PayPal

Reasons to avoid

1. PayPal's Honey browser extension was exposed in December 2024 for hijacking affiliate cookies at checkout — replacing creators' tracking links with its own to steal commissions from influencers who drove the sales. Federal class action lawsuits were filed in early 2025.cohenmilstein.com2025-01-17
2. A class action lawsuit covers PayPal accounts frozen between 2019 and 2024, alleging the company held funds for up to 180 days — or permanently seized them — without adequate notice or justification, disproportionately harming small businesses and individual sellers.lawfold.com2026-05-03
3. The CFPB opened investigations into PayPal and Venmo over unauthorized fund transfers, collections practices, and the marketing of PayPal Credit in connection with educational services.paymentsdive.com2023-11-03
4. A 2022 data breach compromised the personal information of approximately 35,000 users, leading to a class action alleging PayPal failed to adequately safeguard customer data, leaving victims exposed to identity theft.sec.gov2023-01-01
5. In 2022, PayPal quietly added a policy allowing it to fine users up to $2,500 for content deemed "harmful" or spreading "misinformation" — at its sole discretion. After public backlash it claimed the change was sent "in error," but critics noted similar language later reappeared in updated terms.jolt.law.harvard.edu2022-11-01