Jun 24 2008
PayPal Caution * From TexasGrammy
Hello Savor the Journey Readers,
This is TexasGrammy talking. I’m writing this myself. It is not something I am forwarding from anyone else. Email me through my contact me area in the left column if you like, for verification.
I have just spent over 1 hour & 15 minutes on the phone with PayPal Security on the night of Monday, June 23, 2008. I waited 20 other minutes on hold to get help. Tomorrow I must change my checking account. I have had to change my credit card number.
Tonight between 7:15 p.m. and 9:05 p.m. CDT, someone made several large transactions FROM my PayPal account, draining it, and the rest of the $3,575.00 was scheduled to come from my checking account through PayPal. Transactions were being made very quickly … a couple were within 2 minutes of each other.
How did I find out? I am in awe …. I received a phone call from the last ‘seller’ tonight at 9:25 p.m. He asked for [my name]. My hubby had a cautious look on his face when he gave me the phone. The gentleman asked if I ever go by ‘grammy’ …. Well, my paypal addy was ….grammyblahblahblah (disguised by me) . He asked if I had purchased anything from him tonight on PayPal … “No. I haven’t used PPal in at least a couple of weeks.” The caller explained to me that he just had a ‘bad feeling’ when the paypal payment came through from a … … grammy …. because he didn’t feel like a true ‘grammy‘ would ever be buying from him. He could tell by talking to me that “you wouldn’t be buying what I am selling.” Of course I asked what I had supposedly bought, but he said, “Let’s just call it ‘video equipment’ and leave it at that.” He said, “I’m refunding your money right now …. go check your email.” He did refund the $425 immediately.
Upon checking my PayPal account, I found it to be empty. I was sick at my stomach. I kept far more there than anyone should have, but hadn’t wanted to pay fees to switch it out. Never again. The seller called again later to tell me to call my bank asap to put a hold on withdrawals, because he had actually been paid with an e-check for $425. Called bank. Place hold note … must sign in the morning.
Called PayPal. Discovered the lineup of transactions tonight. A total of $3575, emptying my Ppal, +2 from my CCard on file, and the rest of the balance to come from my bank account. Thankfully, PayPal had ‘already’ noted suspicious activity and placed my account on hold, since it was over-drained in the first transaction.
I don’t have my money back yet, as the investigation team has it now. I’ve filled out a bunch of forms for PayPal, plus the girl helping me was so gracious and kind. We had her on speaker phone … When hubby came in, I announced his presence, and he said, Ma’am, “I hope you can help her because she’s fighting back tears.” I could not have asked for a better person to stick with my initial reaction of disgust, then being appalled at the total amount, the fact that my bank account and credit card are involved … etc.
Friends, I ask you to go to your PayPal account right NOW. Check to be sure it’s correct. And ….. change your password today, along with your security questions. Amber said that even reversing the order of your security questions will help, if someone has captured your info. Theives just know what order the answers come in, but not usually what the question is.
I share this only as a way of sharing the fact that if you are not attending frequent watch over your PayPal, you need to check it. Now is a perfect time. I found out because of an honest, awesome seller. Like I told him, he could have kept the $425, and I might not have known until my next bank statement. I had been gone much of the evening, during all of this frenzy of PPal activity. It only takes a small amount of time.
Best wishes to each of you. If I can help just one of you, I will feel that I’ve shared the learning tonight.
Sincerely,
Bev / Tex Gerard
TexasGrammy
I will certainly upload something better soon! I just need this to get read! *wink*
33 responses so far
Oh, I’m sorry you had to go through this. Please remember to also change the password on your eBay account. This happened to my sister about 2 months ago, and it originated with someone hacking her eBay account information.
Also, I don’t know how you normally transfer money OUT of your PayPal account, but if you have it transferred into the checking account that you have linked, there is never a fee for that service.
Just an FYI. Good luck.
Oh my gosh…I’m so glad they were able to resolve everything for you. Thank you for letting everyone know about this. I just checked my paypal account and everything was okay but I went ahead and changed my password and swapped my security questions around like you suggested. I also checked that my notifications were set to notify me by email of any money coming in or going out. Did you know that they have a security key that you can use for every transaction. Here’s their description of how it works: Generates a unique six-digit security code about every 30 seconds. You enter that code when you log in to your PayPal or eBay account with your regular user name and password. Then the code expires – no-one else can use it. It only costs $5, I think I am going to order one just for the extra protection.
