Kim Wallis says it's only recently that the name of the road she lives on has caused her any problems
A cross stitch enthusiast says that she's been unable to receive patterns through the post as Paypal have blocked her address - at ISIS CLOSE.
Kim Wallis is a keen sewing fan but she's now been blacklisted by Paypal for living on a road that shares its name with an extremist organisation.
The 59-year-old psychotherapist's neighbour says that the company's security measures are "political correctness gone mad" and Kim has now demanded to be reinstated as a reputable customer.
The Oxford resident first became aware of a problem when she tried to buy a Very Hungry Caterpillar cross-stitch pattern and a Christmas tree skirt.
The word Isis is automatically picked up by the company's online algorithms to prevent transactions being processed in case they are supporting terrorism.
Kim, who has lived in the quiet cul-de-sac for 15 years, said: "I've been experiencing so many problems with PayPal letting me order something to my address.
"Even in the last two days I've had my orders queried or been left as pending because they just don't process properly.
"This means the seller, understandably, thinks I can't pay for the product and I've had to start warning people in advance that I can pay, it's just Paypal doesn't like my address.
"I've had six orders cancelled or changed.
"It's the world gone a bit mad when I can't order myself some cross-stitch."
Kim, who lives at the property with her husband Alan, 65, added: "It is a bit amusing but it is frustrating at the same time.
"It's a good thing that they check, but there's checking and then there's checking.
"It's only recently that we've had any problems. On one occasion, I gave my friend my address and they said it was a bit unfortunate.
"It is an irritant in the grand scheme of things."
Kim added that she doesn't fear the price of her house could be affected as she lives in a very sought after area of Abingdon.
Her neighbour, who did not want to be named, was equally as shocked about the posting problem.
She said: "It's rather unfortunate as Isis has this bad reputation but I am absolutely appalled. It is crazy.
"We have got nothing whatsoever to do with Isis , we are named after the river.
"It is political correctness gone mad; ridiculous.
"If it had been recently-named it might have been a bit provocative but it's a long-standing name."
A spokeswoman for PayPal said government regulations required the company to scan all payments for terrorist and other references.
She said: "We do everything we can to eliminate references that have nothing to do with terrorism, such as the common Oxford name Isis, without compromising our compliance obligations.
"We have no policy of banning PayPal payments to UK addresses containing the name Isis unless we have additional reasons to suspect that the payment may be related to terrorist funding."
Negative connotations with the terrorist group also led to a special school in Oxford changing its name at the end of last year.
The Isis Academy in Iffley Turn was renamed The Iffley Academy after jibes about pupils being trained as terrorists.
It followed the decision of Rowan Waller to change the name of his estate agency from Isis to Wallers of Oxford last summer.
But Kidlington electrician Chris Carey decided not to change the name of his company from Isis Electrical
He said: "It is just a storm in a teacup and we are happy to keep the name."
(Source: Mirror)
