PayPal Account Hacked.
I awoke after a restless sleep to an email:
As part of our security measures, we regularly screen activity in the PayPal system. During a recent screening, we noticed an issue regarding your account.
Case ID Number: ######## (I removed the case number myself, just in case)
For your protection, we have limited access to your account until additional security measures can be completed. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
To review your account and some or all of the information that PayPal used to make its decision to limit your account access, please visit the Resolution Center. If, after reviewing your account information, you seek further clarification regarding your account access, please contact PayPal by visiting the Help Center and clicking “Contact Us”.
We thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. Please understand that this is a security measure intended to help protect you and your account. We apologize for any inconvenience.
Sincerely,
PayPal Account Review Department
I log in to my account, to see, yes in fact an unauthorized transaction had taken place. A $175 transfer to be exact to a checking account for a Japanese Yahoo email address. The $175 is all I had, well they were kind enough to leave $4.87. This money was to pay my cell phone and electric this month. I have no idea how the person got the information- I have not clicked links, received any spoof emails or purchased anything. I change my passwords on a monthly basis and use strange characters and combinations. I am now left with $4.87 on a debit card and I have a little over $50 in cash. This is all the money I have period. I just want to say to those who find it funny to hack into the accounts of others: Fuck You. (Oh yeah, I’m sure I’ll be getting that phone call from Diane Sawyer now, note sarcasm, I rarely use that word so you know I’m furious). Ya know, I’m broke, but I would never scam anyone, or hack into an account to get the money I need for bills, food, clothing, or material items. Why do you think I write paid posts? Why do you think I accept advertising on this blog? Why do you think I’m working my ass off sending my resume out, filling out applications? Because I respect myself and want to EARN my own damn money and take care of myself. I don’t want to rely on others to help me out. Period. End of story.
I did open a dispute with PayPal, however the resolution center said it could take up to 10 business days. Now, tell me, how is a grand total of $54.87 going to last me 10 business days? To the person who did this- I’ll get my money back you creep and I hope your ass is caught and you’re either jailed, or fined. You deserve it.
OMG!!! I can’t believe anyone would do something so low. It’s ridiculous. I hope you’ll find the scumbag who did this and get your money back!
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That’s messed up. I hope they hurry up and get your money back. It’s really pitiful when a site that professes to be so secure is so easily hacked. Ya know?
wow, sorry to hear about that. I haven’t had any problems with paypal so far (fingers crossed), but a good friend of mine had a similar issue last year. It got sorted eventually, so hope it does for you too.
WOW, that SO totally SUCKS! I hope they get this resolved quickly for you! I’m sorry you have to go through something like this!
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OMG that sucks!!! I hope PayPal can get this straightened out for you.
Damn, that really sucks. There’s been a lot of that going around…one friend of mine had her account sucked dry to the tune of over $600. There was some sort of eBay scam going on with it.
I hope they get this resolved for you quickly!
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I’ll get the money back if I have to fight tooth and nail. I have no idea how my information got into the wrong hands. The last item I purchased was the cell phone I have for sale on my sidebar-and that was well over a month ago. I use the debit card locally, but not online. I don’t save my password and I log out when I check my account balance. I never click links in scam emails- so I would imagine it would have to be a seller sending the PayPal ID or actually taking the money under a different email address. Who knows. I just NEED my money back and I don’t understand why it takes 10 business days to resolve it.
Since Sunday Feb17, my husband & I have spent hours on the phone trying to resolve a hacker issue.
Someone hacked into our paypal, bought Oakley sunglasses ( 2 pr @ $65 /per pr) and shipped to Indonesia!
We have been on the phone before and after work this week to the tune of about 6+ hours to resolve this, and it is STILL not resolved. The $$ was refunded as of today, however, they will not lift the hold on our account.
WATCH PAYPAL ! They obviously have some serious security issues!
That’s horrible! I used to save a lot of money in my paypal account, because using the money market gains quite a bit of interest every month. However, after hearing this I will second think, every doing that again!
