100 EURO charge on PayPal?!

**SixxOfDiamonds** · 06-27-2009, 03:03 PM

So I woke up this morning to an email from PayPal of a receipt saying that Skype received my 100EUR payment.

Uhhhh?? WHAT PAYMENT?!

So I had to call PayPal and file a claim. Then I had to call my bank and pay a $30 stop-charge fee to have the charge stopped.

Somebody had to have apparently gotten into my account and spent 100 Euro. That's just about $150 USD.

I am so glad that I got the email, otherwise I would have been screwed. Such a big part of me wants to go back to cash-only buying from people in the local area. Screw debit cards, and PayPal. The reason I even HAVE a PayPal account was so that people could pay ME.

Sigh, the joys of the internet. Now all of my passwords have been changed. It really sucks trying to think up passwords for different things. I'm just not that creative.

Has this ever happened to you?

**NikoSan999** · 06-27-2009, 03:51 PM

Did you actually look at your account to see if it had been taken out. Spoofs are notorious at pay pal. If you haven't looked at the entire account do so. Also you can right click on the email somewhere depending on aol etc and see if it actually came from pay pal or who ever.
I used to get that crap all the time. Check.

**savvy_sniper** · 06-27-2009, 05:29 PM

I hope you didn't click into any links in the supposed email from PayPal (or from any body or place for that matter). You also could have a key logger on your computer that was used to get your information.

You didn't need to pay your bank to do anything. Filing the claim with PayPal would get it taken care of. I have had two fraudulent charges through my PayPal account over the years. I filed the claim with PayPal, they investigated and reversed it.

Good Luck!

**SixxOfDiamonds** · 06-27-2009, 05:35 PM

Thanks. It has yet to be taken out of the bank, and yes, it is a true purchase through PayPal and the email is through PayPal.

No, I do not have any type of virus or key logger on my computer. I am rather computer-savvy and use a Macintosh computer.

Savvy-sniper - that's good to know about the bank charge thing, if it happens in the future (and I pray it won't) then I'll know that.

Did you change anything about your PayPal after that? I changed my PW and security questions of course.

It sounds bad when I say this, but I'm not stupid enough to click on links that are sent from elsewhere. That's why I checked PayPal's website and called the company to verify the charge.

**monkeywrangler71** · 06-27-2009, 05:48 PM

For creating passwords you don't need to be creative as they should be a random series of characters, not words. I use 1Password on my mac to generate and save secure passwords. It's the form filling software that I originally bought for contesting, but it's real purpose is security. Great piece of software, and an awesome company. I have it on my iPod as well and use it for storing card numbers, software licences, private notes, and of course all my passwords and logins.
/end commercial

**savvy_sniper** · 06-27-2009, 06:15 PM

Originally Posted by SixxOfDiamonds

Thanks. It has yet to be taken out of the bank, and yes, it is a true purchase through PayPal and the email is through PayPal.

No, I do not have any type of virus or key logger on my computer. I am rather computer-savvy and use a Macintosh computer.

Savvy-sniper - that's good to know about the bank charge thing, if it happens in the future (and I pray it won't) then I'll know that.

Did you change anything about your PayPal after that? I changed my PW and security questions of course.

It sounds bad when I say this, but I'm not stupid enough to click on links that are sent from elsewhere. That's why I checked PayPal's website and called the company to verify the charge.

I cannot for the life of me figure out HOW anyone got hold of my PayPal information or managed to make a charge to my PayPal account. Hubby and I are pretty computer savvy also.

PayPal will take some time (I can't remember how long - about a week I think), but they will reverse the charges.

I have the PayPal security key (I THINK it is only available for U. S. PayPal users). When I want to log into my PayPal account I have enter my login and password, push the button the the security and enter the random code on the PayPal site to access my account. I have not had any unauthorized charges since I got the key. I don't know if it is because of the key or not.

I wasn't saying you didn't know what you were doing and having a Mac puts you at a much lower risk than a PC. I honestly don't know HOW people are managing to charge PayPal accounts.

