Warning (this is for real)

[Chrisj CMA]

A couple years ago I was almost robbed by PayPal through western union.  Well I dont know if that was related to todays email or not, but I recieved an email from (looked official) from Western Union.  It said my accountwas changed and if I didnt make any changes to contact them.  On the page it wants you to try to log in and you have to put some personal info.  Thank goodness I knew better.  I just got the 1-800 number (1.800.325.6000) and called.  Apparantly thousands of these emails started going out this morning.  If you get one, call that 1-800 number, dont open any links on it, Western Union want the email forwarded to them. 

They are fishing for info to steal your money just like PayPal tried to me........I wouldnt trust either of them oprganizations ever

[Bobbo]

Were you actually robbed by PayPal, or fell for a phishing scam purported to be PayPal?  PayPal and Western Union are legitimate companies, and I use the former all the time.

I would hope by now that it is common knowledge not to click on an email supplied link when dealing with any financial institution.

[ArmyValker]

thanks for the heads up Chris.   

[Attic Rat]

I got that email this morning too but I just deleted it

[Gear Jammer]

Paypal is the best way to pay for any online transaction as well as offline transactions.      Paypal will never ask for any info in an email such as you received.  But you can never be too careful.     Use a CC on paypal and you can always go back and charge back against the CC with the issuing company.

[designer]

I got a message from paypall (check the spelling out p-a-y-p-a-l-l).  I looked online and paypal has en email address for scams, I forward that email to them.  cant be too careful.  I'm also in the military and one of my spook friends freaks out everytime I say something about myspace or facebook.  He see's those social sites as a huge security risk.  

[Chrisj CMA]

Were you actually robbed by PayPal, or fell for a phishing scam purported to be PayPal?  PayPal and Western Union are legitimate companies, and I use the former all the time.

I would hope by now that it is common knowledge not to click on an email supplied link when dealing with any financial institution.

I fell for nothing.......Paypal made a $400 Western Union transfer to themselves on my card!  My card company said it was not unusual for PayPal to do that, so I cancelled the card and let my Paypal account go

My original post said "almost robbed" because the card company and me were on it right away and they took the charges off and investigated Paypal

[designer]

Were you actually robbed by PayPal, or fell for a phishing scam purported to be PayPal?  PayPal and Western Union are legitimate companies, and I use the former all the time.

I would hope by now that it is common knowledge not to click on an email supplied link when dealing with any financial institution.

I fell for nothing.......Paypal made a $400 Western Union transfer to themselves on my card!  My card company said it was not unusual for PayPal to do that, so I cancelled the card and let my Paypal account go

My original post said "almost robbed" because the card company and me were on it right away and they took the charges off and investigated Paypal

How else was Meg going to pay for her failed election debt?  lol

[Garland]

Were you actually robbed by PayPal, or fell for a phishing scam purported to be PayPal?  PayPal and Western Union are legitimate companies, and I use the former all the time.

I would hope by now that it is common knowledge not to click on an email supplied link when dealing with any financial institution.

I fell for nothing.......Paypal made a $400 Western Union transfer to themselves on my card!  My card company said it was not unusual for PayPal to do that, so I cancelled the card and let my Paypal account go

My original post said "almost robbed" because the card company and me were on it right away and they took the charges off and investigated Paypal

I have never heard of anything like that happening. I know a lot of people complain about Paypal, but I always thought it was a scammer purporting to be Paypal rather than the company itself. I have personally had over a thousand Paypal transactions without a single problem.

[MP]

Were you actually robbed by PayPal, or fell for a phishing scam purported to be PayPal?  PayPal and Western Union are legitimate companies, and I use the former all the time.

I would hope by now that it is common knowledge not to click on an email supplied link when dealing with any financial institution.

I fell for nothing.......Paypal made a $400 Western Union transfer to themselves on my card!  My card company said it was not unusual for PayPal to do that, so I cancelled the card and let my Paypal account go

My original post said "almost robbed" because the card company and me were on it right away and they took the charges off and investigated Paypal

I have never heard of anything like that happening. I know a lot of people complain about Paypal, but I always thought it was a scammer purporting to be Paypal rather than the company itself. I have personally had over a thousand Paypal transactions without a single problem.