I hope everything works out for you. Let us know what happens.
Note to everyone. Always check the URL in the browser when logging into any website (Especially websites where your money is involved). Make sure the URL is what you expect it to be. I got burned once, when I clicked on a link from a website, and thought I was sent to Ebay (however it wasn’t really the Ebay site). To make a long story – short, individuals from Turkey stole my ebay account and were able to withdrawal money from my bank account (My bank later – reimbursed me after much hassle).
Yeah, it isn’t a good idea but I don’t have a checking account in my name, but I do use the PayPal debit card. I never click on the links even when I purchase something, I have always typed in ebay.com and logged in to view my account and messages. That’s why I’m so puzzled as to how this happened. I’ve run anti-virus and 3 different spyware/malware programs and nothing was found. It’s just really odd.
Some people are very, very, very BAD. I am sorry that person stole from you and I hope you get your hard-earned money back soon.
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That sucks, Beth. I’m really sorry to hear that. I hope you get your money back, one way or another.
Your post prompted me to remove all Paypal ties to my bank account and credit cards. I’m not taking any chances.
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I could give you some money, like maybe $40 or $50 . I don’t do things like this, but I believe in karma. Anyways, e-mail me if you want(:
I appreciate the offer
But I received an email from PayPal tonight stating the dispute had been resolved. I did call them to see how long it would take for the funds to be added back to my account and she said 3-5 business days- so I should have it back by Tuesday or Wednesday. Thanks a lot though 
That’s scary, Beth.
I can read you’re computer savvy so I’m right now scanning my system as well…
Please share what you find out on how they stole the money!
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Been there done that but it took longer for mine. I had a charge via the CC that the company kept saying was returned so then I contact Paypal and they say it’s the companies problem so round and round I went for over a month until finally I got it back after talking with a supervisor at the company.
My bank account got hacked into about a month ago. I was broke too. It happens to the best of us. I thought it would never happen too – took precautions and all that. You should ask people on the net to donate. Don’t worry it’s just a lil money, there’ll be better days and money won’t be an issue if you keep up the good blog work.
Similar story- Thanks to Paypal, I just had 3 debits of over $500 EACH hit my checking account last week. Nope, I didn’t have that much in there, so it put me in the red. I saw the emails confirming the payments right as they came thru & checked my Paypal account through a new browser window. Sure enough, they released over $1500 to an UNVERIFIED member OUTSIDE the US! No call to me, no nothing- just put the $$$ through- all 3 were for the same exact amount & I NEVER spend that! Obviously fake email addresses & phony looking names… So I was on the phone for hours that same night with Paypal & then my bank.
Paypal admits they SHOULD have caught these & they never should have hit my account, but….
My bank has been great & I will not be held liable for any fees & I will get all my $$$ back.
But thanks to Google, I’m seeing a LOT of posts about this type thing happening in January 2008. Has Paypal been hacked & is not admitting it, since they would have a FLOOD of upset, worried members & of course, they’d lose $$$$? Don’t know, but I will be checking further.
So far, most of us hacked are pretty savvy to phishing scams & use antivirus, firewalls & other protections. Just too many in a short timeframe- really looks like there may be a chink in Paypal’s armor!
Wow, k- I’m glad your bank is being so great about it- most would still charge you the fees- I know that’s what happened a few years ago with my old bank-(Chase), when I transferred a little over $200 from PayPal to my checking. Chase claimed they never received it-after I had written several checks for bills. PayPal even sent them the transaction details and Chase still refused to accept the fact they screwed up. I still owe them too
As for PayPal- I have no idea what happened. Other than 2 items on Ebay, I only use the Debit card locally and I accept payments for advertising on my site. Yes, I’ve received the scam emails but I never open them, much less click a link. And if I do receive an official email from PayPal or ebay- I type the URL in the browser- I never click. I did receive an email 5 hours after the transaction had taken place, which to me is too long of a wait- a phone call would have been better, I had to wait until the next day to call PayPal.In the meantime I changed all passwords etc. PayPal was nice and apologized and the issue was resolved in less than 24 hours-although I have yet to see the $175 added back to my account. We’ll see what Monday brings- if I have nothing in there by Wednesday, the phone calls will resume. And yes- I scan every day for viruses, spyware, malware etc- and nothing has been found.
