Online security breach.

[LoricaLady]

Earlier this month I saw a charge on my bank account that was not legitimate. The bank did their thing and caused me to get a refund, but I had to get a replacement credit card from them which is a hassle because of the delay.

I have very restricted and very private purchases. I only use three or four online businesses.

It was quite concerning to me that when I talked to PayPal about it, the representative said that someone had accessed my account illegally. Honestly I was confused at what that he told me and he never resolved the problem. Finally I just decided to discontinue that PayPal account and start another one. He seem to think that would be OK as an answer.

It took me hours just to get to that point. I’m not sure if I am secure or not, and will be watching my bank account to find out.

Please pray for me, and all of us who could be so vulnerable on the net sometimes, to be protected from Internet fraud and scammers.

One tip he gave was that we should change our passwords every three months.

 

[dqhall]

Earlier this month I saw a charge on my bank account that was not legitimate. The bank did their thing and caused me to get a refund, but I had to get a replacement credit card from them which is a hassle because of the delay.

I have very restricted and very private purchases. I only use three or four online businesses.

It was quite concerning to me that when I talked to PayPal about it, the representative said that someone had accessed my account illegally. Honestly I was confused at what that he told me and he never resolved the problem. Finally I just decided to discontinue that PayPal account and start another one. He seem to think that would be OK as an answer.

It took me hours just to get to that point. I’m not sure if I am secure or not, and will be watching my bank account to find out.

Please pray for me, and all of us who could be so vulnerable on the net sometimes, to be protected from Internet fraud and scammers.

One tip he gave was that we should change our passwords every three months.

I ordered a $350. bicycle for exercise. The seller did not send a receipt or shipping date. There was no response to my emails. I opened a complaint with Paypal and my credit card company. Paypal informed me they could do nothing because I already complained to the credit card company. The credit card company informed me they should have a report ready within three months of the time I filed a complaint. That will be mid August. I went to Amazon this time and selected a highly rated seller. I bought a 21 speed with disc brakes for $200. It was delivered in four days. I assembled it and rode. It is a little wobbly. Either it is a cheap bike, or I am wobbly at age 62.

 

[thecolorsblend]

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[chevyontheriver]

Earlier this month I saw a charge on my bank account that was not legitimate. The bank did their thing and caused me to get a refund, but I had to get a replacement credit card from them which is a hassle because of the delay.

I have very restricted and very private purchases. I only use three or four online businesses.

It was quite concerning to me that when I talked to PayPal about it, the representative said that someone had accessed my account illegally. Honestly I was confused at what that he told me and he never resolved the problem. Finally I just decided to discontinue that PayPal account and start another one. He seem to think that would be OK as an answer.

It took me hours just to get to that point. I’m not sure if I am secure or not, and will be watching my bank account to find out.

Please pray for me, and all of us who could be so vulnerable on the net sometimes, to be protected from Internet fraud and scammers.

One tip he gave was that we should change our passwords every three months.

Here is another tip. If someone calls or emails you saying that you were hacked, be very suspicious and give them zero information. They may be social engineering hacking you, asking for passwords and account numbers to get you. I get about one of those a day. Usually from 'Amazon' claiming there is a suspicious purchase. They want to scare you into cooperating to avoid a thousand dollar charge. In reality they want your info to 'go to the bank' on you. US mail is the safest way to communicate a real fraud.

 

[LoricaLady]

I ordered a $350. bicycle for exercise. The seller did not send a receipt or shipping date. There was no response to my emails. I opened a complaint with Paypal and my credit card company. Paypal informed me they could do nothing becausThe credit card company informed me they should have a report ready within three months of the time I filed a complaint. That will be mid August. I went to Amazon this time and selected a highly rated seller. I bought a 21 speed with disc brakes for $200. It was delivered in four days. I assembled it and rode. It is a little wobbly. Either it is a cheap bike, or I am wobbly at age 62.

That is interesting and puzzling. I had already complained to my credit union, which issues my debit card. And yet a PayPal Representative spent maybe an hour trying to help me get things resolved. I wonder if it would help to try again with PayPal. Maybe that was a while back and they are more user-friendly now.

Again though the representative did not solve the issue.

 

[LoricaLady]

I have never been through an experience like this where the bank didn't imply that what happened is somehow my fault.

The password I used was e=p6Ez0p.27de,L_n3sW\eht* which howsecureismypassword.net assures me would take two hundred decillion years for a computer to break. But you know what? I'm thinking maybe the bank's compromised network incident from last week might've had something to do with my account getting breached. Call me crazy, but let's explore that possibility first, mmkay?

Anyway. It just bugs me when these banks reflexively blame the customer like that. Not cool.

* No, that wasn't/isn't the actual password; illustration purposes only

I used to assume the banks didn’t make mistakes. I was wrong. I caught them in an error a couple of years ago. It wasn’t very big and it was fixed, but it made me realize I had to be careful with banks too.

 

[LoricaLady]

Here is another tip. If someone calls or emails you saying that you were hacked, be very suspicious and give them zero information. They may be social engineering hacking you, asking for passwords and account numbers to get you. I get about one of those a day. Usually from 'Amazon' claiming there is a suspicious purchase. They want to scare you into cooperating to avoid a thousand dollar charge. In reality they want your info to 'go to the bank' on you. US mail is the safest way to communicate a real fraud.

Yes we all have to be so careful. What do you mean about the US mail?

 

[chevyontheriver]

Yes we all have to be so careful. What do you mean about the US mail?

It's still a major crime to commit fraud using the US mail. Smart thieves know that and will not use the US mail. Phone calls and email do not have the fraud protections of the US mail. They are the wild west in comparison.

 

[thecolorsblend]

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[chevyontheriver]

This. All of this.

Something like 70% of hacking and 90% of identity theft comes from social engineering. I've dealt with these types of thieves in a professional capacity before. They can be convincing at first. But they all typically use similar tactics so it's easy to catch on to their scam after a while.

My son took a call from one of these 'Amazon' scammers. He played along. He said 'yes' the charge was legit and he wanted to pay it over the phone. He dragged it on and on until the scammers realized he was scamming them. Then they hung up. He learned all of that from me, I'm afraid.

 

[LoricaLady]

It's still a major crime to commit fraud using the US mail. Smart thieves know that and will not use the US mail. Phone calls and email do not have the fraud protections of the US mail. They are the wild west in comparison.

That’s interesting.

 

[dqhall]

That is interesting and puzzling. I had already complained to my credit union, which issues my debit card. And yet a PayPal Representative spent maybe an hour trying to help me get things resolved. I wonder if it would help to try again with PayPal. Maybe that was a while back and they are more user-friendly now.

Again though the representative did not solve the issue.

If my credit card issuer does not get results, I may go back to Paypal.

 

[LoricaLady]

If my credit card issuer does not get results, I may go back to Paypal.

My problem was related to PayPal. The PP representative said that someone had gotten into my account there. I will still use PP but will be watching it like a hawk. I will also be using the direct deduction option with PP, and others, from my bank so I am less at risk for having to get a replacement card.