Watch your paypal accounts! :(

[kscwgirl]

Our paypal was linked to our bank account. Jeff got malware on his computer and I had some on mine. I got rid of mine immediately and his took a little while. I logged on to paypal today and all of our money is gone.. almost $600 in total, including $273 directly out of bank account. The lady in dispute center says it usually happens w/ a virus on your computer.

Paypal has opened disputes and I have to call the bank in the morning to see how fast we can get that money back but for now I am seriously stressed out.

Paypal is sending us a keychain authenticator, if you can get one on your paypal, I strongly recommend it. It has a changing number code on it that has to be entered to make any payments.

Just be careful guys, I dont' want to see this happen to anyone else. :(

[aggiefamily]

Oh sweetie I am so sorry! I hope you get your money back fast!

Do you know where you got the malware?

[mlrw70]

Thanks for the heads up, mine is linked too. Hope everything works out for you.

[joelsgirl]

That is VERY scary Sara! Thanks for the warning.

[Emmy]

This freaks me out - I hate that my account is linked...I really need to take that part away.

[jessica31876]

Never heard of that happening before. Sorry it happened to you. I check my bank acct everyday so if that happened I would be right on it. (not to mention they wouldnt get much money from our acct because it only has like 50 bucks in it right now LOL)

[crecia27]

That really sucks, I'm sorry!! Thanks for the heads up though!

[Lyd]

Well - I already told you what I think, Sara. But, I just want to give you some HUGS, and I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for you that you'll get all your money back.

[nonnie]

WOW!!! Sara I am so sorry this happened to you! But thank you so much for the warning - I am right now going to update my anti virus software ~ how did you know you had it on your computer?

[ColleenSwerb]

OH NO!! Sara, I'm so sorry lover!! I'll keep my fingers crossed for a speedy resolution!!

[emmasmommy]

love you baby

[kscwgirl]

I know where I got the malware.. but I dont' know where Jeff got it. Mine was called AntiMalwareDoctor, which is actually malware that installs itself on your computer. I got mine as a pop up from a blog I was at on Saturday. I got rid of it immediately late sat night/early sun morning.. literally within an hour after I got it.

Thanks girls for the hugs. :(

[MamaBee]

Oh, man... mean people suck!! Thanks so much for spreading the word! I hope you get your money back!

[Jengerbread88]

Thank you for the heads up! I have been lazy about linking my account and never got around to it, so that may be a good thing! I may just keep up the debit-card only thing!

[sprauncey1]

Thanks Sara for the info...I'm always worried that something like that will happen to us. I ordered a security key from paypal ($5 one time cost).

This may be a stupid question...is there a way for your paypal to NOT be linked to a bank account but still have it accessible (push the money to paypal from bank instead of pull from paypal?). I have used paypal for so many purchases online (digiscrapping and ebay) but the security of it still worries me. And viruses are getting more and more rampant it seems like despite anti-virus programs and filters. Sigh. Stupid people!

[taracotta7]

So sorry! Thanks for the heads up. I am going to check my account and get the key from Paypal.

I pray that everything gets worked out VERY quickly for you.

[heathergw]

oh hon, I'm so sorry... that totally sucks! HUGE HUGS and I hope you get your money back!

[ericksoc]

Thanks for the heads up - hope it all gets resolved for you.

[Buggie185]

Ugh! I hope you get your money back! :mad:

My paypal isn't linked to my bank. When I make a paypal purchase it comes out of my credit card. I do have some money going into paypal as payments though.

I'm so ignorant when it comes to this so I'm not sure if there is anything I should do to increase security. Any tips from anyone? :unsure:

[kaylaugh]

I have a separate bank account just for Paypal to link to. And I'm closing that one as soon as I can. I'm going to close my Paypal too...it's set up for business and I'm out of business...I'll do my online transactions with my DH's account from now on and it's only linked to the debit card, not the actual account.

Kristi

[krystalhartley]

That sucks, Sara!

I didn't realize they had authenticators...was hoping fo an app version (since that's how I do my World of Warcraft authenticator). However, they do have a mobile/txt version that you can get for free if people are interested.

Txt charges apply, but I've got unlimited txting so not an issue for me. Just signed up. Thanks for the heads up!

[Lizzy257]

That really suck Sara. Hope you can get it resolved asap.

[ryliesmom]

That's scary. Thanks for the warning. I'm definitely going to look into getting a key. Hope you get your money back fast!

[nikkiARNGwife]

I can totally relate Sara...several years ago we got a keystroke virus on our computer and back then I had paypal linked to our bank acct. Whoever it was ordered an 1800 dollar laptop and totally wiped out our bank acct. I was online and got an verification email sent to me right when it happened, called paypal immediately and their customer service was HORRIBLE...I was literally on the phone with them for over 2 weeks trying to get our money back..I'm not sure if they have changed their policies or anything but back then (2005 I think) basically their answer to me was "we'll file a dispute but there's really nothing we can do"...It took nearly THREE months for them to refund our money...I had the man's name/address/phone number and all kinds of proof that we didn't make the purchase but still their "hands were tied". We filed a police report in Dallas where the guy was from, and the ONLY reason we got our money back was b/c DH immediately called the company that he'd made the purchase from (Newegg) and explained what had happened..they cancelled the order and were a million times more helpful than paypal...so jist of story...I don't use paypal and I will NEVER link my bank acct to something like that again. It only takes one time to get burned I guess.

[sannajeannine]

Oh man....I'm so sorry that happened to you, Sara. Thank you for the heads up! (((HUGS)))

[kendallt]

Oh Sara, I'm so sorry this happened, hon! Sending you lots of :hugs: and prayers that you can get your money back!

[HeatherKS]

Ugh. That sucks! I hope they get it taken care of for you quickly! :(

[Melissa Bennett]

Oh my gosh, I am so sorry that happened to you. I hope they work with you quickly and get your money to you asap. Thanks Krystal for the tip. I just signed up for the mobile security key.

[nietis]

That just sucks!! Hope you get your money back real soon, sweetie!!!

And thanks for the info... I better watch out my paypal too.

[amystoffel]

yikes that is scary! i scanned my computer for malware a few days ago after not having done it for quite awhile, but my computer was running really slow and pages were loading really slow so i thought i should scan....28 malicious items were found! hope you get your money back soon...so so scary.

[eranslow]

that's horrible Sara!!! Makes me re-think having our bank account linked to our pay-pal. I hope you get your $ back soon!!

[rachaelsscraps]

I got one of those keychains a while back. While they're a PITA I feel safer having one on my account!!!!

[DawnMarch]

I'm another one who only has paypal charge to a credit card -- it seems credit card companies are much more reasonable in dealing with fraudulent charges. With all the horrors I've heard about paypal, I'd never trust them with my bank info.

[mommy2boyz]

So sorry! Thanks for the heads up!

[g8rbeckie]

Sara - I'm SO sorry!!

My dad is a huge e-bay buyer/seller and he's had both his e-bay account and his paypal account hacked before. So he now has a separate bank account with limited funds that he links to his paypal. Maybe this would help?

I have to figure out what to do, we got some type of message that I have $xx amt of dollars left to spend before they will require me to add a bank account. I don't really understand that since I use a credit card all the time?

[lizzyfizzy]

oh no!!!!! :(

[Gemma]

That sucks. I'm sorry it happened to you! :(

I hope you get the money back asap!