I’m so sorry this has happened to you. I hope paypal get this fixed up quickly.
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Holy crap, that is some scary shit. Now I am going to paranoid about the same thing happening to me…
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Best way to use paypal is open a new window and enter their address. incase if you are hacked there is no point contacting paypal because their customer service simply sucks…this post is a wake up call for paypal user…
Most of us are web savvy & know to open a new browser window for Paypal. The thieves are just getting smarter. The $5 security device from Paypal seems to work fo=ine, just a slight pain in the ____. But if it saves our security, well worth it!
Make your passwords SECURE! Do NOT use words, just alpha characters, punctuation & numbers.
K
Sorry to hear that Beth, but glad you got your money back.
My Paypal account has just been hit for £300 ($600). Happened on the 25th of Jan. Luckily the only card I’d let Paypal have is my credit card, and they’ll hold the transaction until it’s been resolved. I work in IT so I’m uber careful of what I type in and where. Considering the last time I logged into Paypal was in December, I suspect Paypal have had details stolen, or have left the back door open. I’ll be closing my account when this mess has been cleared up.
my goodness that ’s so scary. im so sad it happened to you. It could happen to everyone too.. paypal should fix the problem. it can track down the unauthorized withdrawal. last January 24, 2008 i withdraw some funds in my eon card but paypal has not processed it yet. it’s been over a week. after reading your article am alarmed and scared for my funds in paypal.
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One Paypal rep made a vague comment about something that happened there in mid-December. If Paypal is considered a bank, I thought they were required by law to inform customers if customer confidential info was at risk due to a security breach. If they didn’t, I hear a class action lawsuit forming. We could have all changed our passwords immediately, if there was a breach, had greedy Paypal bothered to inform us.
I just got back from my bank since the money is STILL not back in my checking account & I got a bank form letter denying my claim- in error, of course. The branch manager is now involved & bending over backwards trying to help.
We are FAR better off NOT having a checking account connectd to Paypal. Credit Cards offer us more protection, so I will be adjusting my account accordingly!
Exact same thing happened to me on the 28th February 2008. Same email, locked account everything. Over £200 was paid out of my paypal account Via my bank account.
I work in IT and have extreme security awareness and my system is locked down tight.
There is something going on at paypals end that has allowed this to happen. This is not a case of people guessing passwords I suspect a security breach at Paypal in one form or another.
BEWARE it MAY happen to you, paypal is insecure and does not hold itself to the same regulations as banks.
After completing the required procedures I have now managed to unlock my account and immediately closed my paypal account.
Convienience is one thing when you risk everything you own being stolen directly from your bank account and credit card that is a whole different story and I am never going to risk Paypal having my banking and CC details again.
Don’t think it wont happen to you Paypal has been breached its just a matter of time before your name is at the top of the list to be attacked.
Ricky-
Was yours also paid to an UNVERIFIED Paypal customer in China? Paypal told me since mine was a 3rd party log-in, they should have caught it with their fraud detection protocol- even Paypal had no idea why they didn’t. What really disturbed me was it went to an UN verified PP user outside my own country.
I’d love someone with adequate clout to investigate if there WAS a Paypal breach they didn’t bother to inform users about. That sure wouldn’t make Ebay/Paypal look very honorable….
I have heard that Paypal is NOT considered a “bank” but a “payment broker”. Because of that distinction, we are not protected in the same manner.