+1 here too.

MP

[hubcapsc]

Paypal is the best way to pay for any online transaction as well as offline transactions. 

They're sure the handiest way, anyhow... but they're kind of like drug dealers,
once they get you hooked, they cut you off, unless... google "paypal sending limit"...

-Mike

[Chrisj CMA]

Were you actually robbed by PayPal, or fell for a phishing scam purported to be PayPal?  PayPal and Western Union are legitimate companies, and I use the former all the time.

I would hope by now that it is common knowledge not to click on an email supplied link when dealing with any financial institution.

I fell for nothing.......Paypal made a $400 Western Union transfer to themselves on my card!  My card company said it was not unusual for PayPal to do that, so I cancelled the card and let my Paypal account go

My original post said "almost robbed" because the card company and me were on it right away and they took the charges off and investigated Paypal

I have never heard of anything like that happening. I know a lot of people complain about Paypal, but I always thought it was a scammer purporting to be Paypal rather than the company itself. I have personally had over a thousand Paypal transactions without a single problem.

Well, I guess you now cannot say that you have NEVER heard of it happening, because it happened to me.  The day before the $400 was charged, a $1 charge was made.  This is what got my card company to be watching the Paypal end, they had seen this before.....one dollar to verify a good card, and then a charge hopefully not big enough to raise alarms right away.....after so many days you cant do much about it

[MP]

I had something like that happen, but it was a third party using paypal to scam people, just like you said, starting with $1.  But, it was NOT Paypal itself that was doing the scamming.  It was a third party using them.

That is like saying VISA itself is scamming you, when a third party bills something to you on a visa card. 

MP

[x]

Looks like lots of smoke, no fire.

[MP]

So Chris, you are saying Western Union is trying to scam you, or someone using their name to do so?  I would guess it is NOT Western Union.  Same thing with Paypal, it was NOT Paypal itself, it was someone using them.

MP

[Chrisj CMA]

So Chris, you are saying Western Union is trying to scam you, or someone using their name to do so?  I would guess it is NOT Western Union.  Same thing with Paypal, it was NOT Paypal itself, it was someone using them.

MP

I had something like that happen, but it was a third party using paypal to scam people, just like you said, starting with $1.  But, it was NOT Paypal itself that was doing the scamming.  It was a third party using them.

That is like saying VISA itself is scamming you, when a third party bills something to you on a visa card. 

MP

Well, that may be true, it didnt seem to be how my card company explained it.  Either way the info became usable to a thief because I had a Paypal account.  If my info becaume usable to a thief from any other company, Id do the same.....quit them

[Chrisj CMA]

Looks like lots of smoke, no fire.

not even smoke......just a heads up....if you dont care, then let me introduce you to the back button.....enjoy your day

[x]

Looks like lots of smoke, no fire.

not even smoke......just a heads up....if you dont care, then let me introduce you to the back button.....enjoy your day

Hey... you start a thread that includes, "I was almost robbed" and quickly deteriorates into a "heads up" about a pointless post.

What am I to think?  You weren't robbed.  I conclude that you are an attention seeker.

PS:  This is for real.
 
No worries, mate... if I could have used the BACK button before I read your post I most certainly would have.

[Chrisj CMA]

Looks like lots of smoke, no fire.

not even smoke......just a heads up....if you dont care, then let me introduce you to the back button.....enjoy your day

Hey... you start a thread that includes, "I was almost robbed" and quickly deteriorates into a "heads up" about a pointless post.

What am I to think?  You weren't robbed.  I conclude that you are an attention seeker.

PS:  This is for real.
 
No worries, mate... if I could have used the BACK button before I read your post I most certainly would have.

great........goodbye

PS.  No, you wouldnt have used the back button, or you would used the back button after you read my post warning you of what you could easily recognize with superior intellegence as nothing to worry about.  But you cant pass up the opportunity to stir the pot no matter the subject.

