is paypal secure?

India
March 5, 2009 11:13am CST
i recently read in a forum that a person who was using paypal had his email account hacked and his balance i.e 599$ drawn by an unknown person.. he mailed paypal but did not get any positive response... it even blocked his bank account for further transactions because there was a another transaction of 599$ made but he did not have that amount in his bank account... i can show you the link where this person pasted his bank account transaction and lost his money.. so did this happen to anyone? do you think paypal is as secure as we think?
3 people like this
18 responses
@tea512 (687)
• United States
5 Mar 09
I think a online banking service - paypal can be hacked by anyone who lets the information be known easy password, cookies left on a machine but my grip with paypal is if you sell something the buyer can always get thier money back. The never saide with the seller in any dealing i have had with them plus the fees are pretty high. I do think they are pretty secure though.
1 person likes this
@Marcola (2774)
• United States
5 Mar 09
I used to have my debit card attached to my paypal account and some jerk managed to get ahold of my card info and made a whole bunch of unauthorized transactions on it. My theory is that my paypal account was hacked into. So, I don't think it's entirely secure with all the lowlife pieces of garbage that pull stunts like that.
• India
5 Mar 09
so are you still using paypal or any other way of transaction of money online?
@Marcola (2774)
• United States
5 Mar 09
I use paypal, but most of the money I spend from it nowadays is the money I earn online. I do have my bank account tied to it, however.
• India
5 Mar 09
oh... can you tell what methods you use to earn money online? i know its a common question but just being curious...
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
6 Mar 09
Well if he decided to follow a link on those phlishing emails and entered his password, than of course Paypal is not secure, not because Paypal allowed the hacker to get in, but because he allowed the hacker to get in. He did not follow Paypal's advice that they never send an email requesting his name and password and that they do not address him as occupant, or paypal member, but only by his real name as entered on the application form. If you allow a hacker to get in and that is also why I do not confirm my bank account. I do not keep that much in my checking.
@WC1989 (595)
• United States
5 Mar 09
Paypal is very secure, but everything has its limits. Just think about a "real" bank account. They're fairly secure but if you accidentally leave your credit card out and someone copies the numbers, well...you'll have problems. It's the same with paypal. People who do not take necessary precautions end up with stolen passwords, which will cause for loads of unauthorized changes to occur.
• India
5 Mar 09
you are right.. but if we loose our credit card or learn that it is being used by someone.. then if we immediately call our bank it will be frozen and after knowing our complete details they will start any transaction again.. but the customer service of this is pretty bad.. and email can be hacked very easily and if it is done then they should be ready with a good measure to stop any more withdrawals..
@shontia08 (846)
• United States
5 Mar 09
i hope they are, i know that they are willing to work with you and if you have good enough evidence then they will make sure you don't get cheated out of your money. for example i am a regular ebay buyer and never had any problems with any of the sellers except for one, i bought something for almost $50 and the seller didn't send me my item and stop all communications with me. i contacted paypal and after the required wait time paypal emailed me stating that they got my money back and that it would be back in my account in a couple of days. i'm not sure why this happen to your friend maybe he/she should call them and keep calling, this is nothing that this person should forget about.
• United States
5 Mar 09
well for one thing i did not say your friend or who ever this person is wasn't smart, so i don't know why you even brought that up. anyway the only thing i was saying is that i have had problems with someone taking my money through paypal, and after contacting them they got my money back, and i don't know why this has not been solved for the person you are talking about. also like i said earlier if i was this person i would do all that i can and keep doing it until i get my money back that's all. another thing i read the whole thing, so i said your friend instead of someone in another forum,i didn't know that was a crime, can't someone make a mistake?
• India
5 Mar 09
hes not my friend.. some person in a forum.. if you see the link and read the entire thing you will know that he is pretty smart and tried all the available methods...
• India
5 Mar 09
Hi there, Paypal is the most reputed money transaction web site. It's totally secure. As long as you keep your paypal password secret no one can access your account. One of the possible reason behind this scam might be the person shared his password with someone else. Anyway, I am curious to know more about this incident. Can you please provide me the link ??
