Paypal

[PeterLe]

Thought this was worth sharing about Paypal....as i suspect many of you will have an account..

Last night I received an email stating that my email address had been changed in my paypal account. I use this in conjunction with a small business I have and Paypal is linked to the business bank account where there is a fair bit of cash deposited..

Looking at the email it was hard to tell if it was just a spoof or a genuine email ( i didnt click on any links )...

I open a separate browser window and logged in to my Paypal account only to find that another email address had indeed been added and a new phone number had replaced mine.

I quickly changed them back, changed my two security questions and changed the password too..so no damaged done.
I spoke to the fraud team this morning and they said that whoever had hacked in used a london based VPN according to the IP addresses, but they could go no further. They did ask if I had an ebay account which i do, (not used in years). they didnt go in to detail but suggested that there is some security issue between the two platforms..so suggested that I change that too?
They advised putting two step authentication on the Paypal account and I must admit I didn't realise you could do that with Paypal (I have it on all my betfair accounts by the way).
The two step doesn't work quite the same as betfair, you receive a text rather than use the google authenticator.

So after a long winded email; If you dont have two step on your paypal account, its worth doing!
Regards
Peter

[LeTiss]

Thanks.

You were lucky there - not just because they hadn't taken any money, but also because I get plenty of fraudulent emails reportedly from PayPal, and would never click on those links

[PeterLe]

Yes when the initial emails came through, I automatically assumed that they were spoof (so would never click on the links), but in actual fact i don't think they were spoof after all. Its only because I was near my computer I thought Id double check by opening a totally independent browser and logging in that way..I could see they'd change my email and phone number.

(By the way; if anyone doesnt have two step authentication on their betfair accounts, it takes two minutes to add it and is very simple ti use with betangel etc)

[sionascaig]

They have an IP address & phone number - they should be investigating this as attempted fraud?

I stopped using Paypal some years ago when subjected to an attempted fraud through a chinese seller (maquerading as UK based) on ebay - the customer gtees that at fairly standard in the UK didn't seem to apply to Paypal at the time.

If monies had been taken would Paypal have dealt with?

Was surprised you even got a response from them - maybe things have improved...

[PeterLe]

They have an IP address & phone number - they should be investigating this as attempted fraud?

I stopped using Paypal some years ago when subjected to an attempted fraud through a chinese seller (maquerading as UK based) on ebay - the customer gtees that at fairly standard in the UK didn't seem to apply to Paypal at the time.

If monies had been taken would Paypal have dealt with?

Was surprised you even got a response from them - maybe things have improved...

The phone would have been a burner/throw away pay as you go...and the IP address was that of the VPN provider. I dont know what the legalities are of making the VPN provider divulge the customer details?
What i did find surprising is that when I tried to call paypal around 10ish last night, it was a automated messing system which essentially said - call back during business hours!

[Dallas]

Thanks for the heads up on that Peter, I wasn't aware of 2-step on PayPal either, I rarely use it but I'll be adding that as it'll be well worth the small extra bit of hassle with texts each time

[spreadbetting]

I've started to use the pre pay cards these days to pay online and also have them linked to google pay so I can tap in at the pub etc and my actual card never gets revealed to anyone. The pre pay card gets topped up via bank transfer so no hassle of them being able to take money off my account with recurring payment status of registering a debit card with them.

I originally got one for my daughter when she was travelling for a year as they do currency transfers at close to spot rate. Woth looking at if you want to lock down main cards as there's plenty of them out there and all have mobile apps to freeze the cards, virtual accounts for net payments etc. Wouldn't trust it as my main bank but for the pub and odd bits of shopping means my main account isn't exposed.

[dt888]

Many thanks for that information Peter

[Derek27]

Thanks.

You were lucky there - not just because they hadn't taken any money, but also because I get plenty of fraudulent emails reportedly from PayPal, and would never click on those links

The fraudulent emails usually, and I stress usually, don't know you by name and have terrible spelling.

[PeterLe]

I've started to use the pre pay cards these days to pay online and also have them linked to google pay so I can tap in at the pub etc and my actual card never gets revealed to anyone. The pre pay card gets topped up via bank transfer so no hassle of them being able to take money off my account with recurring payment status of registering a debit card with them.

I originally got one for my daughter when she was travelling for a year as they do currency transfers at close to spot rate. Woth looking at if you want to lock down main cards as there's plenty of them out there and all have mobile apps to freeze the cards, virtual accounts for net payments etc. Wouldn't trust it as my main bank but for the pub and odd bits of shopping means my main account isn't exposed.

Great Idea; I like that. I often travel on business and hate carrying cash so often buying sandwiches; coffees, parking etc..A quick search online found the Optimum mastercard which looks ideal for what i want and Ill link to my apple pay too.
good thinking thanls
Regards
Peter

[ShaunWhite]

+1 on the use of pre-paid cards. I fund my paypal account from a pre-paid so If my paypal gets hacked they won't have a direct link through to my bank. Ditto BF, that's via a pre-paid too.

I've used them for iro 10 years, for security but also because some of the providers aren't regulated as banks, and as such their use doesn't get logged with the credit reference agencies; credit agencies are a leaky one-stop-shop for fraudsters, bank accounts, credit agreements, previous adresses, finanical associations etc. I prefer to keep my info to myself as much as possible and that's getting harder now that we live in 1984. According to Experian etc, I bearly exist. I also wear a tinfoil hat at all times so the CIA can't read my thoughts.

[Dallas]

I had heard of them before and think I even got one many years ago but not something I've thought about in recent years until SB post this morning, after which I've just gone and ordered the one but confess I never compared any so just went ahead with the one Peter referred to (I trust him to do my due diligence).

On thinking about it and what people have posted on this thread it's well worth doing and I see it as another sort of firewall to my accounts

[ShaunWhite]

I had heard of them before and think I even got one many years ago but not something I've thought about in recent years until SB post this morning

I think that's because they have a bit of a low-rent image, seen as cards for people who can't get a bank account, so people with money just don't consider them. We're using CashPlus recently and everything is good, decent website to manage it, no monthly or transaction fees. It does amuse me that it's gold, "oooh, That'll do nicely Sir"

[Dallas]

I had heard of them before and think I even got one many years ago but not something I've thought about in recent years until SB post this morning

I think that's because they have a bit of a low-rent image, seen as cards for people who can't get a bank account, so people with money just don't consider them.

Think that's probably right, perhaps they're missing a marketing trick

[trader44]

cheers peterle i didnt know you could have it with paypal as well . i have added it to my paypal i also use it on betfair as well and suggest people add it if they havent got it already