<p>I am too fed up to post the details but I had fraud on a hardly used paypal account. While i made two calls to paypal and they supposedly were handling it I had funds removed from my checking account and am on my third call trying to get them put back.<br>
If you have a checking or bank account attached to your paypal account I would remove it. Credit card only.<br>
I personally closed my business account and will close the personal account as soon as they let me. Right now while I am "in dispute" they won't even let me close the account.
I have not bought or sold anything using paypal in two years this was completely fraud on my account and paypal has mishandled it.
Okay rant over</p>
<p>ebee can you tell us where the fraud was through? Like was it through ebay or something like that?</p>
<p>Also very interested…never had a problem and always thought that paypal was one of the safest transactions that one could go with.</p>
<p>Sorry about your issues…</p>
<p>I don’t * love* paypal but I have used it.</p>
<p>Did you accidentally click on a * phishing* email?
[Jennifer</a> Rizzo: Paypal safety and other sports…](<a href=“http://www.jenniferrizzo.com/2011/04/paypal-safety-and-other-sports.html]Jennifer”>The Best Antique White Paint for Kitchen Cabinets (And Other White Paint Colors Too) - Jennifer Rizzo)</p>
<p>I had fraud issue with Paypal–in fact, it was discovered by Paypal, not by me. It was cleared up within a couple of days. It’s definitely smarter to connect you Paypal account to a credit card rather than to a bank account. I guard my bank account info zealously and never let anyone have it. Allowing access to your account to any party is just asking for trouble. Even honest organizations make a lot of dumb mistakes, and correcting them can be a nightmare.</p>
<p>ebeeeee - Sorry for you troubles. I hope they get straightened out.</p>
<p>PayPal bugged me two years about “Getting Verified.” I refused. I could never understand why, when I had a $20K limit on my credit card and Paypal confirmed every credit card transaction, why it was so darned important that PayPal have the ability to take money directly out of my checking account.</p>
<p>Then last month PayPal materialized a “$2,000 lifetime limit on payments (unless you allow us to access your checking account)” policy. And now your saga ebeeeee. Ugh.</p>
<p>Okay the longer version. First off I did not click on a phishing email. Someone from Germany put money in my account without my request or permission. I got an email that I had paid money to a site which turned out to be facebook poker chips. I went online and marked both as fraud. They returned the deposit from Germany bit not the charge for poker chips. Decided I needed to pay for the poker chips and removed the funds from my bank account. this despite the fact that they had been notified by me that both were fraud. Additionally I check my bank account daily online so I called two days ago and asked why there was a pending payment to pay pal from my bank account and wS told it would be reversed before it cleared my bank. It was not removed I tried when I first noted the fraud to remove my bank account and or close the account. I am unable to do so due to their pending investigation of the fraud. Short of closing the bank account o have had for twenty yeRs I am at the mercy of pay pal. I have talked to four people including a supervisor. I recommend e eryone remove thir bank account rom ny pay pal account today.</p>
<p>How did the fraudster access your account in order to make the payment? Did you have a secure password?</p>
<p>Wow, thanks for the warning. I was going to set up an account just to buy an item from a boutique in CA which does not accept cc payments over the Internet. I guess I can live without the trinket. Penny saved…</p>
<p>I hope PayPal sorts this out soon and refunds your money.</p>
<p>No idea. I have a very secure password with numbers letters speical characters etc.</p>
<p>BB okay to set up account with credit card only just ignore all the emails telling you to submit bank info so your account is verified. Some pay pal vendors and eBay vendors won’t take payment from a non verified account. I can live without anything they sell.</p>
<p>“How did the fraudster access your account in order to make the payment? Did you have a secure password?”</p>
<p>My understanding is that the authorization ebeeeee granted to PayPal means that ebeeeee’s password wasn’t needed … and that the fraudster used PayPal authorization to place and withdraw funds. The hole is in PayPal’s system, which makes ebeeeee’s travails even more rankling.</p>
<p>Well, I didn’t really follow the details of the German thing. But this was good enough for me to remove my bank account from PayPal. I prefer that my PayPal purchases go through my credit card anyway… so this got that done.</p>
<p>“Some pay pal vendors and eBay vendors won’t take payment from a non verified account.”</p>
<p>I dealt with these meager few vendors by “verifying” my account, paying the bill via PayPal, and then immediately “un-verifying.” After I’d done this a few times PayPal started declining to pay, citing “You have exceeded your $2,000 lifetime limit on payments. Restore your PayPal payment privileges by verifying your account.” I didn’t bother … I just set up a new PayPal account. (If PayPal shuts that one down I guess I’ll have to use one of my dormant business checking accounts to verify my PayPal account. Whatever.)</p>
<p>^^ jmmom - I don’t know whether it’s the cynic or analyst in me, but the only reason I can see for PayPal doing this is to push credit cards out of their system. Upside for PayPal … they get the fees credit card companies are now collecting on PayPal transactions. Downside for customers … no credit card protections. Of course I could be completely wrong with this cynical/analytical conclusion. Can anyone else suggest another plausible reason?</p>
<p>^^NewHope - you’re way ahead of me. I don’t even really understand what PayPal is “doing” – just thinking I don’t want my bank account vulnerable.</p>
<p>I have had a PayPal account for many years, but I will not link it to my bank accounts, it’s credit card only. And I only use that credit card for the PayPal and a couple of other online reoccuring billing situations. I resist all emails to verify my PayPal account, and I just don’t buy from Ebay merchants requiring verification. When I have sent a question to the merchant, so far all have been happy to have me purchase from them using the existing account. But if not, I’ll find another merchant.</p>
<p>Good Luck OP, I hope this is resolved quickly. And thanks for the reminder about the bank accounts!</p>
<p>Folks, it’s not just PayPal. </p>
<p>A friend of mine had $250 or $450 withdrawn randomly from his account. The scammers submitted a bank draft “no signature required” to his bank, and the money was gone.</p>
<p>It was reversed of course but took some effort.</p>
<p>I use a PayPal account that is linked to my checking account. I’ve had no problems. I also automatically pay every credit card direct from my bank account, pay the learning center for my kids school using the banks bill pay, buy mutual funds via direct pay, accept paychecks via direct deposit, and pay taxes via direct withdrawal. So there’s a lot of hands in my bank account!</p>
<p>For me, the time savings of not having to write checks, fill out envelopes, risk late fees, is well worth it. And I feel any additional risk is very low because of various fraud protection out there.</p>
<p>We’re in a digital world now…</p>
<p>We also pay for virtually everything online now, one way or another. Still not feeling the need to have my bank account linked to PayPal.</p>
<p>I was scammed on Ebay and found that PayPal was not the least bit helpful in terms of dispute resolution. I cancelled my account after that experience.</p>