paypal scam!

MikeR71

A colleague arrived at work in a real state. Her bank account has been emptied, apparently through paypal!!! She got time off to go and speak to her bank and see what can be done. She hasn't returned so we have no clue what went wrong. She was very upset and crying.
How can this happen through paypal? Will the bank refund her the money?

soolin

without knowing the details there is no way to give anya dvice at all.

Paypal is as secure as any other online banking system, it fails where someone has fallen for a phishing mail or has disclosed their log in to someone.

As long as people are not negligent then they are usually covered.

theonlywayisup

How can this happen?

We don't really know what has happened.

So to try and second guess would be wrong.

Blether

I have had several emails recently supposedly from Paypal which I am sure were phishing they look fairly genuine.

angelcake

the Phishing emails do look genuine!! Hope she got it sorted out

Mandles

Could be anything. My friend had money going out of her paypal by something she did on Facebook as she unbeknown to her had allowed something to take money whenever they wanted!

Inigo_Montoya

I would never link up my bank account to my paypal account as its asking for trouble

At least with a credit card its a relatively straightforward process to initiate a chargeback -even better if you use a prepaid card that you only load up as needed

Also you should always set up the extra security feature as well i.e. the feature where you get sent a PIN code in a text message in order to access your paypal account

A few years back I got caught out myself - I registered the same email address & password as my paypal account on a (legitimate) website selling DVDs - someone working for the website subsequently tried to take money out of my account - luckily paypal realised this as the person logged in from an overseas IP address & so they stopped the transfer

cathweir

MikeR71 wrote: »

A colleague arrived at work in a real state. Her bank account has been emptied, apparently through paypal!!! She got time off to go and speak to her bank and see what can be done. She hasn't returned so we have no clue what went wrong. She was very upset and crying.
How can this happen through paypal? Will the bank refund her the money?

It happens to me once. I got a Paypal email about account verification.... Two days later someone tried to pay with my PayPal account at some apparel online shop. Luckily, I had PayPal notifications turned on, and got an email from PayPal about this payment. Went to PayPal, filed a dispute and got my money back. Turns out, I was directed to the fake PayPal website in the first place.

My advice, - make sure you have notifications are turned on.

sheriff46

Just googled searched Paypal scam and read this story by MikeR71.
I have literally just logged on to my online banking and seen 2 payments taken by PayPal for the same amount of £25 with the same reference number. I have made 5 payments over the last 7 days via Paypal of £5 and they instantly came out of my bank account. Now they've taken £50 from me and given me an overdraft fee at the same time as there wasn't enough to cover it in my bank account. I have my bank account linked with my PayPal (which I have just removed immediately).
I can't believe that PayPal are allowed to do this without my authorization and also the bank has honored this. I Literally feel sick in my stomach as it's taken all the money I had left which I needed for my gas, electric and a bill.

soolin

sheriff46 wrote: »

Just googled searched Paypal scam and read this story by MikeR71.
I have literally just logged on to my online banking and seen 2 payments taken by PayPal for the same amount of £25 with the same reference number. I have made 5 payments over the last 7 days via Paypal of £5 and they instantly came out of my bank account. Now they've taken £50 from me and given me an overdraft fee at the same time as there wasn't enough to cover it in my bank account. I have my bank account linked with my PayPal (which I have just removed immediately).
I can't believe that PayPal are allowed to do this without my authorization and also the bank has honored this. I Literally feel sick in my stomach as it's taken all the money I had left which I needed for my gas, electric and a bill.

Paypal cannot take money without authorisation, you have either allowed someone else access to your account or you have set up a continous transfer authorisation

Incidentally there was a thread on here from a user with the same name, he is either very unlucky or else has had a series of misunderstandings
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/55950363#Comment_55950363

cathweir wrote: »

It happens to me once. I got a Paypal email about account verification.... Two days later someone tried to pay with my PayPal account at some apparel online shop. Luckily, I had PayPal notifications turned on, and got an email from PayPal about this payment. Went to PayPal, filed a dispute and got my money back. Turns out, I was directed to the fake PayPal website in the first place.

My advice, - make sure you have notifications are turned on.

It does pay to actually understand what a phishing mail is and how to stay safe online. It isn't only paypal that the scammers target, it is just about every bank going (plus some I haven't even heard of). Anyone that uses the internet must make sure they understand what banks do and don't do.

soolin

It does worry me that there is a lack of understanding about internet security, not just for paypal but for banking generally (there are other threads on MSE boards where people have been phished on other accounts).

I am not young, I remember a time when there was no internet and was an early user once it all got going- yet it seems obvious to me that if a bank sends me a link and tells me to put all my security details in it- then there is something seriously wrong. Likewise if a bank phones me and asks for all my details and say they are sending a courier fo rmy card as it has been cloned (there is a thread running on this one elsewhere) I think scam.

Is ti an age thing, are young people more trusting and unable to see a scam even if they fall over it in the street? I have grown up sons, they get terribly cross at me keeping sending links to them about young people being conned by fake 'game' points companies or people trying to sell them dodgy goods on Gumtree- but hopefully I can make them as safe as I think I am myself.