My situation involved paypal naming the following email as the offender.
shelley_turner@hotmail.co.uk < my hacker
The situation was flagged by the paypal system and they did reverse the payment back into my account. Which is only a small compensation for the ordeal of feeling your open to this kind of attack.
I have of course emailed the offender to no avail.
The fact that they were able to flag the transaction as fraudulent gives me no sense of security it should never of happened, also others have not been so lucky and have lost their money or have had it locked for months at a time.
I got hit April 2nd, They were able to get 3 out of 5 on me, I had about $1,200 in the bank to take care of my house payment, and I got all these emails from paypal in some foriegn language so I sent it to spoof@paypal.com thinking they were spoofs and went on with my life because my wife is in a hospice house dying of cancer, so I really didnt give much more thought to it until I went to my bank the next day to deposit my paycheck when I noticed I was about a $1,000 dollars in the whole, I about shit my pants as I was thinking about my paypal emails and so I rushed home to check my bank account online and saw those exact amounts withdrawn through paypal,So I printed everything all the emails and my bank info on the charges and went straight to the bank.
Luckily it wasnt to late as the bank stopped payments and cancelled any further paypal activity, But the hackers almost got $900,$950,$230, but since my account was so much in the red there $600, and $400 was not able to go through because lack of funds.
I too am so strict with Anti-virus, firewall, and 3 anti-spyware programs that I am still in shock and so glad that it was caught in time and my money returned thanx to my bank, Hell I couldn’t even log into my paypal account to change my password or cancel my account because it was hacked with a bunch of squares on the page with some chinese words at the top.
I am SO sorry about your wife and the Paypal theft. It’s great that your bank handled things so fast!
IF you’re going to keep a Paypal account, please get one of their security devices. It may cost you $5, but it’s an extra layer of protection since a thief would need not only your Paypal password but ALSO the 6 digit code from your device, which changes about every 30 seconds.
Although Paypal knew my thief was in China, they don’t seem to be too concerned about identifying HOW these breaches are occurring. Doesn’t make me feel very safe- especially since it appears they have a section of staff IN China, doing testing & developing FOR Paypal. Since many of the breaches originate there, I wonder if they actually have physical access to the Paypal database.
Blessings to you & may we never again experience this!
Karen in TX
I just filed a claim with Paypal a few days ago because of an unauthorized charge for $119. They got back to me today saying there was insufficient evidence in support of my claim. I think I’m going to cancel my account, complain everywhere I can, and tell everyone I know not to use Paypal. These f**cking scumbags are going to pay.
Wait till you hear this one!!!
I got an email from paypal indicating my transaction for $1,988.00 was being processed, as I looked at the transaction, it was an order from someone in China, for Guns, Ammo, laser guns…etc. I contacted them right away, they reversed the charges. Spoke with the company in the US that the Chinese guy ordered from in OHIO. She was very helpful and had actually put a hold on the order becouse it seemed suspicious and addresses did not match. I contacted the Florida dept of Computer crimes. They are on it. Next day….today…the 1988.00 comes out of my fiances bank account!!!!
Called Paypal back, they will reverse the transaction but it will take 5 bus days!! His account is now in NSF!!! I’m furious!!
I am closing my paypal acccount as soon as this money is put back in.
I’m security conscious and got an unauthorized charge for $500 but paypal caught it.
Don’t use the same password on sites. Because some have low security. If your info is not stored properly some asshole could just pull it out from the DB and screw you.
Danm this feeling of getting script kiddied. i bet it feels like getting raped. Hope the guy gets buttfucked.
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a member of the mafia had hacked my bank information through paypal and now has threatened my life i would never recomend paypal for anyones use. it is 100% insecure.
i feel you … secure my ass. This is the third time I’ve been hacked and the FINAL straw for me. I’m -500 dollars right now because some hacker decided to spend every dime I don’t even have! GRRRR Thankfully godaddy, has already refunded the money … NOW I just have to wait for paypal to put it back in my account … which they tell me can take 30days ARE YOU FN KIDDING ME!?