Twoscentsworth Posted May 1, 2006 Share Posted May 1, 2006 Even if you have no Paypal account, if you use someone who does to pay for your goods you could have big trouble.My DH used his business atm/Visa last week to make a purchase from someone who used a Paypal account as a means of accepting payment.This morning we discovered that FIVE unauthorized charges were made to his account for a total of over $700.00 so somehow someone got his card number. We have had the charges removed and a new card issued.....BUT I want to give everyone a heads up, to be extrememly careful about using someone with Paypal only and to check your statements on line before you get BIG trouble.Francie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magsglass Posted May 1, 2006 Share Posted May 1, 2006 Francie,Good advice for sure. Had my card number stolen once and had charges coming in from around the globe (Kuwait, Stockholm, Tokyo, etc.) To be safe I contacted the "Big 3" credit reporting agencies to file a Fraud Alert on my account there. Also password-protected my bank accounts because I didn't know how much more info the perps had gained about me, once they had my card number! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgia Posted May 1, 2006 Share Posted May 1, 2006 I don't think paypal stole his number...this is more of a "caveat emptor" warning.Glad you caught it in time to save major headaches! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magsglass Posted May 2, 2006 Share Posted May 2, 2006 Oh geez, I just reread this thread, and now I'm confused. My customers use PayPal to make purchases, but as a merchant I don't recall having access to their card numbers or PayPal passwords. So I'm wondering, Francie, why you're sure it was a PayPal merchant who made those bogus charges? When my cc# was stolen it was either, 1) through an unsecured online purchase (a supplier's webmaster compromised his customer base), or 2) a store or restaurant I visited while on vacation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aspencreek Posted May 2, 2006 Share Posted May 2, 2006 I don't think paypal stole his number...this is more of a "caveat emptor" warning.Glad you caught it in time to save major headaches!Georgia you are probably right. Just make sure that anytime you use Paypal or any other online purchasing tool that there is the little Lock in the bottom of your web-browser. This is telling you that the website is safe or has a SSL certificate.Unfortunately people can make a website that looks just like Paypal so you would never know that you are giving your information away.Just make sure that the website is legit and you will be OK!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hewells Posted May 2, 2006 Share Posted May 2, 2006 There are also programs that can be downloaded to your computer that log all the keystrokes that you make. This gets downloaded to your computer without your knowledge. You should always run your virus scans, adware scans, clean out your cookies and temp internet files. Trust me if someone wants your information bad enough it doesn't have to be from you visiting a scam site, you could be unknowingly giving someone all the information they need just by typing away on your keyboard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twoscentsworth Posted May 3, 2006 Author Share Posted May 3, 2006 Let me try to clarify a few things....an atm/Visa card was used on a SECURE site, with a REPUTABLE vendor (just like you) who uses Paypal to accept payments. Within minutes of each other five different sites using Paypal as their form of accepting payments had made charges to the checking account....so the charges read "PAYPAL a vendor name and the amount...one of them was a bail bondsman LOL LOL...so someone got out of jail this way. I do not know who or how they got the number from a SECURE site....but someone did. The bank is checking into it but so far we still dont know. It could have been the clearing house or a hacker. That's why I'm giving you all the heads up...we don't know how we just know it happened. If it happened to us it could happen to you....we have been purchasing off the internet for over 5 years and this is the first time we have had a problem....so I am just suggesting that if you make a purchase on line with an atm/Visa (or MC) you keep an eye out on your checking account to make sure if it does happen you can catch it quickly.That's all....I'm not blaming anyone because I don't know who to blame I'm just telling you what happened. The information is just that and you can use it or not. I would want to know if something like this happened to someone else so I could keep a close eye out....when you are on a secure site you don't think it will happen but it apparently can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rascal418 Posted May 3, 2006 Share Posted May 3, 2006 Twoscentsworth,What was paypals response ? Did paypal reverse the amounts in question or did you have to do a chargeback? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mizbizzyb Posted May 3, 2006 Share Posted May 3, 2006 There are also programs that can be downloaded to your computer that log all the keystrokes that you make. This gets downloaded to your computer without your knowledge. You should always run your virus scans, adware scans, clean out your cookies and temp internet files. Trust me if someone wants your information bad enough it doesn't have to be from you visiting a scam site, you could be unknowingly giving someone all the information they need just by typing away on your keyboard.I work for PayPal and their system has not been hacked into. However the above mentioned theory sounds like a possibility. Maybe even clicked on a bad link that traced everything that was put into the computer. (same thing, huh?)And it could be pure coincidence. I have had my account with PayPal since 2000 and never had an issue. I opened my account because I placed an order with a candle vendor and went to get gas a few days later and my card was declined. At that time I was only ordering candle supplies off the internet. My bank worked with me, but I scurried on over to paypal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darwin Posted May 3, 2006 Share Posted May 3, 2006 One of my bosses at work had went to a chain office supply store to have her daughter's school project lamanated and she paid with her DEBIT card, thats right, her DEBIT card. Apparentlty, someone hacked into their computer system and had it save all the bank/credit card numbers and PINS. Somone made charges to her bank account and cleand out a couple grand, and even overdrew her account. They made purchases in Los Angeles and Toronto on the same day...Luckily her bank immediately put all the money back in her account and she was not liable for any of it. Now, I am starting to use cash way more often.I am just posting this to say that this can happen with PayPal and with other things as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sudsnwicks Posted May 4, 2006 Share Posted May 4, 2006 I am just posting this to say that this can happen with PayPal and with other things as well.Yes, and in fact it may be easier for someone to steal your info at a restaurant or gas station than in an online purchase because no computer hacking skills are needed. We just have to be careful and check our statements carefully and report any problems right away. Either that or use cash / write a check whenever you can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twoscentsworth Posted May 5, 2006 Author Share Posted May 5, 2006 Rascal, we do not have a Paypal account, our bank handled it for us.And, this thread was started to warn/inform about doing business with vendors who use Paypal as their only authorized payment account. Of course you should use common sense when using any form of paymentbut this was directed at people who use their cards on-line. and I see another post where someone has had a problem....gee, doesn't this say something to you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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