PayPal account hacked... lost $3,700+

I'm having my own issues with Paypal now but thank GOD it's not $3700 I'm dealing with. Anyone keeping $3700 in their Paypal account is asking for a problem. As soon as I get a Paypal payment out it goes to my checking account.

 

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I live in Portland and the police here actually do a pretty good job. It doesn't seem that even 24 hours have passed since you filed this report. I would imagine the police would need to do a bunch of paperwork prior and getting all their ducks in a row prior to knocking on someone's door. This is across state lines, it's a felony and as we all know...when police don't do things by the book crooks get off (thanks lawyers).

 

If my bank account is linked to my paypal, does it even matter? If my paypal was empty, it would have pulled it from my bank.

 

The bank itself provides more security. Paypal for some odd reason is NOT a bank.

lets say $3700 came from your bank account depending on what bank/card you have you may get a notification about these large purchases. If not you can still file a claim at your bank and increase the chances of getting your money back. I also think credit cards have more security but I'm not so sure.

 

Most likely they got his password from a fake PayPal lookalike site. Be careful, be extremely careful. I have seen those fake ones email me so when I receive emails from PayPal I never enter my password from the emailed link. All you do is ignore emailed messages from PayPal. You don't have to check PayPal invoicing from an emailed link, ever. Just logon from their website. Good luck, JW.

 

Passwords. I am sure that the OP was diligent with his choice of password, but most folk are not. As a rule, simple passwords/passwords used on a number of different sites is the most likely cause of issues. Grab a password database from a compromised site and try the email/password combination on others. Always use unique, complex passwords maybe following a system you can remember. Else try not to loose the bit of paper you write them down on.

 

There are password crackers as well. basically a program that enters in millions of common password and letter number combos until it gets the right one. Unless your password is obvious like jwitten1 then a password cracker probably won't work. if your password was jwitten1 you should slap yourself across the face.

 

Only information I can help with is, changing your passwords and security questions often will decrease the chance of getting hacked. Also make sure you run virus scans and malware scans as much as possible, and reset your browser history every once in awhile.

If you haven't noticed. There has been a significant increase in hacking of credits accounts the last few years. Most of the culprits are from Africa, Russia and China.

edit: wrote same time as previous posts.

 

I am very careful about not clicking to paypal other than going directly to the website, so I doubt that was it. My paypal password was probably the most easy to crack of all my passwords, simply because they have not asked me to change in forever. Almost all other sites I am on have required complex passwords, but I had not changed this one to complex yet. It was not as easy as jwitten1, but it was easier than it should have been. I am guessing they had software to try the top 100 or so passwords, and one was probably it. And yes, it was being shipped to a Chinese name, so my guess is it came from China to a middle man here in the US.

 

The portland address is most likely a "freight forwarder". They send packages to people overseas. Since they did not hack your account, they cannot be prosecuted and since the person who did is in another country, you will not be able to get the police in that country to do anything. In fact, it may not be illegal in their country...

 

I got something the other nite in an e-mail from pay-pal.......a refund from a transaction done back in 2006......seemed real suspicious to me so I forwarded the 'mail' to spoof@paypal.com. They got back to me within 5 minutes saying the e-mail was indeed a phishing one and that they were investigating. I changed the password on the account just to be safe....

 

Like I said, I am very careful about not clicking any link to paypal... only going there directly. When I got this email, I was hoping it was just phishing, so I went to my paypal to check.

 

Unlike the fool in me who clicked the link....then, in retrospect, realized the mistake. Hence the password change......

 

The OP could (and I assume has) google it to learn more about this address. If it's a business, chances are very good that he'd know within seconds.

 

Really sorry to hear about the theft!
It's a scary new world, the crooks are getting bolder, the fake coins are getting better, personal info is more available and new technology has not kept up with security. But I still trust PayPal shall have your back, so don't worry too much.

 

Now if this had been done on a no fee sales site with little financial backing ( as per another thread), no business insurance, or LLC protection, home-made site, a hack could hit everyone very hard, except the scammers

 

The address shows as an antique shop. I called the number (after hours), and the voice mail said it would be closing soon, as the owners were selling. It did not seem like a chinese scam center, but who knows. I wonder if the scammer would just try to file claims, and get the cash. The paypal guy said sometimes they ship to an unknowing person, then try to intercept the package when it arrives.

 

intercept the package? so people are hijacking mail vans now?

 

They can watch delivery confirmation numbers, and be waiting outside the building the day it is supposed to arrive