• India
5 Mar 09
password is what we keep a secret but it can be hacked very easily... that is why there should be some immediate response from those people if it is stolen.. http://www.integramod.com/forum/portal.php this is the link and look down for the incident.. the person even displayed his bank transaction.. and explained better.. thank you raul
• India
5 Mar 09
I don't think that paypal password can be hacked so easily. You see, it was an exception and this type of scams always occur, even with a most secure system also, you can't help it. But as far as I know paypal in very safe, otherwise it would not have been a famous money transaction website all over the world. Anyway, thank you for providing me the link... have a good day...
• India
6 Mar 09
It sad to hear that your account have hacked by someone. I dont have any experiance, because still i not reached at $10 to received any amount from MYLOT. But i think paypal is safe from anyother payment site. I not hear any compalain of any against PayPal. Try to complain and chase who theft your special earned amount.
@jstaubin (423)
• United States
6 Mar 09
paypal is ba very secure site but no one thing is ever perfect.
• United States
6 Mar 09
paypal has the worst securities when it comes to credit/debit cards.
• Philippines
6 Mar 09
i think so. and as for your friend, so sorry for that. i also read from one blog that it happened to her too. and she requested from paypal and asked questions too. but i guess, she did not have her money back. whew! maybe, paypal is not that secured now. you have to withdraw it fast.
@reichiru (748)
• Canada
6 Mar 09
Paypal should be very secure, or else it wouldn't be as famous as it is now, but even the best things have their limits. Just like with bank accounts, passwords and ID can get misplaced easily and you can unknowingly give out the key to access your account by mistake, thus allowing other people to access it and withdraw money. Of course, this type of thing doesn't happen often, so that person was really unfortunate. I think Paypal is still okay to use though, and I don't have my bank account tied to it, so it doesn't matter much to me (I don't even have $10 in it, no one would want to steal mine).
• India
6 Mar 09
Hi lotter even i wanted to know about it ,so thax to u that ur discussion cleared all my confussions
6 Mar 09
I think Paypal its self is. Its just the fake/spoof emails I get from places claiming to be Paypal.
• United States
6 Mar 09
Paypal is notoriously wideknown and widespread, simply for it being known for its high standards for security. That was it's purpose was: to provide better security with your hard-earned cash when purchasing things to your liking online. You should think of paypal as a virtual bank. If you leave your virtual credit card hanging around, chances are someone will make a hefty withdrawal from your account as soon as possible. You can trust them as much as you can trust the chair you sit on while you're mylotting. There are very few sites that don't accept paypal as a payment method, and these sites are usually outdated. That one dude was just unlucky. How many people here do you think have a paypal and use it? Tons! Why? Because, (I know I'm being redundant), it's the most secure way to purchase items online.
@sierras236 (2739)
• United States
6 Mar 09
You have to take the proper precautions. Do not give out your personal information, such as passwords, account numbers, or usernames to anyone asking for it in email or IM. Always go directly to the website either your bank account or paypal. Don't answer any emails saying that your bank account or email has been hacked. You can report suspicious emails for paypal at spoof@paypal.com. Your friend needs to shut down his bank account to the bank immediately and tell the bank about the fraud. He needs to report it directly to paypal not just send them email. Use all the contact info that paypal has. He also needs to immediately check his credit report to see if this person actually stole his identity. Also, he can file a complaint with the FDIC fraud division. The sooner he takes action, the less likely these people can get away with the crime. Unfortunately, it may be too late.
@mrsl2008 (634)
5 Mar 09
Hi, I know several others have already said, but yes, it's secure. Since I started spending/earning online I have used paypal without any problems. I once had an email stating it was from paypal asking for my credit card details, I checked the site before touching the email & found it to be a fake one. The email could have fooled anyone, it looked genuine with one fatal flaw, paypal address their emails a certain way & this was different but barely. If you had quickly glanced at it, you would never have noticed, filled it in and had your account/s emptied. Where money & finances are concerned especially on the internet be over suspicious. Paypal itself has established a brilliant reputation but your account is only as secure as you make it x MrsL xx
@mommaj (23155)
• United States
6 Mar 09
I actually had a problem with someone trying to get into my paypal account and I called them and they put the money back into my account the very next day. I had to give an affidavit that the money was taken and I never heard of or bought anything from the company that withdrew the money. Pay pal is very secure and I am surprised if anyone had a problem with them.
@buggles64 (2709)
• United States
5 Mar 09
I would think that it is just as secure as a regular bank account and all the necessary precautions need to be made. If you are worried, change your password often.