own account to buy crypto.   

[Minimalist]

No surprise. We live under a fascist dystopian system.

[Happypanda88]

I suppose this is the new adnormal. Those in power wants to control all aspect of our lives including what to think and what not to buy !

[Bigmarc]

2 hours ago, SilverPlatinum said:

really did not know where Cuba is,

It's about the perfect position to launch a nuke from in to America. 

I had trouble once with eBay trying to sell Iranian coins. Anything on that embargo list is a no no. 

[richatthecroft]

3 hours ago, SilverPlatinum said:

🤒Here is my story:
- Won an auction for 3 Cuba silver coins on auction website based in Austria.
- Logged on to my PayPal account and entered EUR74 to the person who owns the auction website in Austria.
- Clicked send to "Friend and Family" so I pay the commission per my agreement with the person who owns the auction website in Austria, and I typed this in the send notes: "Cuba silver coins"
- Immediately I received 3 emails from PayPal:
    First one: "Your payment to ***** on 13-Feb-2022 is pending".
    Second one: "Your PayPal account is restricted".
    Third one: "We need some information regarding your PayPal account (Ref ID - *****)"

After chatting with PayPal customer services to know why exactly they did that, it turned out that their PayPal system flagged the word "Cuba" and Immediately restricted my account! I really did not know why they did that, but after researching more on the Internet, I found out that other people had the same issue!

This is the screenshot of the email PayPal sent me after I told them that I won 3 silver coins and I was paying the person in Austria:

As you can see that PayPal is crucifying anything related to "Cuba" (even if it's not located in Cuba) which is totally not acceptable to me, PayPal crucifying anyone just because they say the word "Cuba" or collect something the world "Cuba" written on it! We are in year 2022 and we are still doing this!!!!

🥺I was totally shocked by this, and this emphasize how important the possession of physical precious metals to us, in case banks just freeze our accounts just because of a "word" politicians told them to ban!

Today PayPal reversed my transaction and returned the money back to me and restored my account access. However, I'm still in a shock! So I opened a "WISE" account instead.

I really did not know where Cuba is, I had to Google it to find the location of this country! I just liked the coins!

 

A year or two back I had a small collection of three or four Gold Cuban coins that I wanted to sell, I listed them on eBay and one by one the listings were removed by eBay.  I cannot remember the wording of the message I received from eBay explaining why they were removed, but it essentially stated that items from Cuba were restricted and couldn't be sold on their platform.  

 

[AndrewSL76]

This happened to me last year when I bought a coin from @DuncanWylieWilson. Just don’t use the word Cuba was my take home message. There is a long standing embargo and all companies in the US face fines if they breach the embargo. Hence their zero tolerance approach to the word Cuba! 

Anyway, this forum has a similar system. You can’t even publish the name of a famous highwayman or a delicious hot suet pudding…

[CollectForFun]

Well, it's not really PayPal's fault, they would incur harsh penalties if the authorities established they facilitated breaking of embargo rules, therefore their zero-tolerance policy is quite understandable, even if it makes little sense like in your case. I wouldn't take it personally, PayPal has nothing against you, you both are actually victims of this situation...

[CollectForFun]

10 hours ago, Minimalist said:

No surprise. We live under a fascist dystopian system.

Which allows you to freely speak your mind about such system, interesting...

[CollectForFun]

8 hours ago, Happypanda88 said:

I suppose this is the new adnormal. Those in power wants to control all aspect of our lives including what to think and what not to buy !

Just because there are sanctions against few countries and individuals? Mind you, most of them exist for good reason...

[Happypanda88]

14 minutes ago, CollectForFun said:

Just because there are sanctions against few countries and individuals? Mind you, most of them exist for good reason...

Have you noticed censorship on social media in the last two years where you can be de-platformed or banned just by discussing certain topics !?

I rest my case.

[Minimalist]

2 hours ago, CollectForFun said:

Which allows you to freely speak your mind about such system, interesting...

Hahahaahaha, aye okay. 

[SilverPlatinum]

9 hours ago, CollectForFun said:

Well, it's not really PayPal's fault, they would incur harsh penalties if the authorities established they facilitated breaking of embargo rules, therefore their zero-tolerance policy is quite understandable, even if it makes little sense like in your case. I wouldn't take it personally, PayPal has nothing against you, you both are actually victims of this situation...

But GOD gave us brain to think! The coins were offered from Austria going to Canada! Cuba is not even in the flight path!

Having the word "Cuba" on anything now = Guilty by association! I really feel bad for the Cuban people; they are paying the price of one dictator........Instead of crucifying the Cuban dictator and his political party only, they go after the word "Cuba" and the people who have no power on anything!!!!

