PayPal Fraud Drained My Checking Account!
Don't Link PayPal to Your Checking Account!
"Someone did a PayPal echeck from our account in the amount of $1172.98. There were some other PayPal purchases too."
I ran to the computer to see for myself, and as he showed me the activity on our checking account, I nearly died. As I signed on to my PayPal account, it was blatantly obvious that something was terribly wrong. The balances were now all in Euros. The transaction history showed several transactions, all from the day before, that I had not made. Worst of all, they had all already cleared. How did this happen I wonder?
Of course I got on the phone with PayPal right away. The woman on the phone helped me to report the unauthorized transactions and change all of my security information. She informed me that the dispute should be resolved and all money returned to my account within 10 business days. Now, I don't know about you, but for me, 10 business days is a long time to be without $1200!
While I was assured by PayPal that I am absolutely protected against all unauthorized charges, this does not change the fact that my checking account was drained of money I needed to pay bills. It also does not change how horribly violated I feel. One would never think that something as simple as an internet password being revealed could lead to such a terrible feeling, but honestly it is painful. It is... emotional.
It's like... you work hard, put in long hours, and deal with mental exhaustion and being away from your kids, and for that you get a much deserved paycheck. To think that someone who did not earn that money could, in a simple few clicks, take it all away, is just sickening.
Fortunately, PayPal returned the money within 3 days. By Saturday, the charges had been reversed back into my PayPal account. Now the only frustration is the fact that PayPal has a $500 per month limit on withdrawls. So now, the money is in my PayPal account (a place that no longer feels safe to me), but I was only able to transfer $500 of it out. So I am waiting until next month to transfer another $500... and then the next month for the rest of it. Strange that criminals were allowed to make a transfer OUT of my account for over $1000, but I can't make that same transfer INTO my account.
Like many Associated Content writers, I use my account mainly for receiving payment for articles. When a decent amount builds up in my PayPal account, I transfer it to my bank account. This is the only reason that PayPal even has my bank account. When I buy stuff online, I usually use a credit card. The worst part is that it is not even necessary to give PayPal your checking account information. Although sending the money directly into a bank account is the fastest way to get money, PayPal is more than happy to mail you a check. From now on... I'm ordering checks.
Published by Nicole Mohr
Niki lives in beautiful So. California, where she enjoys spending time with her friends and family. She is a high school English teacher, youth worker, freelance writer, wife, and mother. View profile
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- You can order a check from PayPal sent via mail. You do not need to give them your bank account.
15 Comments
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in my opinion your stupid to trust paypal and all this protection shite. DONT BE FOOLED BY THESE PEOPLE.
hi i was scammed too.
I have heard that Alertpay is safer that Paypal, bu I don't think AC accepts it. Johnny Yuma
That really sucks!
In regard to paypal's $500 monthly withdrawal limit...you can easily have that limit lifted (if you are transferring money from your paypal balance directly into your bank account). All you have to do is add a debit card that is associated to the bank account you are depositing into...paypal will verify that your card is good, etc & the limit will be removed so you can deposit as much as you want each month. You may not want to give them anymore financial information after what you've gone through but maybe you could just enter the info to lift the limit, withdraw your remaining balance & then delete all your financial information. You may may be able to just call paypal up & give the customer service rep your info to lift your limit rather than taking the risk of doing it online. It's worth a try. Hope this info helps you & good luck!
THE SAME THING HAPPENED TO ME! it happened like 3 days ago i believe. it was all in euro too.
man i was so pissed . the guy was stupid enough to change his email and put in my paypal. i called paypal. they helped me with the unautherized payment just like you. i have to wait 10 days. man if i can, i will press charges on that fool.
I hate paypal and keep a separate bank account to transfer the money from. Then I take it out immediately. I have received several "spoof" emails saying I paid like $200 for something. It just wanted me to log on from that email and steal my info.
Geeze! I can only imagine the panic... I use Paypal to get paid mostly, and then spend it on eBay. My bank account is in Sweden so it's a pain to try to transfer funds from Paypal nto it... and they do not yet offer the debit card Internationally. Now I'm glad I have not tied that account to my bank account!
I know exactly how u feel. I had this happen to me. Someone used my paypal account to buy a PS3 for $1100. Thankfully they lived in the UK.. I live in Australia, so it takes 2 to 3 working days for the money to come out. Enough time for me to close the bank account I had attached to paypal. Lets just hope nothing comes out of the closed account LOL...
Wow. How terrible. I'm glad you got your money back, at least!