Out of the Blue Comes Barristers Bearing Money

This morning, in my email came this interesting piece of news - or hoax - hmmm lets look at it...

It seems that a legal firm in Dublin, Ohio (of all places) is contacting little ole me about suing PayPal.

The notice is informing PayPal users of a class action law suit (A lawsuit brought by one or more plaintiffs on behalf of a large group of others who have a common interest).  In these days of phishing schemes and email hoaxes I became a bit skeptical upon reading this information in my inbox.  (The text from the lawsuit email is below)

But after following the links back to the law firm Garden City Group, Inc. and reading the notice it seemed legitimate.  The law firm site appears to be a real established website even though the age of the domain can not be determined (See comments - age determined).  The site has 3400 inbound links, so it is not new to the Internet.

Then I found the case mentioned in SEC filings by eBay with the following text:

In March 2005, eBay, PayPal, and an eBay seller were sued in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of Kings (No. 6125/05) in a purported class action alleging that certain disclosures regarding PayPal's Buyer Protection Policy, users' chargeback rights, and the effects of users' choice of funding mechanism are deceptive and/or misleading. The complaint alleged misrepresentation on the part of eBay and PayPal, breach of contract and deceptive trade practices by PayPal, and that PayPal and eBay have jointly violated the civil RICO statute (18 U.S.C. Section 1961(4)). In April 2005, eBay and PayPal removed the case to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York and the plaintiffs filed an amended complaint in the U.S. District Court (No. 05-CV-01720) repeating the allegations of the initial complaint but dropping the civil RICO allegations. The complaint sought injunctive relief, compensatory damages, and punitive damages. In September 2006, the parties finalized a preliminary settlement agreement.

If the settlement agreement has been finalized, how can any new parties join the class action suit?

I have repeated the information from the email below, but I suggest to any and all readers to be very careful about sending in any information to this site. It could be an elaborate hoax or phishing scam.  I see several posts in forums from around the country just this morning about this email.  Lets confirm the source before sending in our sensitive information.

Remember - NEVER GIVE ANYONE YOUR PAYPAL OR EBAY PASSWORDS

So what say you? Is it Real or is it Spam?

Update: Caveat Emptor - Buyer Beware

If you proceed directly to the comments section of this article you will find arguments both for an against this being a scam.  Please read the comments, but also follow up with your own investigation before submitting any kind of personal information.  Many comments seem reasonable on both sides of the fence, please do not make a decision to follow up on this (email about a class action Paypal lawsuit) simply on the content found in this article.

I have not verified any comments, nor have I verified the email is legitimate or not. The article is presented as a question and I appreciate everyone weighing in with comments to help answer that question.

We simply do not want to find someone either dismissed this opportunity or followed through with it, solely on the basis of this article or any comments below (from unknown, albeit quite helpful, parties).

Update#2 PayPal "Pink" Confirms on Discussion Forums

amanda@paypal.com  Aug-29-08 11:51 PDT

Hi All,

I can confirm that in September 2006, PayPal reached a settlement agreement with a proposed class of PayPal customers in an action pending in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn. The suit was filed in 2005 on behalf of a class alleging that PayPal did not clearly communicate information about its consumer protection programs related to specific types of transactions. And I can confirm that the settlement administrator (Garden City Group) was slated to send email notice to the possible claimants starting August 29, 2008. PayPal settled the case to avoid further costs of litigation and devote resources to more productive aspects of our business.

To get additional information about the settlement and whether or not you are eligible to participate in the settlement, please visit the settlement website at: http://www.steelesettlement.com.

Amanda

Thanks to: Sophie for finding the PayPal Pink Confirmation on the discussion groups!

Steele et al. v. PayPal, Inc. et al., Civil Action No. 1:05-CV-01720 (ILG)(VVP)

Notice from Federal Court. Please Read. Continue reading “PayPal Class Action Lawsuit – A Hoax or Real – You Decide” »