Thieves are out there everywhere, I had about 3 gallons of gas stolen from my truck at Walmart this afternoon. My gas gauge shows how many miles until empty and I had around 65 miles left when I got there. The reason I’m so sure is because I was watching the gauge because I was getting low on gas. When I got back in my truck after shopping I only had 13 miles left. So at 17 mpg that’s around 3 gallons of gas…just the right amount for a gas can. I suggest everyone buy a locking gas cap for their vehicle. My truck was parked next to a van and to the side of the store so it was easy for them to hide and get away with siphoning my tank. Most people probably won’t notice 2-3 gallons of gas missing, but at today’s prices that’s a big chunk of change.
That is terrible news! Sorry you had to go through this. I don’t understand the mentality of thieves. I could not sleep at night if I had done something like that!
Thankfully you were able to discover the theft before you lost all your money! And thank goodness for the honesty of the vendor of questionable items!
I’m fighting back tears and the urge to tear someone’s throat out. I’ve been trying to write this for several minutes and I’m too upset to come up with words. I’m glad you found out quickly and that Pay Pal is working on fixing the situation. The only bright spot is that you were not physically hurt. Gotta go check my accounts.
I hate that this has happened to you. I hope that you get your money back. I really appreciate that you have warned us so that we can try to help ourselves.
Bev,
That is just terrible. I am so sorry you are going through that. I will pray for a fast solution and a return of the money that was lost.
SO sorry Bev! i appreciate the warning. i try so hard to keep my info protected. any idea how the thieves could have gotten your deets?
ps-there’s no fee to move money from your PP account to your checking account.
OMgoodness! I’m so sorry!
but I appreciate the warning / reminder. My fingers and toes are crossed that you get a speedy and complete resolution to this!
Oh Bev, I’m so very sorry for what you are going thru right now. I will pray for all to return that belongs to you. Thank you for taking the time to write and warn us all. {{{HUGS}}}
Bev – just wanted to tell you how sorry I am that this happened to you!! How terrible!! I hope this gets resolved quickly and easily – and thank you for sharing your story with us so that we can protect ourselves as well! 😉 Sending ((BIG HUGS))!!
Oh, Bev. I am also so very sorry this has happened to you. I hope and pray it is all resolved quickly. How horrible that people have nothing better to do than try and steal from others. What an honest seller to check into that for you and notify you.
{{hugs}} Kelly
Oh wow. I am so sorry this happened. I am sick. (((HUGS)))
I just went to change my password and it wants me to give my full account number to verify it is me. I don’t want to do that online. I think I will just not use paypal anymore.
Oh, no! I will go check my account and do what you suggest right now! I hope you get ALL your money back!
I am so sorry that you are having to deal with this. They say we will all have it happen at some point in our lives. I just pray that is not true. I can’t imagine the feelings you have been through dealing with all of this. I always feel uneasy buying over the internet. BUT, I don’t know how else to make some of my purchases. It sounds like you have done all that you can do to fix the problems. I hope you can just turn your attention to something else and not let this eat at you. I know it is a lot of money. But, try to not let it paralyze you. I will be praying for you and I hope we will hear good news soon that you have all your money back!
Hang in there!
Denise G
How horrible. I will be praying that everything gets cleared up quickly for you! And thank you for posting your story to help the rest of us try to remain secure.
Texas Grammy…..Thank you so much for the heads up. I went to PPal and changed everything and took off accounts. That is soooo scary. I hope that you are refunded all your money and they catch the creep that did this to you. No matter how careful you are….someone always seems to figure out how to beat the system. Again, I really appreciate you sharing this tragedy with us so that we can quickly check our accounts and make changes.
Okie Nana
Glad to see you have posted this……………..unfortunately it happens more often than most people realize. My son-in-law had a very similar problem with paypal. They tried to access the amount that could be loaned to his checking account. He just happened to be checking his account on-line at the right time. I NEVER use paypal.
OMGosh! I’m so sorry this happened to you!! This is terrifying!
