# Keep an eye on your Paypal acct activity



## not_ally (Mar 14, 2015)

Don't know if this is the right forum to post in, but was alarmed by mine.  

Was looking for a tracking no. on something today and found a $207  charge for something I had never heard about, did not order, and has  apparently been delivered to someone I did not know.  Not too worried  about getting reimbursed, but it is strange that it can happen at all,  and a good reason to check on things so that you know to dispute them.


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## biarine (Mar 14, 2015)

Wow that's awful of what happened.


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## jnl (Mar 14, 2015)

change all your passwords on all your email accounts


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## not_ally (Mar 14, 2015)

Ugh, was hoping it was just a random thing but of course that makes sense (to change all passwords, I am one of those dummies that has had the same one/s forever).  How do people even figure these things out?  

I am going to put some effort into finding out who got the stuff that was ordered and if they were the ones that used my account. It was for a bunch of baby stuff, delivered to a small town in Vt, it seemed too specific and not a large enough order to resell.  Not really the profile of a sophisticated hacker (have had my debit card stolen before and the thieves used it it at gas stations so it was hard to trace)  so am  kind of puzzled all round.

Paypal is so easy to use, and the security (I thought) was so good.  I am still not that worried I will get refunded.  But it does make me think about the costs that you might pay for convenience.


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## cmzaha (Mar 14, 2015)

Our paypal account has been hacked a couple of times. In fact I have been over 7 months clearing up the last mess with them. The credits come in in bits and dribbles


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## not_ally (Mar 14, 2015)

I will be pissed off if the credits dribble in.  One of the reasons I use PP is b/c of the security.  Or so I thought.  Ugh.


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## jnl (Mar 14, 2015)

one way they can gain access to your email accounts is by your security questions you enter if you forgot your password.

another way is by the other email account linked to your account used to also verify if you are the owner, and sometimes that secondary account is easier to hack (like a hotmail account).  so they get into the easy account, then use that account to get into your more secure account.

or they can guess your password (easier if they know u)
or they can get your password used on other sites and see if it works for your email (and bank) too.

MANY ways to do it.  any time you have ANY breach of security, you have to change ALL passwords and your security questions.

once they are into your email account, they can use that to reset the passwords on any other site you use.  and they can find out what bank and services you use by looking at your old emails. 

i had my gmail account hacked into through a less secure hotmail account.  they somehow got into my hotmail account then used that to change my password for the gmail account.

i always have one password JUST for my bank and one password JUST for my email and the other sites share passwords....i have a shared higher level password, a shared medium level password, and a shared crap password for sites that dont matter and dont have any sensitive info.


my friend just had her purse stolen, and the thieves called the bank and had them change the pin over the phone and they didnt even require they use the account phone code.  they just changed it for them using the info they found in her purse.  and then they went on a giant spending spree and the bank refuses to cover the losses because they had a pin.  but they only had a pin because the bank let them change the pin!!

and so she has to get her car rekeyed (hundreds of dollars), her house rekeyed, a new passport, id, cards and everything.  and the cops wont even look into it and get the video footage from the stores they used the card at.  so shes out thousands of dollars.


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## not_ally (Mar 14, 2015)

Double ugh.  Scary stuff.  My security questions and passwords are weird enough that I thought they would not be guessable, but I guess they are.  I hate to reset all that stuff, it is so hard to remember new passwords, but I will.

I am going to make the seller/Paypal figure out what happened on their ends, though.  It will be a pain, but worth the effort if it provides any answers.


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## jnl (Mar 14, 2015)

good luck

so far ive had my credit card copied 3 times (i think at gas stations where i swipe at the pump)

but the theives got hardly anything and i was fully and easily refunded.


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## Hazel (Mar 15, 2015)

I'm sorry to hear this happened to you. It's very upsetting and then you have the hassle of dealing with it all. I don't know if this would help you but Norton has a free password generator which you could check out.


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## not_ally (Mar 15, 2015)

Update:   Ok, take that back about the easy refund.  Below is the response I  got from the seller, which is making me wriggle around in rage.  I am  hugely pissed and having angry conversations in my head, which is not a  good place to have them.  Although I have followed up with them afterwardss and  Paypal, as well. Next step is to figure out where their local BBB and post there.  A lot of work for something I did not charge.
-------------------
 "Hello, 

 I just checked the order and it was already delivered to the address listed on the account. 


 I do apologize but there is nothing I can do at this point. 


 Sorry for the inconvenience, 

 BabyAge


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## jules92207 (Mar 15, 2015)

Wha???!!! Does that imply it was shipped to you if they used your account? I'd be pretty furious if I got that response too, at least take a little care that you just got paid with stolen money.

I hope PayPal helps.


