Pay Pal ?

[LynnS]

Well I opened a account last year when I started my website.Only for that reason was not going to purchase or take any money out.It was there for the purpose for orders and it was set up for that reason.So I finally decided to buy something and after over a year I had to go in and change my password.I forgot it.I see what I ordered there in my account and then I look and I have NO BALANCE.I have no idea when this money was taken out but a tranfer was done and it was most definetly illegal.

I will get in touch with Pay Pal and my bank and now wonder if this causes problems with me getting orders through my website.All this is new to me and I am not up on it.Husband set up the website and said all is fine and PAL PAL is set up right but I am not sure with the money missing.Anyone ever had problems before.I have no idea who or how anyone got into my account.I never ever wanted to bother that money.Not alot but was a start to get orders on site and all I wanted it for till these items I was purchasing recently.

Anyone ever had problems? I read it awhile back a couple members did but not recently.

LynnS

Well started my New Year off with a bang!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ah-soy]

Lynn, did you ever get and respond to emails supposedly from PayPal that asked you to click on a link to verify info. or requested money for a purchase you didn't make? Some of these even say, if you don't do this now, we will close your account.

If so, these are called 'phishing' emails and are sent just for the purpose of harvesting your password and other info. so they can hack into your account and rob you. PayPal will never send an email that doesn't address you by name and will not ask you to click on a link within the email to do anything. You always have to go to the PayPal site to log in. These 'phishers' are very creative and make the email look like it's from PayPal.

That's just what I've learned in the 3 plus years I've had a PayPal account. If you ever get one, forward it to spoof@paypal so they can track down the culprit!

Sorry that this happened to you...that sucks!:undecided

[The_Dallas_Texas_Dean]

I just opened a PayPal account this week. Well, I started to open one in 2005 but decided against it when they asked for my bank info. Just didn't want to do it at the time. ..and always thought of PayPal as being kinda "cheesy"....but,they still had the info I put in at the time like I had an account.

I have done the whole bank thing now and been verified.

I am trying to decide on a Standard or Pro account.

My account says NO Balance.

If I were to buy something or send money doesn't it just come out of my bank account...the one I gave them the information for? OR do I have to place some money in the account?

Sorry, don't mean to hijack. I am very interested in hearing more about PayPal myself. It is basically NEW to me. I have never used it other than to buy something with my CC through someone that used them. Lynn, Now you have me thinking WTH have I done?

BTW, they sent me three different emails with links to "click on" to verify it was me and I was making the "changes".

[BrandNewToCandles]

I may be an exception but I have never had any problems with PayPal. I don't have my bank account linked to it, just my credit card. As far as I understand there wouldn't be a balance unless you transferred funds there yourself or received a payment from someone. Any transactions made would be displayed on your "my account" page.

[Sweet68cam]

I just opened a PayPal account this week. Well, I started to open one in 2005 but decided against it when they asked for my bank info. Just didn't want to do it at the time. ..and always thought of PayPal as being kinda "cheesy"....but,they still had the info I put in at the time like I had an account.

I have done the whole bank thing now and been verified.

I am trying to decide on a Standard or Pro account.

My account says NO Balance.

If I were to buy something or send money doesn't it just come out of my bank account...the one I gave them the information for? OR do I have to place some money in the account?

Sorry, don't mean to hijack. I am very interested in hearing more about PayPal myself. It is basically NEW to me. I have never used it other than to buy something with my CC through someone that used them. Lynn, Now you have me thinking WTH have I done?

BTW, they sent me three different emails with links to "click on" to verify it was me and I was making the "changes".