Just a quick note - if you have an eBay account, make sure your logins and passwords are different. Also it is not good for your email address to be related to your eBay ID.

Example - eBay ID johndoe, email address associated with PayPal account - johndoe@whatever.com.

**SixxOfDiamonds** · 06-27-2009, 07:57 PM

Originally Posted by savvy_sniper

I cannot for the life of me figure out HOW anyone got hold of my PayPal information or managed to make a charge to my PayPal account. Hubby and I are pretty computer savvy also.

PayPal will take some time (I can't remember how long - about a week I think), but they will reverse the charges.

I have the PayPal security key (I THINK it is only available for U. S. PayPal users). When I want to log into my PayPal account I have enter my login and password, push the button the the security and enter the random code on the PayPal site to access my account. I have not had any unauthorized charges since I got the key. I don't know if it is because of the key or not.

I wasn't saying you didn't know what you were doing and having a Mac puts you at a much lower risk than a PC. I honestly don't know HOW people are managing to charge PayPal accounts.

Just a quick note - if you have an eBay account, make sure your logins and passwords are different. Also it is not good for your email address to be related to your eBay ID.

Example - eBay ID johndoe, email address associated with PayPal account - johndoe@whatever.com.

Thanks for the tip on the PayPal key. BTW - I live in the U.S. and that's why I though it was so very odd that a Euro charge was on my PayPal account.

I'll go check out eBay right now - to be honest, I think it's my really old account, from before I was even married.

**SixxOfDiamonds** · 06-27-2009, 07:58 PM

Originally Posted by monkeywrangler71

For creating passwords you don't need to be creative as they should be a random series of characters, not words. I use 1Password on my mac to generate and save secure passwords. It's the form filling software that I originally bought for contesting, but it's real purpose is security. Great piece of software, and an awesome company. I have it on my iPod as well and use it for storing card numbers, software licences, private notes, and of course all my passwords and logins.
/end commercial

Thanks for that tip. I may have to look into purchasing something like that. Sounds like it would come in handy!

**savvy_sniper** · 06-27-2009, 09:38 PM

Whitney,

Sorry I assumed you were not in the U. S. It clearly states under your pic that you are in the Carolinas.

You might have to pay $5 for the key. I got mine when they first came out and they were waiving the fee.

Originally Posted by SixxOfDiamonds

Thanks for the tip on the PayPal key. BTW - I live in the U.S. and that's why I though it was so very odd that a Euro charge was on my PayPal account.

I'll go check out eBay right now - to be honest, I think it's my really old account, from before I was even married.

**MommyBliss** · 06-27-2009, 10:35 PM

I'm so sorry this happened to you.

**SixxOfDiamonds** · 06-27-2009, 11:15 PM

Originally Posted by MommyBliss

I'm so sorry this happened to you.

Thanks. I suppose that's life. Things could be much worse than a $150 fraudulent charge!

**frugalfranny** · 06-28-2009, 12:32 AM

Sorry that happened to you...hope you get everything fixed okay.

I will keep 'lurking' on this one so I can learn too....the charge from your bank is a rip!! And hefty too!

**McD** · 06-28-2009, 09:20 AM

That's about the normal charge for a stop payment. There are quite a few requirements and monitoring on the bank's end for charges that have stop payments on them resulting in the higher cost. They do have their mark-up in there though.

**SixxOfDiamonds** · 06-28-2009, 03:12 PM

Originally Posted by MrsMcDowell

That's about the normal charge for a stop payment. There are quite a few requirements and monitoring on the bank's end for charges that have stop payments on them resulting in the higher cost. They do have their mark-up in there though.

That's interesting to know.

I still haven't received a charge from the $30 bank fee or the $150 fraudulent charge. PayPal still says they're trying to contact Skype (who the payment was made to.)

**McD** · 06-28-2009, 03:24 PM

It won't post on the weekend. You have to wait til the next business day for that. You will most likely see the 30$ fee on Monday after your bank's cut-off fee.