We are in 2022, when we would be politically mature enough!!!!!! in 3022???? Then we look back at what we did in the past and laugh how silly we were!!!! Wake up politicians wake up!!!!!!!

 

[Bigmarc]

4 minutes ago, SilverPlatinum said:

But GOD gave us brain to think! The coins were offered from Austria going to Canada! Cuba is not even in the flight path!

Having the word "Cuba" on anything now = Guilty by association! I really feel bad for the Cuban people; they are paying the price of one dictator........Instead of crucifying the Cuban dictator and his political party only, they go after the word "Cuba" and the people who have no power on anything!!!!

We are in 2022, when we would be politically mature enough!!!!!! in 3022???? Then we look back at what we did in the past and laugh how silly we were!!!! Wake up politicians wake up!!!!!!!

 

The secondary problem is that it's a coin. They deem it as Cuban currency. Facebook marketplace don't even like the word coin as it goes against their policy about trading currency. 

[SilverPlatinum]

17 minutes ago, Bigmarc said:

The secondary problem is that it's a coin. They deem it as Cuban currency. Facebook marketplace don't even like the word coin as it goes against their policy about trading currency. 

😟 You know what is irony and double standard in US! That their biggest and most prestige Auction house (Heritage Auctions) is listing Cuban coins, look at this link:

https://coins.ha.com/itm/cuba/cuba-republic-gold-proof-xi-pan-american-games-baseball-50-pesos-1990-pr68-ultra-cameo-ngc-/a/61261-98082.s?ctrack=3666686&type=featured-2-coinworld-open-61261-Venice-tem021422

[CollectForFun]

3 minutes ago, SilverPlatinum said:

😟 You know what is irony and double standard in US! That their biggest and most prestige Auction house (Heritage Auctions) is listing Cuban coins, look at this link:

https://coins.ha.com/itm/cuba/cuba-republic-gold-proof-xi-pan-american-games-baseball-50-pesos-1990-pr68-ultra-cameo-ngc-/a/61261-98082.s?ctrack=3666686&type=featured-2-coinworld-open-61261-Venice-tem021422

Look, there's a US govt website specifically dedicated to Cuba sanctions: https://www.state.gov/cuba-sanctions/. As you will see, saying that applicable regulations are complex and complicated is an understatement. But unlike you and me, companies like PayPal and probably HA likewise did read those regulations and had to set up their operations in accordance with them. So there's little point accussing someone of double standards if we have hardly faint idea what we're talking about.

As I said, there's no point taking it too personally. You see that others encountered similar issues. Hopefully you managed to make your payment without triggering any further alarms and will be able to enjoy the coins in your hand soon.

[SilverPlatinum]

8 minutes ago, CollectForFun said:

 Hopefully you managed to make your payment without triggering any further alarms and will be able to enjoy the coins in your hand soon.

😞unfortunately I did not get the coins. I asked the Austria auction house to remove the word "Cuba" from the invoice as I do not know who would intercept this package at the Canadian customs office (avoiding another problem as Canada follows US in everything) but the auction house refused to do so, so we canceled the transaction.

[Bigmarc]

1 hour ago, SilverPlatinum said:

😟 You know what is irony and double standard in US! That their biggest and most prestige Auction house (Heritage Auctions) is listing Cuban coins, look at this link:

https://coins.ha.com/itm/cuba/cuba-republic-gold-proof-xi-pan-american-games-baseball-50-pesos-1990-pr68-ultra-cameo-ngc-/a/61261-98082.s?ctrack=3666686&type=featured-2-coinworld-open-61261-Venice-tem021422

I am quite impressed that Cuba has a mint. 

I have worked for many American owned companies. I think there was a period where they would buy up European companies just to get around sanctions. 

[TeaTime]

The sad truth is that everything is automated now - if an item or word is deemed unacceptable then context or common sense is irrelevant. If it's banned then it's banned, you can't expect exceptions from an algorithm. 

The 'computer says no' parody is here to stay because humanity has largely given up on responsibility and integrity.

[sjhdesmond]

Does this mean Cuba Gooding Jr can't use PayPal?

[kimchi]

2 hours ago, sjhdesmond said:

Does this mean Cuba Gooding Jr can't use PayPal?

Yep, he has to ask his mate Democratic People's Republic of Korea to do it for him

[GoldStandardPartyUK]

 

On 17/02/2022 at 19:39, CollectForFun said:

there's no point taking it too personally

This.Don't take it personally. 

Their compliance is set to fail safe, that's their choice they will lose your custom.

Other methods of payment exist which allow you to adopt the risk of sanctions breach on yourself. If PayPal was a monopoly I would have a problem with their approach. 

[Rains]

On 16/02/2022 at 22:40, Minimalist said:

No surprise. We live under a fascist dystopian system.

Get worse each year