Michael, it wont show your bank account balance it will only show the balance you have in your paypal account, you can use your bank to make purchases and such but the balance will only show in paypal what people pay you or what you add to it...as for the e-mails NEVER answer those..you can see in the link when it opens up the page that the address is a little off..its not just paypal.com its usually got something else in the actual url link (it looks like its http://www.paypal.com in the e-mail but once you open it and look at the address it took you to its different). When you get one of those forward it to spoof@paypal.com and never enter your information in there. To this day I have never gotten an e-mail directly from paypal about updating my information and I have used paypal for years. To protect myself from theft I opened a separate bank account and I use that one only to be linked to paypal so if someone does get ahold of my stuff there will be no money there for them from our personal bank account. The only money they would have access to is if I happen to have some in my paypal account itself. I am lucky and have never had a problem with paypal before. I would recommend changing your password often if you are worried about someone hacking into your account..and esp. change it if you have answered any e-mails that asked for it.

[LynnS]

This account is not hooked to our checking account or savings.Just a account we opened to get the website going.I am like you Dallas Dean absolutely never wanted one.Your account says NO balance too.Maybe supposed to but my order did not go through so sounds like NO MONEY.Even though I put some there.We did get a couple of those phishers.I do remember asking my husband to look at the e-mail address because we were told what to look for.He sent a couple on to PayPal.They acknowledged they got them and would investigate. I THINK one time I got a e-mail saying illegal activity on your account but still someone might want to get my account number.Like the others, I thought were the pfishers.

Hey I am like you Dallas Dean doing some re-thinking.I was clueless in the beginning and now more so.I have used my credit cards more than I like to and wanted to just use this or send check or MO.I never got my CC's over $500.00 for years and now they are more than I like.Was married over 20 years before we got a CC and only got one then because son was in the Marines and we were going to his graduation.To rent a car you HAD to have one.I guess to trace you HA.I have no idea but that was the pits IMO.Would not accept CASH.

I went to the BANK in person to open my account.I did not do it on-line if that is what people can do.Been so long I forgot my password so got another.Someone must have had it.I mean just me and my husband so we know it is not us.I kept over and over today getting must have 8-20 characters etc so I went through that a few times then my second question I wanted to use the same as the first question.But not able.Hey I want it to be easy.The problem is NOW "When did this happen/or take place".I have no idea and don't know if it can be found.

Sorry Dallas I cannot answer your question about buying anything.I tried and it did show up on my account but when I saw NO BALANCE I e-mailed them right away.Asked if it went through and didn't.So I am sending a MO till I get this straightened out.This year was going to be happy.

My other thing I wonder Maybe no one can use PAY PAL on my website.The first person was a check and the last person I have to e-mail for payment.Never processed.I'm BUMMED.Sorry so long I'm on a rant.

LynnS

[The_Dallas_Texas_Dean]

The emails I received was from :

sendmail@paypal.com; on behalf of; service@paypal.com

I received them for adding email addresses to my PayPal account. They said that I had to click on the link to complete the process.

I am HATING this crap already! UGH!!

Thanks for the help. I am off the change EVERYTHING!

[Sweet68cam]

I think you are ok then Michael, You will get an e-mail from paypal when you add a new e-mail address to your account and you do have to click on it to verify it. So I believe you are safe:wink2:

[LynnS]

Dallas Dean.

Don't stop on my account and what happened to me.I will know more tomorrow.Well I mean today.I am up still thinking on this.Will write my husband a note so I am sure he will wake me up before he goes to work. Ask me questions when I am asleep.Hard telling what I might tell him. Wish now I would have only had a few bucks($20 or 30) and not over 100. I THINK it was a certain amount to open one but I had to go over that limit.You know want to be safe..............

LynnS

[ah-soy]

Here is the link to PayPals security info page...

http://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_security-center-outside

I've sent a lot of suspicious emails to their spoof addy...I'll go look up the replies then get back soon...

[ah-soy]

Here's one response I received...I'm still looking for some others:

Thank you for contacting PayPal about a fraudulent (spoof) email or Web

site. We appreciate you bringing this suspicious email to our attention.

We can confirm that the email you received was not sent by PayPal. Any

website which may be linked to this email is not authorized or used by

PayPal.

