Uh-oh: Paypal Account Access is Limited

Rai    PinoyTux     access, cannot, credits, disabled, document, limited, locked, paypal, transaction, unauthorized, withdraw

So I needed my hard-earned Paypal money so I decided to withdraw it to my bank account. Lo and behold! When I logged, it says that my account access is currently limited. I checked my emails and there is one message from Paypal saying that it looks like someone is trying to access my account without my knowledge and so they thought that the best way to secure my account is by limiting access to it. Great.

Here is the message from Paypal:

PayPal is constantly working to ensure security by regularly screening the accounts in our system. We recently reviewed your account, and we need more information to help us provide you with secure service. Until we can collect this information, your access to sensitive account features will be limited. We would like to restore your access as soon as possible, and we apologize for the inconvenience.
Why is my account access limited?

# Aug. 10, 2009: 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 your account has been accessed by an unauthorized third party. We understand that having limited access can be an inconvenience, but protecting your account is our primary concern.

I Googled around and found that there are those who were unable to get their accounts back, money and all. Argh!!! I am hoping that their cases were different from mine, because I have a reasonable amount of credits in my Paypal account and it will be such a pain if I were to lose all that moolah.

To those who have similar experiences, here are the things that Paypal will ask you to do to get your account out of the limited status:

1. Change your Password.
2. Change you secret questions.
3. Verify your location/address.

The third one is the hardest since you either have to submit a scanned copy of any document that can prove your address (Bank/Credit card statements, Photo ID’s, etc.). This, or verify your bank account, which I do not know how to do. Or you can choose to verify your location (unfortunately this one is unavailable for me).

I managed to finish the first two requirements but the last is still waiting for authorization from Paypal. I never thought that I will encounter this horror but here I am. Hoping for the best.

Updates: Paypal has lifted the limits on my account and now I am able to send payments. It looks like that the document I sent, which was my credit card statement, was enough proof of my address.