I was warning the people here because I know lots use paypal.  If you didnt need a warning, GREAT! If the warning helped someone be more careful GREAT.  If you didnt care for my post after you read it, you could have moved on.  But slamming others no matter the subject matter gets YOU more attention......I submit you are the one with the need for attention

[Bobbo]

Were you actually robbed by PayPal, or fell for a phishing scam purported to be PayPal?  PayPal and Western Union are legitimate companies, and I use the former all the time.

I would hope by now that it is common knowledge not to click on an email supplied link when dealing with any financial institution.

I fell for nothing.......Paypal made a $400 Western Union transfer to themselves on my card!  My card company said it was not unusual for PayPal to do that, so I cancelled the card and let my Paypal account go

My original post said "almost robbed" because the card company and me were on it right away and they took the charges off and investigated Paypal

What was the result of the investigation?

[csj]

I've noticed that the moderators of this board have made
a huge effort to limit political and religious posts.
Works for me.

But there are two people on here that churn my stomach.
(Yes I mean SE, for one)
Like the political and religious posts, I'd like to have a way
to totally avoid their posts. Perhaps I could say that the
gene pool needs a little chlorine.

I'm going to contact moderators privately, ask for some
method of avoiding these 'waste-of-time' posts.

[Chrisj CMA]

Were you actually robbed by PayPal, or fell for a phishing scam purported to be PayPal?  PayPal and Western Union are legitimate companies, and I use the former all the time.

I would hope by now that it is common knowledge not to click on an email supplied link when dealing with any financial institution.

I fell for nothing.......Paypal made a $400 Western Union transfer to themselves on my card!  My card company said it was not unusual for PayPal to do that, so I cancelled the card and let my Paypal account go

My original post said "almost robbed" because the card company and me were on it right away and they took the charges off and investigated Paypal

What was the result of the investigation?

They only told me they would investigate, I never heard back.....I dont think any international crime ring was busted open, but my card company only said that this type of thing through paypal was not uncommon.  Whether it was a third party or if paypal was in on it makes little difference to me...paypal failed at safeguarding my info, and I dont give too many second chances when it comes to that

[X Ring]

About three weeks ago I opened my email to discover receipts from Paypal for charges I didn't make or authorize.  I immediately contacted Paypal and filed complaints.  They opened an investigation and had me change my password and security questions.  After a week they closed the investigation and refunded all my money.  They emailed the crooks that charged my account three or four times but never received and answer.

Marty

[Bobbo]

What was the result of the investigation?

They only told me they would investigate, I never heard back.....I dont think any international crime ring was busted open, but my card company only said that this type of thing through paypal was not uncommon.  Whether it was a third party or if paypal was in on it makes little difference to me...paypal failed at safeguarding my info, and I dont give too many second chances when it comes to that

I'm curious since it's possible PayPal may have had nothing to do with your credit card info getting out.  Some credit card hackers simply use a number generator to generate card numbers that pass the simple check sum security.  They then use a third party like PayPal to run those numbers.  When a charge comes back as completed, they then charge that account with an amount less than $600,  which is usually the cutoff for triggering an investigation.  

[John Schmidt]

My oldest daughter just got hit with a charge of over $300 through PayPal. Since she doesn't carry a balance there, it automatically went to her bank account for the withdrawal. And, since it was a couple days before the end of the month it drained her checking account. She had absolutely no contact or email from anyone except the bank when she got an NSF notice. She eventually got her funds returned, she knew it wasn't anything she had done since she hadn't used her PayPal account for close to two years. Hackers had somehow dug into her account on PayPal and got her personal info. I asked her to see if there was a small charge, followed by the large one...which there was. She was both amazed and ticked off. Had to change everything including a password.

One thing to remember, when companies like that contact you if it's legit it was always address you by name, not "Dear Customer" of some such salutation. I get them all the time and forward them to whichever institution might be involved.