Our fraud prevention team is working to disable any website linked to

this email. In the meantime, please do not enter any information into

this website. If you have already done so, you should immediately log

into your PayPal account and change your password, as well as your

security questions and answers. We also recommend that you contact your

bank and credit card company immediately.

Please follow the instructions below to report an unauthorized

transaction associated with your PayPal account:

If you are able to log into your PayPal account:

1. Log in to your account at https://www.paypal.com

2. Select the "Resolution Center" subtab.

3. Click "Open a dispute."

4. Select "Unauthorized transaction," then click "Continue."

5. Enter or select the transaction ID for the transaction you would like

to dispute, then click "Continue."

6. Complete the report for Unauthorized Use on a PayPal Account, then

click "Continue."

7. Confirm that the claim is correct, then click "Submit."

If you cannot log in to your account, follow the instructions below to

report an unauthorized transaction associated with your PayPal account:

1. Go to https://www.paypal.com/

2. Click on the "Security Center" link located at the bottom of any

page.

3. Under the "Report a Problem" column, click on "Unauthorized

Transaction."

4. Click "Continue" under "Unable to log in?"

5. Confirm that the transaction in question is unauthorized then click

"Continue."

6. Complete the report for Unauthorized Use on a PayPal Account, then

click "Preview."

7. Confirm that the claim is correct, then click "Submit."

8. Confirm your account ownership by entering the financial information

requested, then click "Continue."

Lastly, we recommend taking a few steps to protect yourself from

identity theft:

1. Download the SafetyBar, a toolbar for Outlook and Outlook Express,

which identifies known spoof emails.

2. Get eBay Toolbar with Account Guard which warns you when you're on a

potentially fraudulent (spoof) Web site.

3. Sign up for Equifax Credit Alerts for PayPal Users, a program that

provides an early warning detection system in the event of identity

theft. Find out more by visiting the PayPal Identity Protection Center

at www.paypal.com/idprotection.

4. Frequently monitor your PayPal account for suspicious activity.

For additional tips please visit the PayPal Security Center at

https://www.paypal.com/security.

Thank you again for sending us your report. We appreciate your efforts

to keep PayPal safe.

[The_Dallas_Texas_Dean]

I think you are ok then Michael, You will get an e-mail from paypal when you add a new e-mail address to your account and you do have to click on it to verify it. So I believe you are safe:wink2:

Whew....Thanks! I was in a tale spin panic!! I did go in and change my password just in case. I am glad to know that they do send the one with the link when you change email addresses.

Do you all use the Standard or Pro? I will be upgrading to a business account when my website is up. It seems as if the only difference is with a Standard account, the client is redirected to check out AT Paypal. With the Pro, they check out ON your site. I am trying to decide what the perception would be and if it matters. I do not have telephone or fax orders, so that feature is unimportant to me.

[ragnarock47]

I've had a few problems with Paypal although they were minor. One was an auction site where the seller was not living up to their end of the transaction and I had payed via Paypal. Paypal was of no help until the third month of trying to get it rectified.

The other problem was that my organization took up a collection for one of our compadre's that fell upon rough times. We collected something like $3500 for him and he had forgotten his PP password. He had sent them dozems of faxes with personal info, emails, etc to verify himself per their requests. Dave had to wait almost 60 days.

Another thing I suggest is to not leave a large balance in your PP account. If anything should go wrong, and they decide to freeze your account, it's frozen. I've never kept more than a $250 balance in either of my PP accounts.

Between my personal account and my organizations account, I have had over 700 verified transactions.

A few notes on PP:

I would NEVER EVER give them account info on a bank account other than opening a SEPERATE account JUST for PP, not your entire business, just as sweetcam suggested. Use the debit card for that account to add to your PP accout. This is based on the many things I am aware of due to P and them being kinda iffy at times. It is also due to the security of my finances. No one gets into any of my accounts... my employer can put money in, but no one takes money out automatically. I guess what I am trying to babble on about is open a seperate account for PP to insulate the rest of your financials.

