Paypal Fraud

This post was published more than a few years ago (on 2004-10-06) and may contain inaccurate technical information, outmoded thoughts, or cringe takes. Proceed at your own risk.

So, I got a series of emails yesterday that seem at once like the recent Paypal spoof crap and also perhaps legit, if only because they don't include the usual link "click here to verify your account, and enter your information on our fraudulent website." One of them said that I may have been in receipt of "potentially unauthorized funds," and that that transaction was being put on hold.

When I logged onto Paypal (typed the URL myself), I was immediately presented with a page asking for verification of one of my two debit cards, or my bank account number.

We are currently performing regular maintenance of our security measures. Your account has been randomly selected for this maintenance, and you will now be taken through a series of identity verification pages.

I'm kinda freaked about this. I don't know what to believe. And of course, Paypal has no fucking phone number where I can call and talk to a real human.

And, now I'm receiving an email from someone I've never heard of, complaining that I cancelled my Paypal payment to them for "platinum," and asking me to send them "a tell in game as Erasing or Rexyy." I don't even know what that means. Is that an Everquest thing or something?

I've now received word back from Paypal's spoof department that no, that first email from Paypal didn't actually come from Paypal. So I'm even more freaked out. I'm not giving anyone anything until I can talk to a real live human. This is ridiculous.

Update:

I've talked to three humans now, two at Paypal, and one in-between from either an irate victim of this fraud or the perpetrator himself. Things are being worked out, though not yet to my satisfaction. I'll update once this is over.

2 thoughts on “Paypal Fraud”

  1. Hi, A very similar thing has happened to me! I had received a spoof-email a couple of months ago & answered it. They must’ve got my password from that. They then logged on to my account and bought some EverQuest Platinum for $400.00 from a vendor. I’m an eBay seller and the money from my recent PayPal sales is now frozen. The vendor called me too and acused me of fraud. He kept trying to get me to say my son had charged this. I didn’t even tell him I had a son. I hope it’s resolved soo for both you and me. I’m pretty creeped out by all of this.

  2. Mine was finally resolved by Paypal, and I got all my money back, but it still took a while. I’m still not sure how they got my password, but it’s changed now, at least.

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