Paypal account was hacked

[moneybags]

My Paypal account was hacked over the holidays. I called Paypal and they agreed to reverse the charges. They reversed the charges, but never added the money back to my account. So when I looked at my activity, it showed the credits, but they were not really in my account. If I had a big balance in there, I may not have noticed. I had to call them & get the money credited to my account. I feel like Paypal was trying to pull a fast one on me.

[rennigade]

First rule of paypal is never to leave money in your paypal account. Always make sure that balance is zero!

Second rule of paypal...never use paypal.

[disneysteve]

First rule of paypal is never to leave money in your paypal account. Always make sure that balance is zero!

Second rule of paypal...never use paypal.

Kind of hard to not use paypal if you buy and sell on ebay since that is pretty much how everyone pays.

[StormRichards]

First rule of paypal is never to leave money in your paypal account. Always make sure that balance is zero!

I certainly agree with this one 100%. My rule #2 is to not link it to your primary bank account.

I don't recall what message board it was on, but there were way too many horror stories about PayPal freezing accounts. A woman I interacted with daily had her PayPal and bank account frozen over a dispute. I don't remember the specifics but I recall she wasn't able to withdrawal money from her checking account because of it. It put her in a really big jam. Of course it was second hand knowledge, but I had no reason not to believe her.

Based on those stories, I deleted the link to our primary checking account. My DH has a checking account at a local brick & mortar bank so he can get out spending money when he needs it. We only keep a couple hundred dollars in it, so that is the account we now use for PayPal.

Like Steve said, it is tough to get rid of them if you buy or sell on eBay. If I ever decided to close my eBay account, PayPal would be the next to go.

[kork13]

I've never liked paypal, nor how ebay forces the use of paypal (vs. hosting CC payments organically). I actually will actively find ways NOT to use paypal if a person or website tries to push it ... for example: buddy owes me $20 for his share of a dinner out. He offers paypal. I teach him how to send me money with his bank's smartphone app instead. (I fly on a military aircraft with a large-ish flight crew, so this scenario happens alot when we travel).

I'm not entirely sure why I dislike paypal so much, but I think it's partly because of how they try to get you to leave money in their accounts vs. in your own bank account. And for as "secure" as they claim to be, I have less faith in their security than in my own bank or credit cards (and the consumer protections I get through them). I trust my bank ALOT more than I trust paypal.

[rennigade]

I certainly agree with this one 100%. My rule #2 is to not link it to your primary bank account.

Based on those stories, I deleted the link to our primary checking account. My DH has a checking account at a local brick & mortar bank so he can get out spending money when he needs it. We only keep a couple hundred dollars in it, so that is the account we now use for PayPal.

I didnt realize you could even delete your primary bank account. I need to do this and add my none primary bank account that has very little money in it.

Whenever I sell skymiles/points to brokers they always pay me with paypal. So for me there is still a need for paypal...but it doesnt have anything to do with ebay (although I guess it does since ebay owns paypal.)

[Nutria]

although I guess it does since ebay owns paypal.

Not since 18 months ago.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PayPal#Spin-off_from_eBay

[StormRichards]

I didnt realize you could even delete your primary bank account. I need to do this and add my none primary bank account that has very little money in it.

Whenever I sell skymiles/points to brokers they always pay me with paypal. So for me there is still a need for paypal...but it doesnt have anything to do with ebay (although I guess it does since ebay owns paypal.)

Actually, my eBay account isn't connected to a bank account at all. I deleted the link and never added a new one since I wasn't really selling much at the time. So my account shows up as unverified, I think.

But my DH deleted the link then added the one to his brick & mortar bank.

[sv2007]

Second rule of paypal...never use paypal.

Excatly. I never understand why people use paypal; everywhere online take s credit cards. Just pay with CC.

[StormRichards]

Excatly. I never understand why people use paypal; everywhere online take s credit cards. Just pay with CC.

Did you not read Steve's response?

There are a lot of people on eBay that only accept PayPal.

[HundredK]

PayPal is evil and beyond disorganized, and yet I also still have to use them for eBay. I definitely do not leave any funds there. I would bid them farewell in a quick second if I could. Sorry you got hacked, that just sucks.

[Outdoorsygal]

My Paypal account was hacked over the holidays. I called Paypal and they agreed to reverse the charges. They reversed the charges, but never added the money back to my account. So when I looked at my activity, it showed the credits, but they were not really in my account. If I had a big balance in there, I may not have noticed. I had to call them & get the money credited to my account. I feel like Paypal was trying to pull a fast one on me.

Paypal is a criminal organization. They lie ALOT. Hardly anything is true. Don't ever believe what they say, nothing is real. Always check your account and take out the $$ asap

[GoodSteward]

I have one friend who has had Vudu account hacked, and they used money from his bank account through his paypal that was linked to the Vudu account to buy movies. It was all reversed and paid back, though the person who stole everything got away with it.

I have read that the PayPal credit card is bad about doing people wrong, but I've not had any issues with PayPal. I've been using them for a long time. I understand the risk involved, but as I have stated before my debit card was compromised at a Goodwill once. My mom's was as well, and she had her wallet stolen from her purse while she was at work in a doctor's office. You kinda can't escape this stuff. At least with Paypal and credit cards they are legally liable. That's why I switched to credit cards for everything I can.

This has given me some stuff to think about though.

[shawdenise777]

I really don't like how paypal charges really big on every transaction. Even the currency rate is way too lesser than the actual market exchange rate!

[moneybags]

I've never liked paypal, nor how ebay forces the use of paypal (vs. hosting CC payments organically). I actually will actively find ways NOT to use paypal if a person or website tries to push it ... for example: buddy owes me $20 for his share of a dinner out. He offers paypal. I teach him how to send me money with his bank's smartphone app instead. (I fly on a military aircraft with a large-ish flight crew, so this scenario happens alot when we travel).

Have you heard of Venmo? You can transfer funds to each other, no fees. My kids use it all the time, like when they go out to eat, one person pays the bill, the others "venmo" the money to the payer. I use it to send my kids money.