As for which account to get with PP, what it comes down to is how much money you can deal with as well as the fees if I am not mistaken. A premier account would be the way to go if you use it for business.

Dallas, yes, when you pay using PP, it will come from the bank account linked to your PP account automatically. You do not need to do anything other than the checkout with PP process.

Some more about the phishing e-mails;

In e-mails from PP, they will ALWAYS use your real name in the first line. Even then, just go to PP's site manuallly, without clicking on the link in the e-mail. They'll let you know if anything needs attention. Going to a place manually, based on an e-mail also should go for the auction site, banks, credit card companies that appear to send you an e-mail.

PP is a great place, in running a business, you have to accept credit cards. Beyond that, many people like the ease of PP. The fees are close to what getting a credit card set up via a bank or other type of business that does CC processing. If I were to run an internet based business, PP would be the answer for my CC needs until a certain point of growth. Just be careful and minimize the risks of PP and everything will be fine.

[soycrazy]

I can't stand paypal, if I pay for something and they take paypal I only use my credit without signing up for a account. I like google checkout.

[LynnS]

I just got off the phone with PayPal.The gentleman was very nice and I do have a problem.Not that someone got into my account BUT a TRANSACTION was never put in my account by my BANK.The gentleman said no transaction of that amount was ever made.I am not happy at this time with my bank.I have all the info in front of me and kept telling the man I should have a balance.Never was a deposit.UMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So will call the Bank or better yet might go in.Pay Pal is safe and like I mentioned we have got some bad e-mails (phishers) and husband caught them.I used to get more but since contacting paypal those e-mails have stopped.

The man I talked to was also very nice and told me to get in touch with them if a payment was not made through my website.I shipped a order(last minute Christmas) and haven't received payment but wanted the person to get her order fast.I really know I will get payment but haven't contacted her yet.

PayPal solved and now to my bank problem.

LynnS

[gngrbrdmtn]

Gosh, I'm sorry for those who have had problems with them. I 've had my PayPal account for around 4-5 years now, and I've never had a single problem with them. In fact, I ONLY accept payments processed through them now (I've had way too many problems in the past with mailed checks and even money orders). I just love PayPal!

[soycrazy]

Paypal is like walmart I think, try buying anything on a auction site if you don't want to use paypal it's impossible. Unless they have a premiere account then you can pay with your card without signing up, but most paypal sellers don't know that and they don't know how to set it up. Selling products without the paypal option is a nightmare too.

[The_Dallas_Texas_Dean]

From what I read, people do not have to sign up for PayPal in order to use their CC when they check out through PayPal. I know it used to be that way but I think it has been changed.

[sudsnwicks]

Unless they have a premiere account then you can pay with your card without signing up, but most paypal sellers don't know that and they don't know how to set it up.

There's no setup necessary as far as I know. All I did was to sign up for their business account, and upon registration, customers can pay with their credit card. Nothing special needed to be set up.

[soycrazy]

Well some sellers I came across had that paypal account and I still had to sign up for it, which I wasn't going to do. Even though they said it worked for other people. I had to end up sending a money order which I hate to do. That's why I like google checkout, plus there's only one screen you have to deal with not no gazillion screens just to send a payment like paypal.

[celicagtca]

The emails I received was from :

sendmail@paypal.com; on behalf of; service@paypal.com

I received them for adding email addresses to my PayPal account. They said that I had to click on the link to complete the process.

I am HATING this crap already! UGH!!

Thanks for the help. I am off the change EVERYTHING!

I had the same email...contacted PayPal and they told me it was a hacker trying to get info and clean me out. I never answered their email, but changed all my passwords in PayPal and everything was fine.

[ShelleyBean]

Sorry you guys have had problems with Paypal, I'm one of the lucky ones who havent had problems. I do have the business account where a customer doesnt have to sign up for paypal to use it, simply because I know there are those who refuse to use paypal because of past problems. I use Mals and they make it easy to blend the cart and use paypal, but since they also do it for google checkout, I have added them as an alternate way to pay as well.