Comments on: I was Hacked!

By: John

John — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 09:08:48 +0000

I found this page while looking for Palpay problems.

I have never responded to a spoof email or given my details to anyone. Yet Paypal will claim that this is the only way that someone can gain access to your accounts, this isn`t true. I consider their security as fairly poor, compare them to Internet bank login processes and you will note that entry is easier with Paypal!

Someone logged into my Paypal account and attempted to transfer money, although paypal figured out it wasn`t me and flagged up the transactions, they also allowed then to process. Paypal told me to stop the direct debit and yet 3 days later still requested money from my bank, the bank declined. Then paypal limited the account again.

Paypal could be considered as dangerous and unprofessional, they claim that they try to protect their customers, but in real terms they protect themselves. Money is often drawn quickly and yet refunds or reversals are slow.

Be warned.

By: Paul

Paul — Thu, 03 May 2007 22:55:49 +0000

I just found this post while doing a search.

Thats just happened to me today, Someone logged straight into my paypal account armed with my password and decided to transfer over $1000 into thier paypal account. I have never given out my password to anyone and have never fallen victim of any phishing email scams or sites (well at least I dont think so) the only way I think they done it was by some how hacking my pc and getting details. Anyway paypal actually rang me as it happend to warn me if it was genuine or not. Very helpful guy talked me through what to do and its all been suspended and hopefully everything is going to be refunded. This has made me determined to protect my pc and passwords as much as possible. Never want this to happen again

By: Iain

Iain — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 19:34:48 +0000

Ouch! This kind of event just freaks me out!

I’ve been researching on-line backup recently and this kind of event just makes it harder for me to pull the plug, and go for it. I was liking Amazon’s S3 so far. It comes from a big guy and I like that it can include digital certificates ( I think it is from Thawte ). I’m so leery of the 100’s of free on-line storage guys ….

By: Vava Kolinski

Vava Kolinski — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 14:47:02 +0000

My last two-cents has to do with methods of protecting oneself. Just as a matter of reference, I work in the field of information management, privacy, and access to information, and as such am very interested in how individuals can maintain privacy while engaging in Internet commerce, etc. The crux has always been, and perhaps always will be, authentication – how can you prove to the retailer that you are who you claim to be when traditional face-to-face meetings are impossible, and problematic in their own way? I believe Eric’s strategy is one of the best, and I too follow this practice with my Paypal account (seperate bank account, plus no overdraft). Changing passwords relatively frequently is also a good idea. Going further, changing the email to which your Paypal account is tied periodically is also good, but all of these methods serve to clutter ones brain with accounts and passwords and, in the end, may serve to cause more problems. Again, awareness is the key, and from what I have learned through my work and research, catching problems early is VERY important. Good luck to everyone, and things are bound to improve as the Internet continues to mature!

By: Andres

Andres — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 14:03:20 +0000

Strange that we still don’t have a secure method of online payment. Paypal does a decent job but it still comes down to the security you have with your bank account and credit cards, both of which aren’t secure enough for online transactions imo.

By: Jim Courtney

Jim Courtney — Sun, 28 Jan 2007 03:41:52 +0000

BTW, I attended a presentation by eBay’s Canadian Managing Director Thursday evening. Apparently PayPal has more Canadian accounts than eBay Canada whereas worldwide the ratio is 2:1 in eBay’s favour.

By: Jim Courtney

Jim Courtney — Sun, 28 Jan 2007 03:31:27 +0000

I guess we have seen one reason to change your PayPal password frequently. I do change my bank account password at least quarterly. May not be totally foolproof but gives some additional defense.

By: Eric

Eric — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 20:48:40 +0000

I actually have a secondary bank account that I use for Paypal, this account only has money in it if I am transfering funds to paypal. On another note, no matter how safe you are they can still get you… last week my very carefull wife had her bank card “cloned”. We were lucky since the bank caught this right away, but it could have caused us a major head ache.

By: Mark Evans

Mark Evans — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 19:02:44 +0000

Vava,
You make a good point that I was fortunate that my tenant’s check bounced. If that hadn’t been the case, I’m not sure my bank would’ve been as cooperative and actly as quickly.
In terms of what could have been done to protect my Paypal acccount, I’m really not whether there was anything I could have done – or least I don’t think there’s anything I could have done. I suspect Paypal accounts are hacked on a regular basis so this isn’t an isolated incident.

By: Vava Kolinski

Vava Kolinski — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 18:29:27 +0000

Sorry to hear about this happening to you Mark, and it’s a good thing that things were sorted out eventually. Of course, you didn’t have to go through the hellish process of reclaiming a stolen identity, which forces a person to convince their bank that it wasn’t them who withdrew funds even though the paper trail says otherwise. The good thing is that privacy issues are more and more prevalent in the news and legislation throughout the world is trying to keep up. The best defense is awareness, as your case has proven. Could you have had your account restored as easily had your tenant not bounced the cheque and you found out about the breach a few weeks or months later? Call me a pessimist, but I believe it would have been much more difficult, good customer service agent notwithstanding.