Pay Pal Querie

Sue11

Hi everyone

I rarely use pay pal for a method of payment and whenever I do it goes through no problem at all, but then, for the next few days, I have a flood of scam emails asking me to verify my account. I have emailed pay pal and queried how these people know I have just used my account but have had no answer.

Would anyone have any idea why this happens?

Sue

SnowTiger

Sue11 wrote: »

Hi everyone

I rarely use pay pal for a method of payment and whenever I do it goes through no problem at all, but then, for the next few days, I have a flood of scam emails asking me to verify my account. I have emailed pay pal and queried how these people know I have just used my account but have had no answer.

Would anyone have any idea why this happens?

I receive these scam emails daily and rarely use PayPal. Perhaps you simply notice them more because you've recently made a purchase using PayPal and are expecting to receive one from them.

Alternatively, an employee at the company you bought from has passed on your email address or is trying in on.

Or coincidence.

You say you rarely use PayPal. A couple of times a year?

hollydays

Change your password too if you are concerned.
A few months ago my daughter got annoyed at some email message , her account was blocked or limited, and she was going to click on the link to respond until I reminded her she should log into her account and she if the warning was there too. She was seconds away from replying to it.

SevenOfNine

Whenever I use PayPal it links my c/c to my PayPal a/c. There is no option to bypass that feature & it's really annoying.

I once had my PayPal a/c hacked, via PayPal themselves it seems as on their own forum they had 13 PAGES of people complaining this had happened to them. All over the world in assorted other foreign currencies to that used in the country of origin.......they'd charged me in USD.

Apparently 'Facebook Ireland' charging for 'advertising' then setting themselves up on individuals PayPal a/c's as an 'authorised merchant', then able to help themselves to payment whenever they felt like it! People who had not been paying attention to emails advising of a PayPal purchase got stung 2 or 3 times before noticing.

Only 1 payment taken from me which PayPal gave back, but now IF I'm obliged to use PayPal I always go to my PayPal a/c and unlink my c/c card details which have automatically been linked there.

I don't trust PayPal much.

soolin

Apparently 'Facebook Ireland' charging for 'advertising' then setting themselves up on individuals PayPal a/c's as an 'authorised merchant', then able to help themselves to payment whenever they felt like it! People who had not been paying attention to emails advising of a PayPal purchase got stung 2 or 3 times before noticing.

No one can help themselves to your PayPal money, whatever they call themselves. However, if people fall for a phish and log in through a link in a scam email then hackers will gain access to a PayPal account- just the same as they would if you fell for one of the bank scam emails.

The fact that people all over the world apparently got hacked doesn't mean PayPal did it, it just means that many people fell for a phish, and don't forget they send millions out a day .

forgotmyname

It used to be a case that if the email said dear customer and didnt give your full name then it was easy to spot its a scam but some got a bit smarter and sold cheap items.

Then they email you with your name. sneaky.

Never trust any emails. Always log in using a fresh browser window and never follow links in emails.

If you think somethings not quite right, Change your password right away.

Ectophile

I get loads of emails asking me to verify my PayPal account, and I don't even have a PayPal account.

Whenever I buy anything of fleabay, it's just done as a one-off credit card payment.

SevenOfNine

Interesting how the only explanation is always "you must have fallen for a phishing scam", it's almost amusing in its predictability.

I'm well aware of the level of care that must be taken, suspect emails, links & all other methods of tripping the unwary. The only suspicious thing was how willingly & with lightening speed that payment was returned to my c/c. Almost as if PayPal were well aware there was a chink in their own armour!

soolin

SevenOfNine wrote: »

Interesting how the only explanation is always "you must have fallen for a phishing scam", it's almost amusing in its predictability.

I'm well aware of the level of care that must be taken, suspect emails, links & all other methods of tripping the unwary. The only suspicious thing was how willingly & with lightening speed that payment was returned to my c/c. Almost as if PayPal were well aware there was a chink in their own armour!

If PayPal, or indeed any bank failed to return the payment to you immediately while they investigated they would be in breach of all sorts of banking laws.

Do not read a conspiracy into perfectly normal behaviour , the only way we as users can stay safe using PayPal is if we understand it and how it operates. The more we know and understand the less likely we are to fall for any attempt to fool us.

We can beat scammers and thieves and we can protect others but we must spread actual knowledge .

SevenOfNine

soolin wrote: »

We can beat scammers and thieves and we can protect others but we must spread actual knowledge .

I agree, but if ALL anyone can ever say is "you must have been caught out by scammers/phishing", it just gets BORING that those who say it merely assume that MUST have been the case.

So therefore the 'victim' (for want of an alternative suitable word) is someone who must have less knowledge than themselves of how to take care of their OWN end of security & has to be at fault.

I can only assume there is less knowledge of the sophisticated systems hackers are able to access than I would have thought there should be!

I'm surprised no-one has said "it must have been someone in the family"................YAWN! :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: Look outside the box people!