Why is my gf's account terminated or banned? I don't get it...

[Snowyhair]

Okay so here's the deal. My SL gf and i pitched in recently to get a mutual friend a mesh body, which the friend hated cause she didnt have the patience to learn how to use it. I was insensed, cause i paid most of it, and insisted she repay me 3000L.

My gf also has a tendency to spend linden as soon as she gets it from dancing tips or whatever. She often asks me to hold small amounts to keep her from spending it, so we can buy nicer things for our house later on.

okay so here's what happened. Last night, she bought a pre-paid visa NetSpend card, which she used to buy a considerable amount of linden. She paid me 6300, to pay off our friend's debt to me, and to hold some to put toward an extravagent gift for another friend.

We spend the evening together hanging out, then logged as normal. When I logged on this morning, the 6300 is gone, along with this message in my email:

"We regret to inform you that the L$ recently sent to you may have been obtained through an unauthorized source. Due to the manner in which the L$ were originally obtained, we have removed them from your account.

We have removed the L$ [6300] that was sent on [03/12/2016]."

And with that, my GF was banned, her account terminated. She spent 3 hours on the phone with Linden Labs trying to find out what happened, why she got banned, and was only told basically "tough noogies" as well as being informed that her account was accessed from somewhere overseas, some time after she logged off last night.

So, reading on the forums a bit, seems this might be looked at as 'moneylaundering' which is a crock. 10k linden is a modest sum, but not a lot. If Linden Labs does this, whats the point of offering linden for sale, if they freak out if any of it is given to another player? Wouldnt that make activities like ingame SL jobs with wages, or tipping dancers at clubs illegal according to the ToS?

Why is there no warning? no suspension pending investigation and appeal? Just BAM you cant use your account anymore? This is an unfair practice, and an appeal at least should be granted, even if she loses the appeal.

I want to know why she is unfairly banned with no warning or suspension or appeal. We could not care LESS about the linden. We just want her account returned.

"Prepaid cards cannot be used to buy from linden exchange.

Linden exchange is the only legitimate source to but L$

It sounds like she tried to use a 3rd party and got caught breaking one of the few TOS points that LL cares about: the money trail. "

In my experience, some prepaid cards get denied, but not all of them. I had this issue with another game elsewhere, where they would not accept one brand of prepaid, but did accept another prepaid. I guess it depends on the reputation and reliability of the card's distributor. She said it went through just fine, and she still has the card, so she can verify that it is indeed her card.

THank you Alexistexas for your reply. It could be for any number of a few reasons. What we want is an answer for the actual reason from linden labs themselves.  She never got a reason, nor was she given a chance for any appeal yet.  Isn't this good business sense? She just dropped, what, $40? then bam, account dead, no reason at all. She should at least have a right to the actual reason, if nothing else. I dont know of any other game company that just flat out shuts down an account with no reason and no chance to appeal. If she got hacked, how is that her fault? Is she to be damned for giving out gifts? Would that mean all dancers risk getting their tippers banned? Or the employer of a DJ on payday?

Sorry... I'm just a little miffed because no reason was given whatsoever. We should at least be entitled to that, if nothing else. What an unfair business model.

To Alwin Alcott:

"assuming your gf is the one in your profile?...

She has no payment info ..so she can't have bought the L$ on the lindex."

It's because the account was deleted, so no web information will show up at all... shame too cause she had loads of sentimental images

Innula Zenovka said

"I feel I'm missing part of the story here.

Do you know for sure what your girlfriend did?   In particular, where did she buy the pre-paid card and where did she buy the L$?

Assuming she bought the L$ on the Lindex -- and if she didn't, then that's the explanation for her problems right there -- it would seem there's some sort of problem with the card.   In her position, I'd contact both the store from which I bought the card and the card issuer to ask them what on earth is going on.    

Then, armed with their explanation, in writing, she can approach LL to explain that she was acting in good faith."

I probed a little further into this. Turns outt he prepaid card she has is a Green Dot NetSpend Reloadable Visa debit card, and she has had it for about 3 months, and her paychecks are deposited on it. She said it cleared through the Lindex just fine...

[Rhonda Huntress]

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Snowyhair wrote:

 

okay so here's what happened. Last night, she bought a pre-paid visa NetSpend card, which she used to buy a considerable amount of linden.

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Prepaid cards cannot be used to buy from linden exchange.

Linden exchange is the only legitimate source to but L$

It sounds like she tried to use a 3rd party and got caught breaking one of the few TOS points that LL cares about: the money trail.

[alexistexas112]

Hello there sorry to hear what happen. Speaking from actually being apart of Linden Labs and also from past experiences.

