# Paypal tracking FA usernames?



## Felixpath (May 15, 2015)

Just got a weird warning from somebody out of the blue. When commissioners send me money through Paypal, I ask them to include their FA username in the comments (without mentioning FA itself) so I can keep easy track of who has paid. My friend warned me not to do this, claiming that Paypal will track usernames back to FA and I'll be in trouble because FA is on their "porn site" list. He also claimed that Paypal will "audit" users who have sent and/or received a certain amount of money. However, he was very vague on how much money, or how and why Paypal would perform this supposed audit.

I've heard a lot of paranoid Chicken Little stories about Paypal, so I'm highly skeptical. On the other hand, being banned from Paypal is a fear of mine. Has anyone heard anything about this? About Paypal snooping on people's transactions and tracing usernames back to FA? I've heard nothing about this before. My friend claimed this has happened to "many artists." What artists, exactly? I've been using Paypal for years and have never had any problems.

PS: I know about Paypal invoices and am considering switching over to an invoice system. In case anyone suggests it.


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## Sarcastic Coffeecup (May 16, 2015)

I'm doubtful. If someone includes a username, there's fuck-all odds Paypal will track it down to FA without direct links.
I don't think they even care.


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## Charrio (May 16, 2015)

Unless you somehow max out the PayPal account amounts transferred regularly they won't give two shits. 
Maybe if your Email is your artist name and super popular someone may know of you and even then, they 
might be a fan and shelter them.


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## Spiderdragon (May 17, 2015)

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6903907/

This was made a while back but it's still applicable.

Paypal is highly sensitive to transactions being made as "gifts" and will scrutinize accounts for them.

In any case I hope this can provide some insight for you, Felixpath.


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## Rassah (May 17, 2015)

Yes, PayPal will track your money and what you have paid for. They are required to by banking financial regulations. And yes, that even means that they can google for whatever work you are using in the description, such as a furry name or FA account, and determine that you may be selling porn, which is against their TOS. They don't do this to everyone, since they don't have the resources, but it's done on a random sample of people randomly. And if they find out that you have sold porn, they will lock your account (read their TOS, the money in your PayPal account isn't "yours"), and reverse the offending transaction, even if that means doing a chargeback, which means they reach into your personal bank account and pull that money out, even if it causes an overdraft and fees. Yes, there are furry artists who have experiencedthis. I'm also in a business that deals with PayPal a lot, and it's a major headache for everyone involved here too, with accounts being locked and money taken, or even pulled out of bank accounts. Personally I would suggest avoiding PayPal as much as you can, especially if you are selling any sort of porn. Though there aren't too many alternatives, because US banking regulators have actually put out instructions asking banks and payment processors to restrict payments to anything having to do with gambling, porn, or other vice activities. These aren't regulatory mandates, just vague requests, so banks, being super conservative and paranoid about falling afoul of regulations, have been taking this as far as they could.


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## Taralack (May 17, 2015)

I suggest you switch to invoices.


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## Volkodav (May 17, 2015)

Doesnt matter anyways because adult art is allowed to be sold through paypal


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## Rassah (May 17, 2015)

Volkodav said:


> Doesnt matter anyways because adult art is allowed to be sold through paypal




Is that a new policy? Because that wasn't the case a year or two ago.


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## Volkodav (May 17, 2015)

https://forums.weasyl.com/vbulletin...t-s-Talk-About-Paypal-AUP-TOS-Updates-amp-You


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## nastacula (May 20, 2015)

Yeah, so like, I really don't get whats up with the whole FA vs PAYPAL thing because I've heard all sorts of stories from artists saying they get their account locked or they 'get caught' selling adult art on FA through paypal and honestly....I've never had a problem??? My paypal account is NASTACULA - if you look that name up on google the first thing you'll find is porn. Lately I've been having issues trying to hook up my bank account so I can move my money. After a few tries I ended up calling a couple Paypal reps directly and they never outed me or anything like that. My account probably looks incredibly suspicious coming and sometimes people put their user names in the notes.....yet paypal hasn't blocked my account yet or sent me any warnings so idfk.
Honestly, wherever these tall tales stem from, its probably from people breaking Paypal's TOS or having their account hacked or they just weren't careful about their business. It's not really paypal's priority to know where your money is coming from (they're still getting a cut) and as long as you're moving money I'm sure they're happy to have your business. It's very weird that they would just assume FA = PORN (there's a ton of artists who do SFW stuff too) and block anyone doing business through FA. That would probably be bad PR and lose them a ton of business.


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