I have been using Paypal as my merchant account on may website to enable purchases using credit cards, etc. Someone was able to access my account, and instead of paying me, they were able to reverse the transaction and suck $1400 from my checking account.
To their credit, Paypal Fraud Department was on top of it and contacted me. The $1400 still came out of my account, but it was returned to my paypal account and transfered back into my checking, so I didn't lose any money. The transaction was stopped before this scumbag actually got the money.
I'm not exactly sure how it happened, but it was meant to look like a transaction by Ryan DesJardins Photography.
I had to change a bunch of stuff with Paypal to re-secure my account, and I'm going to make changes to my web site. The sales I've made from people seeing my stuff online has always taken place off line, so I doubt I'm going to keep the online purchasing option on the website. If someone needs to use a credit card I can send them an electronic invoice.
I was happy with their fraud department. I would have been clueless until I saw the money sucked from my account.
I know there are at least a couple guys who have paypal as their merchant acount, so I wanted to share.
Posted by bob swanson on January 23, 2007 at 7:54 AM
Everytime I am directed to paypal a couple of things happen. First of all my paypal SPAM increases considerably and secondly I get mysterious charges on my account, not very big but not authorized. I know a lot of people use it but I just don't trust them. BS
Credit card abuse is not unique to PayPal. The fact that they were on top of it, notified you, and took corrective measures is in my opinion a great reason to stick with them.
Their rates are a bit high but so far I have had no problem and my complaints were always addressed to my satisfaction. Not sure how many other service providers I can say that about.
I'm not going to dump them, but I may not offer auto-filled-online purchasing. For some reason I feel that let to the problem, but I don't know that for sure.
Their service was great, I was happy they were on top of it and got my cash back quickly.
Posted by Ed Cordes on January 23, 2007 at 9:13 PM
Ryan, did you offer a shopping cart on your site? I also use PayPal for payments, but the customer must send me an email after which I send an invoice from PayPal's site to them. This does seem more secure than a direct cart.
BTW, I do believe PayPal's actions show good faith. They're being on top of the situation before you even knew about it is a very good sign.
Ed, I have had a shopping cart on my site, but I'm going to remove that and do something similar to what you do with an e-mailed invoice which can then be used to make payment. I feel I have a little more control that way in knowing that a transaction is going to take place and I can keep tabs on it.
Discussion
5 repliesTo their credit, Paypal Fraud Department was on top of it and contacted me. The $1400 still came out of my account, but it was returned to my paypal account and transfered back into my checking, so I didn't lose any money. The transaction was stopped before this scumbag actually got the money.
I'm not exactly sure how it happened, but it was meant to look like a transaction by Ryan DesJardins Photography.
I had to change a bunch of stuff with Paypal to re-secure my account, and I'm going to make changes to my web site. The sales I've made from people seeing my stuff online has always taken place off line, so I doubt I'm going to keep the online purchasing option on the website. If someone needs to use a credit card I can send them an electronic invoice.
I was happy with their fraud department. I would have been clueless until I saw the money sucked from my account.
I know there are at least a couple guys who have paypal as their merchant acount, so I wanted to share.
Their rates are a bit high but so far I have had no problem and my complaints were always addressed to my satisfaction. Not sure how many other service providers I can say that about.
Guy
Their service was great, I was happy they were on top of it and got my cash back quickly.
BTW, I do believe PayPal's actions show good faith. They're being on top of the situation before you even knew about it is a very good sign.