I’ve had it happen to me – luckily I didn’t have any money in the account & I was able to alert my bank and PayPal before any transactions were made. Ebay and PayPal are linked – so I try to keep my passwords completely different at each place, and I change them every couple of months.
I was lucky – I’m sorry you have to deal with this!!
There are so many “bad guys” out there trying to scam all of us…it is just revolting! I hope with all my heart that this gets resolved, and you get your money back. It’s so scary to think of what goes on in cyber space. The best to you always, and thank you for the warning…we all need reminders to change our passwords and questions. One can’t be too careful these days…Bless you 😀
I am truly sorry you have had this awful, awful experience; I can only imagine what I would do if it happened to me. Thank you so much for taking the time and trouble to share the facts, I am going change my PayPal password right NOW. Please the Lord this matter is resolved quickly and that your money is refunded without undue delay.
Bless you for your thoughtfulness
Marion
UK
I am so sorry this pay pal mess has happened to you. I hope maybe I can help others who might read this. My many years working as an accountant and owning my own business has taught me plenty and the most important one is: NEVER use your Check Card for anything purchased online!!!! I keep two low limit credit cards hidden in my desk at home and if an online company is hacked into they’re not going to spend much of my money. I only use these two cards for online purchases so if something does happen I can close that card in a jiffy and it doesn’t affect any part of my normal household accts. Also I NEVER use my Check Card as a Debit card in stores or anywhere public so I don’t have to key in my four digit number where someone can see what keys I’m pressing.
You’re in my thoughts and prayers,
Pat
How horrible! I will hop right over there and check mine! Thanks for the heads up, Bev!
Okay, holy carp, I am off to check out my account ASAP!!
Oh, this so sadness me. I’ll email you to explain why it makes me sicker than most. Hang in there and I know in the end everything will get resolved, but totally sucks while you’re in knee deep in the middle of it all. HUGS!!!
OMGOSH! Guess what? The same thing happened to me! They got into my bank account for $650. The bank paid it! Fortunately Paypal put a hold on it since it originated on another continent. I have changed my passwords, etc. I am going to close my paypal acoount once this is over. Good luck. I hope we both get our money back.
Theresa … please check your email. It just makes me sooooo sad to realize that one of my cyber-friends has also fell victim to this atrocity. ((((hugs))))
~Bev
Oh {{{{{{Bev}}}}}}….I’m so sorry this happened to you!! It’s so terrible, and I pray all of your funds are returned very soon! Thank you for the warning! I am heading over to PP.
I’m really surprised by this and thank you so much for posting about your experience. I had a bit of a shock last month I believe it was, when I got a phishing note supposedly from Paypal. I couldn’t believe how authentic it looked, but I noticed it wasn`t going to Paypal when I selected it. I notified Paypal right away and changed my password plus security question. Anyway, sorry that this happened to you, and I hope everything gets ironed out quickly for you!
Oh my gosh!!! How awful!!! I only use my PayPal occasionally, but I better start keeping a better eye on it! I’m sooooooo sorry for this huge headache and can only imagine the stress on you. I’m so very thankful you shared this…….and I hope they can discover the person who did this!! I’m sending you lots of hugs!!
Bev, I’m glad you posted this here for all to see. I was shocked and hurting for you when I learned of your awful and frightening experience. Thank goodness for an honest soul. I hope it will be resolved in your favor. I’m so very, very sorry!
Thanks so much for posting this Bev!
We all need these reminders, so that we stay on top of our accounts and passwords, etc. We had some ‘suspicious’ activity that we caught a while ago, and we have rec’d several fake warnings from emails claiming to be paypal, wanting us to access our account and email them our password etc. so that they could ‘fix’ the problem.
One thing we noticed right away were some spelling errors in the email. It is so important to be cautious.
I am so sorry that this has happened to you. I pray that all is reconciled soon and with as little hassle and ‘red tape’ as possible!!
Blessings,
Lee
OMW….Bev I am so sorry this happened! Here I thought Paypal was totally safe…I’m so naive. I read the previous comment by your reader Pat Gasko too. I truly did not know any of that!!!
Thank you so much for sharing your terrible experience so that the rest of us can be more aware of these things. I’m keeping you in my prayers for quick resolution…Hang in there! *Hugs*
Lisa