There are numbers of possibities for why she got banned:

1) Because she has a unconfirmed card  transactions- I know it may seem outrageous   and quite rude but this have happened alot in the past, where the holder and the person making the transactions are two different people. The issue which happens when a list of transaction pop up or when items are paid with the card from a location out of the area where the card is issued e.g. card issued in Bank of America, New York but transactions found in Germany. The card company therefore freezes the card until the cardholder claims the transactions. the bank or card autorities contact linden labs for two reasons 1) being  that they were unable to reach the cardholder and 2) being that they contacted the cardholder but they are unaware of the transactions

2) Because someone hacked her: this would be that either her account or credit info was accessed, although the bank was suppose to call her.

3) Exchange of Linden Dollars out of LindeX Exchange- According to the Terms of Service 4.7, "- Any purchase of Linden Dollars from anywhere other than the LindeX is not permitted and is considered a violation of these Terms of Service which may result in suspension or termination of your Account.

 

sorry is this sounds rude but Linden Labs does not terminate an account without a good reason, she has therefore breached her contract somewhere or has been suspected of fraud or illict conduct.

COPYING PIECE OF THE TERMS FOR YOU:

Except as expressly permitted by this Agreement or otherwise expressly permitted by Linden Lab, the Linden Dollar License may not be sublicensed, encumbered, conveyed or made subject to any right of survivorship or other disposition by operation of law or otherwise, and you agree that any attempted disposition in violation of these Terms of Service is null and void. Linden Lab may revoke the Linden Dollar License at any time without notice, refund or compensation in the event that: (i) the Linden Dollar program is suspended or discontinued; (ii) Linden Lab determines that fraud or other illegal conduct is associated with the holder's Account; (iii) Linden Lab imposes an expiration date on usage of Linden Dollars in compliance with applicable laws and regulations; (iv) the holder's Account is terminated for violation of these Terms of Service; or (v) the holder becomes delinquent on any of that user's Account payment requirements, ceases to maintain an active Account or terminates this Agreement.

 

Think that would help, Have an awesome day :matte-motes-bashful-cute-2:

 

[Alwin Alcott]

assuming your gf is the one in your profile?...

She has no payment info ..so she can't have bought the L$ on the lindex.

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Snowyhair wrote:

It's because the account was deleted, so no web information will show up at all... shame too cause she had loads of sentimental images

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the account is visible by clicking your profile, it is not completely deleted. Details keep visible as it was while it got deactivated, as far i know you can delete all payment info from the profile page, but it stays on the profile. something/somewhere not all info is given to you or us.

[Lindal Kidd]

Your girlfriend may not have meant any harm, but that transaction has all the red flags of "money laundering."  I am not at all surprised that she got banned.

Here's how that looked from LL's point of view.

1.  User with no payment method on file uses unauthorized payment type to buy $L.  This may have been a card issued to someone else, in which case it would be viewed as a stolen credit card.

2.  Since the card was not on file with LL, the $L were purchased from some other source.  Since last year, there are NO allowed third party $L exchanges, so the $L themselves were illegal.

3.  The account was accessed from overseas and/or from a location where your girlfriend does not normally log in from.  That is an indicator that the account was phished and is being used by a third party for illegal purposes.

4.  The user then paid a large sum of money to another resident (you).  This is often done by both money launder-ers and by people trying to get folks in trouble for "accepting stolen goods."  You are very lucky that LL only removed the money from your account.  Usually, they ban the recipient of such transactions.

I'm afraid her goose is well and truly cooked.

[Innula Zenovka]

I feel I'm missing part of the story here.

Do you know for sure what your girlfriend did?   In particular, where did she buy the pre-paid card and where did she buy the L$?

Assuming she bought the L$ on the Lindex -- and if she didn't, then that's the explanation for her problems right there -- it would seem there's some sort of problem with the card.   In her position, I'd contact both the store from which I bought the card and the card issuer to ask them what on earth is going on.    

Then, armed with their explanation, in writing, she can approach LL to explain that she was acting in good faith.

[Innula Zenovka]

Thanks for the clarification of how your GF bought the L$.

In her position, I'd contact the card issuers, to see if they can cast light on what's going on, and then follow the procedure outlined here  to open a support ticket, as a guest if necessary, to see if LL will reconsider the case.

If she can get something in writing from the card issuers confirmng the card belongs to her, that would maybe help her case.

ETA: In particular, I think she needs to confirm with the card issuers that there were no problems with the transaction -- that is, that the funds were actually successfully transferred to LL and haven't for some reason been reclaimed by the issuers.