[hubcapsc]

My oldest daughter just got hit with a charge of over $300 through PayPal. Since she doesn't carry a balance there, it automatically went to her bank account for the withdrawal. And, since it was a couple days before the end of the month it drained her checking account.

After you hit your Paypal Sending Limit, they cut you off unless you "link your bank account" to them.

I sure do like Paypal, but it will be a cold day in heck before I link my bank account to them.

My home computer busted the other day, so I went looking on eBay for a T500 thinkpad... good fast modern
computer, of the type I like, completed listings on eBay show they go for around $500, I can live with that.

A couple of resellers turned me down when I asked to pay with other-than-paypal, but there's one on the way
now, from a seller with a real good rating, who said it was OK to send a postal money order.

No paypal is a pain in the rear, but...

-Mike "it will be a cold day in heck before they get linked to my bank account"

[Serk]

Mike - My bank allows me to have multiple accounts, so I just setup an account just for internet buying, and linked PayPal to it. If I make a purchase, I transfer the amount of the purchase to that account, and ONLY that amount, then make the purchase. I also have a Visa debit card on that account, if I make a purchase on the internet, I do the same thing, transfer the amount of the purchase, and use that Visa card to make the purchase. (I leave a maybe $25 buffer in the account just to make sure things stay positive.) Gives me the convenience of using modern payment options and also the security of not letting those modern contrivances into my REAL account...

[Chrisj CMA]

What was the result of the investigation?

They only told me they would investigate, I never heard back.....I dont think any international crime ring was busted open, but my card company only said that this type of thing through paypal was not uncommon.  Whether it was a third party or if paypal was in on it makes little difference to me...paypal failed at safeguarding my info, and I dont give too many second chances when it comes to that

I'm curious since it's possible PayPal may have had nothing to do with your credit card info getting out.  Some credit card hackers simply use a number generator to generate card numbers that pass the simple check sum security.  They then use a third party like PayPal to run those numbers.  When a charge comes back as completed, they then charge that account with an amount less than $600,  which is usually the cutoff for triggering an investigation.  

LIke I said........that all may be true..........it doesnt change the fact that for some reason paypal is user friendly for these hackers............complicit or not makes little difference. I steer clear.  Paypal has no reason to contact me now that the stagnant account messages have long stopped.  I only paid attention to this email because it was from Western Union not paypal and Western Union was the ones that were used to try to get the $400 before.  So it made me suspicous that they had some kind of "account" on file........

[Mr Steve]

I move about $50k a year through Paypal (a small amount by some standards).   I've found them to be efficient at addressing chargebacks.  I would not call them user friendly for hackers.  Western Union is the preference for scams because there can be no chargebacks (e-gold used to hold a place of preference in scams for the same reason).  

Did you have a Paypal debit card?  If so, it's possible that somewhere you used it was compromised (it would also explain the $1 approval hold before the charge was submitted).  Hundreds of millions of credit/debit card numbers were stolen over the last couple years from major services (TJMAXX lost 45 million for their group of stores, CardSystems lost 40 million, RBS Worldpay, Hannaford Brothers, Sony Play Station Network, and the list is much longer of places that lost millions).  Valid card numbers are traded and sold online in IRC channels.  Chances are great that everyone will have to deal with a false card charge at some point (and it could be from a compromise that happened quite some time ago).

A fair number of the Paypal chargebacks are also due to a phished account.  As always, and as you recommend, keep vigilant for phishing and never give info asked in e-mail without verifying it legit.  You can often easily tell it is a phish just by looking at the e-mail headers, specifically the top Received: header.  

[musclehead]

Were you actually robbed by PayPal, or fell for a phishing scam purported to be PayPal?  PayPal and Western Union are legitimate companies, and I use the former all the time.

I would hope by now that it is common knowledge not to click on an email supplied link when dealing with any financial institution.

