Paypal = High Risk

**HelterSkelter** · Sun Jan 25, 2009 4:18 pm

Please be aware that attaching your bank account to a Paypal account is a very risky venture and that Paypals 100% risk free claim is not just inaccurate, it is a blatant lie.
On Thanksgiving day, while my house was empty and my computer turned off, my paypal account and my hotmail account were hacked. This was a server side hack as my passwords are generated and copy/pasted into the password fields. I dont do this to foil possible keystroke loggers, I do this because they are 8 to 12 digit gibberish and difficult to type. Im only telling you this so you realize this was not my computer that was compromised.
On 11/27/08 an unauthorized transaction was made to my paypal account for the sum of $599
On 12/05/08 I made a large deposit and $599 immediately disappeared.
I immediately contacted paypal and was told to file a dispute. About a week later they told me via email that the case was denied and closed.
When I called them on the phone a young girl told me that the transaction originated from my ip so there was nothing they could do about it.
When I asked for the url referrer, she did not know what that was. In fact she did not have any information except what they needed to remove my dispute from any type of protection so they could skirt responsibility.
I then tried to remove my bank account from my paypal account. This was not allowed since it was my primary funding source. I added my Visa bank card as a funding source so I could have the added protection of Visa and removed my bank account.
Tonight I received an email from paypal stating I had tried to make another transaction to the same person for another $599 and it was declined by my bank. When I logged into my paypal account I found that my bank account was back and set as my primary funding source. Now even with my bank card attached, it will not let me delete my bank account until the transaction is completed. I cannot reach anyone on the phone because it is after office hours. The fact that my deleted account returned and that a very obvious case of fraud was dismissed as nothing leads me to question...Is paypal victimized by fraud, or are they accomplices?

I have been using NuclearFallout.net for game server hosting for years. They are huge and nationwide. Years ago, they only accepted paypal as payment for their services. Recently they have completely rebuilt their payment system at great expense to remove dependency on paypal. In fact they will only accept paypal if you have no other options and you make a personal request stating you are aware of the risks.

I know that most of you have some form of paypal system on your websites, whether for sales, or to accept donations, so I felt I should make you aware that you have virtually no protection from paypal whatsoever and that there are numerous complaints about their buggy security and the fact that it takes them literally months to patch them.

If you leave your banking info with paypal and get ripped off like I did, I wont say "I told you so"....even though I did

if you read this email, you will see that paypal says they realize this is a disputed transaction
(i guess because it is to the same person and the same amount as the last dispute)
but they are going to process anyways!!!

Quote:

Your bank declined your electronic funds transfer‏
From: service@paypal.com (service@paypal.com)
Sent: Fri 1/23/09 4:57 AM
To: JW Installations

Dear JW Installations,

You recently attempted to transfer funds from your bank account.
Your bank has declined the funds transfer because your account did not have sufficient funds available. We will automatically re-attempt this transfer in 3 business days. Please fund your bank account immediately to ensure this transaction can be completed.
While this transaction has already been flagged as unauthorized, our external processor cannot be prevented from continuing with the representment process.

-----------------------------------
Transaction Details
-----------------------------------

Transaction Type: Instant Transfer payment to browneyez_30@hotmail.com
Transaction ID: 3KV4579553254422W
Transaction Date: Nov. 27, 2008
Transaction Amount: $599.00 USD
Reason:
This bank account has insufficient funds.

Your bank declined your electronic funds transfer‏
From: service@paypal.com (service@paypal.com)
Sent: Fri 1/23/09 4:57 AM
To: JW Installations

Dear JW Installations,

You recently attempted to transfer funds from your bank account.
Your bank has declined the funds transfer because your account did not have sufficient funds available. We will automatically re-attempt this transfer in 3 business days. Please fund your bank account immediately to ensure this transaction can be completed.
While this transaction has already been flagged as unauthorized, our external processor cannot be prevented from continuing with the representment process.

-----------------------------------
Transaction Details
-----------------------------------

Transaction Type: Instant Transfer payment to browneyez_30@hotmail.com
Transaction ID: 3KV4579553254422W
Transaction Date: Nov. 27, 2008
Transaction Amount: $599.00 USD
Reason:
This bank account has insufficient funds
I'm just thankful the last of my bills came out of that account on Monday, or I would have lost ANOTHER $599.00

*update* After finally getting through to paypal I found out that the second paypal transaction was not actually a new transaction. Iwas actually the emal that paypal was supposed to send to me at the time of the original transaction failure due to the lack of funds. The person I spoke with agreed that had the email been sent at the appropriate time, I would have been able to avoid this fraud. However this makes no difference to paypal and they will not honor any of their promises of security.

If you choose to use paypal, do so with extreme caution and NEVER add your bank account to your paypal account because regardless of thier promises of security, you have no protection whatsoever!

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