How to Make a New Paypal Account After Being Limited

Log into your limited account and click the option on the menu bar that says "Resolution Center," as seen in the screenshot below.

Once you are in the Resolution Center, you should see a list of requests from Paypal, in order to restore your account access. This will usually be documentation of some sort, like an ID or a piece of mail with your address. It could even be a bank statement, if you had a business account. They give you the option of uploading the files and submitting them for review by their staff, or you can send them in via fax.

After you submit the files, you'll just have to hang tight and wait for a response from Paypal. If your not lying about who you are and you're not engaging in shady business practices, you should have your account back relatively soon.

The first step to creating your new Paypal account is to create a brand spanking new email address. I highly recommend using gmail to do this, for a couple of good reasons. In fact, if your limited account was registered using a Gmail address, you are in some serious luck!

So, head over to gmail and create a brand new account. I like to keep the details of all accounts involved the same whenever possible, so when you sign up for gmail, I want you to follow these instructions:

When you enter your name, I want you to change the spelling of your first name ONLY. You can do this by adding a letter, removing a letter, or using an alternative spelling (if one is available). This is easier to do for some names, obviously.

For example, if your name is "Jonathan", you should add an "h" to it and change it to "Johnathan." Another example is changing "Christina" to "Kristina." You get the idea. Enter your real last name, spelled correctly. And pick something random for your gmail address/username.

Choose a password and pick your security questions.

Leave your recovery email address BLANK.

Fill out the rest of the form and submit it.

Open a new incognito tab in Google Chrome. Make sure it is the only one open. Go to Paypal.com and sign up for a new account. Use your new gmail address for the username, and MAKE SURE you use the same altered spelling when you enter your first name.

Using your new gmail account, head on over to sign up for Google Voice. If you haven't used your house phone (landline) or one of your cell phones to sign up with Google Voice, then use one of them when you sign up. What you want to do is select "I want a New Number" when the first screen pops up, as shown in the screenshot here.

Choose an area code (doesn't much matter which one, you should probably just go with your actual zip code) and Google will give you a list of phone numbers to choose from. Select one and then you will be asked to create a four-digit PIN number to access your account.

After you have chosen a PIN, you will be asked for a phone number to add as a forwarding phone for your account. Be sure that the phone you use (which you will need to have access to in order to activate your account) has not been used to setup a Google Voice account in the past.



If you don't have one, just ask a friend to do the phone verification for you ahead of time. It takes thirty seconds, and if you don't use the account after this then it won't bother them at all.

After you've entered it, Google's automated system will want to call the number you entered and will ask you to enter a three digit confirmation code that will show up on your screen. After you've done this, you're set to go. Use this number when you sign up for your new Paypal account.

After you've created your new Paypal account, skip the next step which will ask you how you want to make purchases using your account. The two options it offers are adding a credit card or a bank account.

You're not ready to do this, so just continue to your account for now. The next thing you need to do is sign up for a free prepaid debit card.

There are tons of sites that will send you a free debit card once you sign up for an account with them. The one I recommend is NetSpend. Others include GreenDot, AchieveCard, AccountNow and RushCard.



The same rule applies here: do not use any of these sites if you have previously linked an account through them with your limited Paypal account. So, if you've already used one of these companies for your limited account, pick a different one for your new Paypal. Remember, it's crucial to keep this a 100% fresh start, or it absolutely will not work.

Activating Your Card

When you sign up for your prepaid card, you should spell both your first and last name correctly, so it matches up with your social security card. You will be asked for this information when you go to activate the card, so it needs to match.

Once you've signed up for a free prepaid debit card, most of these sites will send your card in 3-5 business days. During this time, leave your Paypal account alone and hang in there until your card arrives.

Regarding Social Security Numbers

When you receive your prepaid debit card in the mail, the next step is activating it. Most sites give you the option of doing this online or by phone. They will ask you for your social security number.

An important note: if you have given Paypal your social security number in order to verify your identity (on your limited account) it is IMPERATIVE that you DO NOT ever tell them what it is AGAIN using your new account, as it will automatically result in your new account being limited.

Even if you haven't previously given this information to Paypal, I do not recommend doing so. You should try your best to give them as little personal information as possible.

The next step is to verify your new Paypal account using your prepaid debit card.

Login to your Paypal account and select the option "Profile" from the menu bar, and choose "Add or Edit Credit Card" from the drop down list. Next, enter the card number, expiration and security code from the back of the card.

An important note: you will realize that I had you sign up for your new Paypal account with a different spelling for your first name, so it won't be the same as the name on your card. It should be close though, as I said before. It's ideal to keep it within one or two characters different.

Even though it's slightly changed, this should not matter. It should work fine. Paypal does not let you edit your last name, but they do let you enter in something different for the first name. Just keep it different and proceed.

Adding a Bank Account

Now, you can login to your prepaid debit card account (on whatever site you choose) and you will want to find the area of your account which tells you your routing number, the name of the bank your checking account is through (they call it checking, even though it's prepaid debit only) and the account number.

Once you have this information, you need to return to Paypal and this time select "add or edit a bank account" from the same drop down menu. Enter in your account number, the name of your bank and your routing number when Paypal asks for it.

After doing this, you will have to hang tight and wait until Paypal sends you two small deposits (under a dollar each) to verify that you are the owner of the account.

Just log into your prepaid debit card account and check your transaction history over the following days to spot it when it goes through.

Once you see both of the deposits, you need to write down the amounts of each one and then return to Paypal. You will want to click on "verify your account" and they will ask you what the two deposit amounts were. Enter them and hit continue. If all goes right, you should be totally verified now.

Gmail has a handy feature called Filters. Their intended use is to make it easier to sort and organize your incoming email messages.

One popular use of Filters is to setup a spam filter, using a variation of your gmail address. For example, let' say you go to register on a new site and you're not sure if they will spam you or not. We'll say that your email address is LimitedGmailAccount@gmail.com.

So, when you sign up for the new site, you enter Limited.Gmail.Account@gmail.com instead. Note that all you are doing is simply adding a dot between each word in your email address. You can do this in any combination with gmail addresses, and it will still send all emails to your inbox.

What you would do next is log into your gmail account and setup a filter. Click the screenshot below to enlarge the image. In the "To" field, you simply enter the variation of your email address that you used when signing up for the new site (Limited.Gmail.Account@gmail.com).



Then, hit the button that says "Next Step" and on the following screen, you would select the checkbox next to "Delete it" (as shown in the screenshot below).

Now, all messages sent to Limited.Gmail.Account@gmail.com will automatically be deleted, as if they were spam.

Using the principle behind Gmail filters, it becomes possible to continue accepting payments sent to your limited Paypal account by using a combination of dots in your email address.

Go to your NEW Paypal account and select the "Add or Edit Email" option from the drop down list under the "Profile" item on the menu bar.

Click the button that says "Add."

Enter the gmail email address from your limited Paypal account, WITH dots between each word or letter, as shown in the screen shot below. Click to enlarge.



Now you can accept payments that are sent to your limited gmail address account.

As a safety precaution, ALWAYS remove your limited email address from your new account once a payment has gone through. Likewise, do not add it until you are expecting a payment.

Paypal does do routine checks for accounts with similar information, in order to limit all accounts associated with any limited account. So just keep adding and removing it when you need to, or you'll probably lose your new account. That will be a big pain in the ass, so do your best to avoid it.