Paypal

[Igorian]

About a month ago, I received a letter from paypal, sent to my address, but with a name I didn't recognise and it wasn't for any of the previous owners.

I opened the letter and it was asking for verification of a paypal account. The letter was dated 06/09/06. I called Paypal and advised them that there was no-one of that name at my address and they assured me that the account would not be valid because it wasn't verified and that I had nothing to worry about.

A few days later, I received a credit card statement and I noticed a Paypal transaction debit for £1000, which had nothing to do with me. The transaction was dated 05/09/06.

I obviously stopped the card, but decided to call Paypal to report the incident. I had to fill in a form online to log my dispute, but I was shocked to hear that Paypal will allow up to £1500 to be spent on an unvalidated account!!!!!!

Now, I haven't lost my card or divulged any information. In fact, apart from balance transfers, I have used the card just once, exactly a month before the rogue transaction. I will obviously be following up on this transaction, but thought I would share this experience.

£1500 spending limit on an unvalidated account. How absolutely rediculous.

 

[Spark123]

I have heard similar stories and most of them seem to fall back on that the CC information has been used over the phone, wether a national call centre or international. Also on the internet the threat is always there. Have also heard that personnel in call centres sell on such info, more rife in the international ones owing to their low wages etc. I agree though, £1500 does seem a large amount for verification.

 

[Maxxy]

My bank wont even allow me to transfer a grand between my own accounts, so it sucks that paypal allows it so easily.

Hope it all gets cleared up quick mate and you dont lose out.

I get 2 or 3 'paypal' messages a month saying i need to update my account to prevent fraud etc, they are all fake emails designed to trick people into giving up their information.

 

[WoodYouLike]

I get 2 or 3 'paypal' messages a month saying i need to update my account to prevent fraud etc, they are all fake emails designed to trick people into giving up their information.

Do you forward them to [email protected]? Best help to tackle fraud: report any attempts.

 

[Maxxy]

I used to, but its pretty much an identical email each time, maybe with a different word or two spelt wrong.

Thats the easiest way to see its fake, plenty of mis-spellings, not including your ebay username, and of course not having an ebay link when you hover over the clickable links.

 

[Spark123]

I use Natwest online banking, transferring money between my own Natwest accounts is as easy at it comes!! I don't think there is an upward limit as long as the funds are available.

 

[WoodYouLike]

I used to, but its pretty much an identical email each time, maybe with a different word or two spelt wrong.

Thats the easiest way to see its fake, plenty of mis-spellings, not including your ebay username, and of course not having an ebay link when you hover over the clickable links.

Yep, I know but that was not what I meant by forwarding any of those emails to paypal. Make sure you include all the headers also, and keep forwarding them: the more they receive, hopefully the better this problem can be tackled.

 

[WoodYouLike]

I use Natwest online banking, transferring money between my own Natwest accounts is as easy at it comes!! I don't think there is an upward limit as long as the funds are available.

Baclays is pretty good also, but I dont' believe that besides Alliance & Leicester there is any UK bank that provides the facility of on-line transfers between EU accounts (meaning between different banks in different EU countries).

 

[Maxxy]

I'm with barclays. I cant send any money to my own nationwide account. Everytime i do it flashes up with 'due to money laundering etc this process cannot be fulfilled' lol. Bit of a waste of time setting it up!

 

[Igorian]

It just bugs me how they did it. The name on the Paypal account is not mine, so how did they associate it with my credit card?

Also, what's the point of having a verification system that allows you to spend £1500 without verification?

I've filled in a Paypal dispute form, but that meant I had to supply them with more personal details for a service I don't use.

I reported it to the Police for a crime number. They told me that they don't get actively involved with the fraud investigation because they don't have the manpower...great! They rely on Paypal and the bank to do the work. My bank tells me it will take several months to investigate!!!

Paypal have said that they should be able to refund in 10 days if it proves to be fraudulant. I'm not feeling too confident


I'll update you when I get a reply.

 

[Steve]

i've heard paypal aren't too co-operative when it comes to these sort of things.

 

[Spark123]

At the end of the day your credit card is jointly liable with paypal for this hence either way you should not end up out of pocket. IIRC it is part of the PayPal T&C that you go through their procedures to sort it out, although in your case you haven't registered hence you haven't agreed to follow their T&C.
On the other hand it sometimes makes you feel sorry for the sellers which are also sometimes victims of this type of crime too.

 

[keyplayer]

it sucks that paypal allows it so easily.

indeed it does

 

[Igorian]

Ok, well the credit card company have taken it on as a fraud case and given me back the £1000 while they investigate, which was good.

I have also reported Paypal to Trading Standards. Not expecting miracles here, but if they are going to do anything, they said they would call me back within 3 days. I'll post an update if they reply.

Paypal are also FSA registered, so I called these guys too. They didn't seem too interested, but said they would pass it on to the relevant department. I sometimes wonder why these bodies exist.