PayPal Account Hacked (Solved)

Lholdfestron on 21/05/2018 - 09:32
Last edited 26/05/2018 - 14:34 by 2 other users

Hi,
Someone hacked into my wife's paypal account and made a payment to "eBay international AG" for a transaction call "licence agreement fee". We contacted the bank and the bank said that they can't do anything about it.

We also reported this incidence to Paypal, but they said they couldn't find evidence that this transaction was "unauthorised" from their investigation. Seeing that we have multiple cards and account linked through Paypal, it's disappointing that Paypal wouldn't put in more effort to investigate this security breach.

We have changed the account's password immediately, and unlinked all the cards and account since the incidence. However, we no longer feel safe to use paypal as a mode of payment.

Just want to find out if anyone has similar experience, and how did you deal with it.

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Comments

  • Hybroid on 21/05/2018 - 09:35
    +4

    It's a common scam, there's many pages on the internet about it. You likely got a phishing e-mail, clicked it, logged in to a page that looks like Paypal (but wasn't) and they stole your username/password and made a payment to their accounts. I don't believe you get usually get covered for such fraud by Paypal but hopefully they will.

    https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Buying-on-eBay/PAYPAL-FRAUD…

    https://www.paypal-community.com/t5/Disputes-and-claims-Arch…

    • Quantumcat on 21/05/2018 - 09:59

      How would this work? When I log into PayPal from a different device it asks me for a code texted to my phone.

      • Third_Gear on 21/05/2018 - 10:05
        +7

        You have two factor active. Most people don’t.

        • yippy on 21/05/2018 - 10:39
          +1

          Two factor on Paypal is so unreliable. I can't even set mine up as I can never receive a text from them. They've been having issues with it on Optus for years.

        • idonotknowwhy on 26/05/2018 - 09:01
          +1

          @yippy: yeah I wish they'd use Google authenticator like ever sane website does…
          I disabled pp 2fa because I hate getting locked out when I travel.

  • scrimshaw on 21/05/2018 - 09:53
    +1

    It might be a good idea to ask for a Security Token from Paypal.

    Paypal gave one to me for free when I asked for it (on the basis I have been with them for nearly 10 years and am a loyal user).

    It's a Symantec Security card that fits in your wallet and generates a unique passcode when you press on it.

    Edit: They don't offer this anymore! The page now says Page Not Found.

    • EightImmortals on 21/05/2018 - 09:55
      +1

      So they don't have 2fa yet?

      • scrimshaw on 21/05/2018 - 09:58
        +2

        2FA for Paypal has existed for a pretty long time.

        https://i.imgur.com/ORC9xZ1.png

        They also offered security tokens, but the page to order them is now 404. Not sure whether they still exist.
        https://www.paypal.com/au/webapps/mpp/security/security-prot…

        I don't recommend their SMS-based 2FA methods, as noted by a lot of tech blogs; SMS authentication is not secure. The other issue is some merchant websites just don't work when you have Paypal 2FA enabled and you may have problems checking out as the page cannot redirect itself to the 2FA page.

        The 3rd issue is that their SMS authentication is very slow and by the time you receive an SMS, an item that you've been wanting to buy has already been ozbargained :(

        • Quantumcat on 21/05/2018 - 10:38

          Solution is to buy using a device that you've logged in with before, so you don't get asked for a code by sms.

  • [Deactivated] on 21/05/2018 - 10:26
    -3

    We contacted the bank and the bank said that they can't do anything about it.

    That's right. What were you hoping they would do?

  • JCrown9 on 21/05/2018 - 10:58
    +2

    did you have a paypal balance or did the money get transferred off one of your linked bank cards?

    ive had this happen to me before from one of my linked cards. about $700ish worth.

    it was frustrating dealing with paypal as they claimed they were legit, even though as mentioned above they are known scams. And im a business user for paypal who turns over a ton with them, so like you said it was disappointing they didnt even try to look into it.

    Anyways, i just did charge backs with the banks and all was fine. got the money back okay. frustrating though.

    • Quantumcat on 21/05/2018 - 11:10
      +1

      Yeah, it's a good reason to never have a bank account associated with PayPal, as long as you only buy and don't sell (so don't need to withdraw any balance).

    • holdfestron on 21/05/2018 - 13:45

      It was money get transferred off one of the linked bank cards.
      Glad that you manage to get the money back though. :)

  • zuuutoootuuu on 21/05/2018 - 11:57

    are you sure you actually got scammed or did you purchase something from overseas that was shipped using the ebay global posting service?

  • qwerty on 21/05/2018 - 13:03

    This looks like Ebay taking a fee for selling items or buying items with their stupid shipping service .

  • holdfestron on 21/05/2018 - 13:44

    Thank you all for your comments. I can confirm that we didn't purchase something overseas, and we are not ebay seller, therefore it is definitely a scam. I also noticed that the scammer turn on the autopay function in the account.

    Thanks for suggesting the 2FA. We have turned it on now, even though it's not ideal as scrimshaw described.

    Having used paypal for online transactions for a long time without any issue, this incident reminded us again that there's no safe space in the world of internet:(

  • Baysew on 21/05/2018 - 16:36
    +1

    a payment to "eBay international AG" for a transaction call "licence agreement fee"

    Seems like an odd transaction choice for a 'hacked' account. It must have a direct link to somebody, that could be traced.

  • altomic on 23/05/2018 - 13:57

    does your wife sell stuff on ebay?

  • Kers on 23/05/2018 - 14:17

    All this misinformation, Jesus Christ.

    This is for eBay seller fees. You're PayPal was NOT 'hacked'.

    You or someone else must of sold an Item on eBay prior or in the past.

    eBay international AG is the transaction name for eBay Fees.

    You have paid eBay/PayPal's amount that they are entitled to receive; your listing fees.

    Your account was not compromised.

    • altomic on 24/05/2018 - 09:49

      exactly. hence my question. about selling on ebay.

    • holdfestron on 24/05/2018 - 15:07

      To clarify the question, no, we are not ebay seller. Never sold a thing before. Also, the amount deducted was $50, so not sure if that's normal cost of selling on eBay?

      • Kers on 24/05/2018 - 15:11
        -1

        Last time I'll politely state this; This is from eBay Fees, no more no less.

        It depends what your item value was. Hence why the deducted the amount out of $50.00 and the payments description was "eBay international AG".

        You or someone else must of linked your PayPal account to a eBay account to put up a listing.

        If someone wanted to use your PayPal without consent, why would they connect you PayPal to a eBay account and put up a listing for sale then sell the item? Doesn't make any sense.

        Conclusion is, you or someone else has sold an eBay item in the past and eBay has deducted the fees out which they're entitled too.

  • holdfestron on 24/05/2018 - 15:08

    Just an update, managed to speak to the bank again, and we got the money back.

    • Kers on 24/05/2018 - 15:12
      -1

      Not a good thing. eBay will either lock your account, or PayPal will put your account in Negative because your bank disputed it.

      I'll give you a week until your PayPal balance will be negative $50.00. It will happen. If you don't pay it, they'll hand it over to ARL Debt collectors.

      • altomic on 24/05/2018 - 15:22

        OMG, that would suck. what could you do?

        hint - start a new paypal account.

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