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## Hazel (Mar 15, 2015)

Wow! Sorry for the inconvenience? More like "I'm sorry I'm greedy and lazy and I don't care if I stole money from your account." 

I hope PayPal takes care of this promptly.


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## not_ally (Mar 15, 2015)

I have filed an official complaint w/PP - they make you contact the seller and try to work it out first, which obviously was not the case here.  I sent PP a long, documented email about the facts and told them that I would be very wary about working with a seller who was obviously happy to accept fraudulent charges, as long as they cleared before the ostensible buyer checked.  CCi'ing the seller and am hoping that that initial PITA factor makes them respond faster than they would otherwise.  Otherwise I will be a bigger PITA than they have ever had to deal with.


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## newbie (Mar 15, 2015)

I'm sorry this happened to you. BabyAge says it was delivered to the address on the account so does that mean that address is now in your paypal account? That would give you exactly who did this. I hope the people made an error so you can nail their behinds to the wall.


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## jnl (Mar 15, 2015)

i am so effing sick of this stupid forum losing all my posts when my internet connection disappears for a second.  now i have to retype the fricking thing.  this is happening multiple times a day for me.  so effing retarded.  i should be able to just hit refresh and it should go through.



do they have a tracking number for the shipment?
the person said they shipped to the address on the account, but she didnt say what that address was.  make her prove it by giving you the address they shipped to.   it could be different than whats in your account.
did the thief change the address in your paypal account?  they could have changed it back to your real address after making the purchase so you wouldnt notice as quickly.
if it really was shipped to your house then it would have to be a close neighbor  because they would have to know you wouldnt be home during the day when it gets delivered, and be there to watch for it when it does come so they can steal it off your doorstep.


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## jnl (Mar 15, 2015)

dont blame the seller
they are out the money, plus reversal charges they will have to pay plus their merchandise.
you will get your money back eventually
they wont


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## The Efficacious Gentleman (Mar 15, 2015)

jnl said:


> i am so effing sick of this stupid forum losing all my posts when my internet connection disappears for a second.  now i have to retype the fricking thing.  this is happening multiple times a day for me.  so effing retarded.  i should be able to just hit refresh and it should go through........




There aren't many online entry forms that can do that - oddly enough, until you actually submit it to the internet, it is only on your computer. If you go away from the entry, even if it is a disconnect that clears the page, how can this site 'remember' what you had locally on your screen?

Sorry for the hijack, chaps and chapesses.


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## not_ally (Mar 15, 2015)

Yes, that's one of the other crazy things - the $207 worth of baby stuff was clearly delivered to a Samantha Vail, of Attenboro Vt.  I don't see why the seller can't contact her if she ordered the stuff.  And if not her, who did?  All just weird and frustrating.


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## jnl (Mar 15, 2015)

The Efficacious Gentleman said:


> There aren't many online entry forms that can do that - oddly enough, until you actually submit it to the internet, it is only on your computer. If you go away from the entry, even if it is a disconnect that clears the page, how can this site 'remember' what you had locally on your screen?
> 
> Sorry for the hijack, chaps and chapesses.



most sites if your internet cuts out you just hit refresh and its fine - it asks you if you want to resubmit the post and you click yes.

but this forum does something to prevent accidental double posting, which also prevents resubmitting the form when the internet cuts out and doesnt post in the first place.  they must implement that with javascript, because if it was server side it would be fine for my case.  just a badly implemented "security feature" that didnt think of cases like my flakey internet.

and to make it worse, hitting the back button takes me to a clear form (also a side effect of their javascript "feature").


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## jnl (Mar 15, 2015)

i dont get why thieves would order stuff off the internet and have it delivered somewhere.....that delivery address makes it much easier to catch them, even if they use a neighbors address or a post box.....if you find out about the theft before delivery, cops can just sit there watching the delivery spot!



lol
thats assuming cops CARE enough to put any effort into a case.

my friend had her house robbed a a couple years ago and the cops wouldnt do anything, eventho there were witnesses to her ex boyfriends car being in the driveway at the time (very distinctive car with custom metal work on it, and they had been broken up almost a year at that time)!

and then her purse was stolen recently and the person was able to change her pin (using only her address and birthday found in her purse) at the bank and then go on a big spending spree, and again, the banks wont do squat and the cops wont do squat!


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## not_ally (Mar 15, 2015)

I live in a neighborhood where we are pretty used to the police not being responsive.  I used to live in one where there was not much crime and they were super responsive, now it is the other way around.  Sigh.  

Not sure how the bank will respond to this, someone on another forum v. sensibly suggested that I contact mine, since my Paypal funding source is a bank credit/debit card, I should have thought of that.  I would think they would follow up, maybe the man hours would cost more than the $207.  But not a good strategy, IMO.  Little thefts add up.


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