I fell for nothing.......Paypal made a $400 Western Union transfer to themselves on my card!  My card company said it was not unusual for PayPal to do that, so I cancelled the card and let my Paypal account go

My original post said "almost robbed" because the card company and me were on it right away and they took the charges off and investigated Paypal

How else was Meg going to pay for her failed election debt?  lol

I thought she was the E-BAY babe? she spent a wad tis true, but she got some left over 

when I was in Cali last year during the elections I heard over and over again how she "SPENT X amount of DOLLARS OF HER OWN MONEY!!!" like they couldn't believe she would use HER money for HER election bid.

[Walküre]

.
A couple of resellers turned me down when I asked to pay with other-than-paypal, but there's one on the way
now, from a seller with a real good rating, who said it was OK to send a postal money order.

Right now, there are a LOT of bogus Postal Money Orders being counterfeited. One of the gals at work was saying that at our station alone, between $500 and $1000 worth are coming through a week. And if that's just the people that are bringing them to the Post Office for cashing, I wonder how many are being deposited in the banks? And of course, you won't know from the bank, until THEY try to get their money.

I'll still put my faith in PayPal, over just about any other method. It has saved my butt twice - once on the bogus interstate tank. You just have to be careful, that you are dealing with PayPal, and not someone phishing.

R

[hubcapsc]

.
A couple of resellers turned me down when I asked to pay with other-than-paypal, but there's one on the way
now, from a seller with a real good rating, who said it was OK to send a postal money order.

Right now, there are a LOT of bogus Postal Money Orders being counterfeited. One of the gals at work was saying that at our station alone, between $500 and $1000 worth are coming through a week. And if that's just the people that are bringing them to the Post Office for cashing, I wonder how many are being deposited in the banks? And of course, you won't know from the bank, until THEY try to get their money.

I'll still put my faith in PayPal, over just about any other method. It has saved my butt twice - once on the bogus interstate tank. You just have to be careful, that you are dealing with PayPal, and not someone phishing.

R

Blind Trust on eBay with or without paypal protection is a good way to loose your money...

If both the seller and the buyer have an extensive eBay record/rating and its all good, the next
transaction for either of them is likely to go OK as well...

-Mike

[x]

I've noticed that the moderators of this board have made
a huge effort to limit political and religious posts.
Works for me.

But there are two people on here that churn my stomach.
(Yes I mean SE, for one)
Like the political and religious posts, I'd like to have a way
to totally avoid their posts. Perhaps I could say that the
gene pool needs a little chlorine.

I'm going to contact moderators privately, ask for some
method of avoiding these 'waste-of-time' posts.

No need to contact the moderators.  There is a guaranteed to work method of avoiding these 'waste-of-time' posts.  My avatar is prominently displayed in each post I make, and so far as I can tell, does not resemble any other avatar, and is actually eye catching.

You should be able to immediately identify my posts via the avatar... look to the left side of your screen.  When you see the eagle, engage the scroll wheel on your mouse and move on down to the next avatar, which will be the next post.  You will have avoided reading my post.
 
Very simple process, you should have it down after 10 or 12 tries.

Cheers.

[Chrisj CMA]

I've noticed that the moderators of this board have made
a huge effort to limit political and religious posts.
Works for me.

But there are two people on here that churn my stomach.
(Yes I mean SE, for one)
Like the political and religious posts, I'd like to have a way
to totally avoid their posts. Perhaps I could say that the
gene pool needs a little chlorine.

I'm going to contact moderators privately, ask for some
method of avoiding these 'waste-of-time' posts.

No need to contact the moderators.  There is a guaranteed to work method of avoiding these 'waste-of-time' posts.  My avatar is prominently displayed in each post I make, and so far as I can tell, does not resemble any other avatar, and is actually eye catching.

You should be able to immediately identify my posts via the avatar... look to the left side of your screen.  When you see the eagle, engage the scroll wheel on your mouse and move on down to the next avatar, which will be the next post.  You will have avoided reading my post.
 
Very simple process, you should have it down after 10 or 12 tries.

Cheers.

It works.....thats what I usually do and Im almost always sorry when I break the rule

[czuch]

Only took me 8 tries.
And the other one too.
As far as facebook= Drama.