WARNING! WARNING! Paypal Scam! (1 Viewer)

[Larry Allen]

Attention Forum Ebay / Paypal Users !!!!
You should check your Paypal account ASAP.

I got a call this AM from Paypal and also an angry guy almost at the same time.
It seems someone in China has got a hold of 1000s of Paypal account user-name/password information and has been buying items and time shares for over a month.

My Paypal account had 5 bogus hits today, but thank goodness that Paypal has a "Third Party User" block on any transaction and my bank has a double check to prevent this kind of attack. Else I would have been hit to the tune of $7,570

In my case this very angry guy (Brad) wanted to know why I canceled my Paypal payment to him for use of a couple hundred hours of "shared game server" time. I never heard of him or used his service in my life!! (I stink at computer games!) He had already sent out the game share information and Paypal called him to say the transaction was canceled!

Also there were also attempts to use my Paypal for audio/video equipment, car equipment and more.

So if you are a buyer or seller go check to make sure all is in order!

Good Luck

 

[Warrior]

When you make a purchase via paypal, they send you an email with the transaction details, so I would assume if you started getting these for transactions you did not initiate, that would be a red flag.

Great, one more thing to worry about.

 

[Larry Allen]

From what Paypal told me (which was as little as possible) there was a HACK into the Paypal system.

I never got an email telling me that my Paypal account was being used or I had any transaction pending. Only a call from Paypal.

So some how the Hacker must have been able to re-route the information?

I will check.

 

[Warrior]

If there is no record initiated once a transaction happens, how do you know someone is using your account and how did Paypal figure it out...........this could be a gigantic mess, any idea how many thousands of people use and rely on Paypal to get paid and pay others..................would love to see the guy get caught; the way the system works, he'd get probation and a stern warning not to do it again, what a joke..........

 

[Larry Allen]

If there is no record initiated once a transaction happens, how do you know someone is using your account and how did Paypal figure it out...........this could be a gigantic mess, any idea how many thousands of people use and rely on Paypal to get paid and pay others..................would love to see the guy get caught; the way the system works, he'd get probation and a stern warning not to do it again, what a joke..........

That is the scary thing I didn't know. I would not have had a clue if the angry guy didn't call first and then I checked my Paypal to see what the hell was happening. There I discovered that a "HOLD" had been placed on the account by Paypal.

They will not allow any transactions to occur if the systems does not recognize your computer. (At least that the way mine works. I assume everyone is the same). I sent a message to Paypal and then got a call right away explaining what was happening.

 

[Cardigan600]

Yo Trooper Larry, thanks for the warning mate, just checked mine, thank God its OK. Think the thing to do here guys is go and change your password right away just in case he has got your ID. No doubt you saw the news about the unemployed guy in the UK, he was able to hack into 97 US secret Military systems, it makes you wonder how safe you really are with these hackers.
Bernard.

 

[theBaron]

Two things I like about the society Robert Heinlein postulates in "Startship Troopers" are that full citizenship (ie, the franchise) only comes from completing military service, and public corporal punishment is applied for many infractions. Hackers should be beaten, as should thieves, people with too many traffic tickets, and so on. I firmly believe that most people who break laws at that level would think twice about doing it, if they knew they'd get a beating.

I think people would be a lot politer, too, if they knew they'd get a punch in the nose for smarting off. That's really the basis of any code of conduct.

Prost!
Brad

 

[Spitfrnd]

Two things I like about the society Robert Heinlein postulates in "Startship Troopers" are that full citizenship (ie, the franchise) only comes from completing military service, and public corporal punishment is applied for many infractions. Hackers should be beaten, as should thieves, people with too many traffic tickets, and so on. I firmly believe that most people who break laws at that level would think twice about doing it, if they knew they'd get a beating.
....

Amen mein Bruder; dieses arbeitet für mich.

 

[sceic2]

would love to see the guy get caught; the way the system works, he'd get probation and a stern warning not to do it again, what a joke..........

Nope, they will offer him a VP position in their security department and he will make upwards of $1,000,000 a year.

Or, he will star in a reality show about hackers and make more.

 

[OzDigger]

Attention Forum Ebay / Paypal Users !!!!
You should check your Paypal account ASAP.

I got a call this AM from Paypal and also an angry guy almost at the same time.
It seems someone in China has got a hold of 1000s of Paypal account user-name/password information and has been buying items and time shares for over a month.

My Paypal account had 5 bogus hits today, but thank goodness that Paypal has a "Third Party User" block on any transaction and my bank has a double check to prevent this kind of attack. Else I would have been hit to the tune of $7,570

In my case this very angry guy (Brad) wanted to know why I canceled my Paypal payment to him for use of a couple hundred hours of "shared game server" time. I never heard of him or used his service in my life!! (I stink at computer games!) He had already sent out the game share information and Paypal called him to say the transaction was canceled!

Also there were also attempts to use my Paypal for audio/video equipment, car equipment and more.

So if you are a buyer or seller go check to make sure all is in order!

Good Luck

Hi Larry, thanks for the heads-up.

I actually received an email from Paypal? this morning requesting that I sign up for 'Paypal Offers' which included the chance of a prize yadda yaddda yadda.

It may well have been from Paypal, but I am so careful since I was ripped off early on joining eBay that I usually just delete these offers etc.

The thing is that if it was a con they would have all your details when you signed up for the 'Paypal Offer'.

Btw I would recommend eBay members use a combination of Letters AND Numbers for their Password as its much more secure from cracking.

 

[Cardigan600]

Nope, they will offer him a VP position in their security department and he will make upwards of $1,000,000 a year.

Or, he will star in a reality show about hackers and make more.

Yo Trooper hit the nail right on the head. Going back in time if the Chinese caught a Counterfeiter, they used to make him work in one of their mints, in England you got your hand chopped off, so who's the clever one's then.
Bernard.