Please be advised, due to a security breach at PayPal, I have had to drop them as my online payment provider. For the time being, I can only accept payment for services via U.S. Mail. I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you.
Below is a synopsis of my recent experience with PayPal. Although I have recommended their service in the past, I feel that in light of these experiences, I must withdraw my recommendation of PayPal. To those who may have acted on my previous recommendation of PayPal, I offer my apology and urge you to consider finding another online payment service.
May 24, 2002
At about 7:30 am, this date I checked my email account at rhmeyer@yahoo.com. I have my mail forwarded to that account from mail@texassportfishing.com.
Upon checking my email I found two correspondence from PayPal dated today. The first one read:
Dear TexasSportsNetwork, You have added Ali4995hgjdg@hotmail.com as a new email address for your PayPal account. If you did not authorize this change or if you need help, please contact customer service at: https://www.paypal.com/ewf/f=ap_email Thank you for using PayPal! Please do not reply to this e-mail. Mail sent to this address cannot be answered. For assistance, log in to your PayPal account and choose the "Help" link in the footer of any page.
End of email
Please note, to use the hyperlink above, it is necessary to log into one's account. If the account has been hacked and the username and/or password have been changed, there is no way to notify PayPal of the breach via the Web site or email and no telephone numbers are published on the site for reporting security breaches.
The second email read:
The primary email for TexasSportsNetwork's PayPal account was changed on May 24, 2002. If you did not authorize this change, please contact us using the link below: https://www.paypal.com/wf/f=ap_email Thanks for using PayPal! Note: When you log in to your PayPal account, be sure that the Web site's URL always begins with "https://www.paypal.com/". The "s" in "https" at the beginning of the URL means you are logging into a secure page. If the URL does not begin with https, you are not on a PayPal page.
As I had NOT authorized any changes to my PayPal account, I immediately attempted to contact PayPal via the URL above. I was not able to log in using either mail@texassportfishing.com (the primary email address) or Ali4995hgjdg@hotmail.com. Apparently, the password had been changed also.
I tried to follow the instructions provided by PayPal, but was unable to access my account and when I used the automated reporting system I only received automated responses; therefore, I went to my bank and placed a stop payment on all transfers from PayPal. It appears that my account had not yet been compromised and I was able to stop payment before the account had been accessed.
I contacted PayPal headquarters by telephone and was told to contact their security department at 1 888 221 1161. Upon calling this number, I learned it was, in fact, the customer service number. The customer service person transferred my call to the voice mail for the PayPal security department. I left my phone number and a description of the problem. To date, PayPal has not responded to my telephone call.
It should be noted, that I had previously received two emails from service@paypal.com stating the following:
Email Dated: Sun, 28 Apr 2002 14:04:50 -0500
Dear User, PayPal is constantly working to increase security for all of our users. To ensure the integrity of our payment network, we conduct frequent checks on our system. Your account has been placed on a restricted status, pending further review. Restricted accounts are limited in their ability to send or withdraw funds. If you have questions concerning this restriction, please contact us using the link below: http://www.paypal.com/wf/f=ra Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. Sincerely, The PayPal Account Review DepartmentNote: When you login to your PayPal account, be sure that the Web site's URL always begins with "https://www.paypal.com/". The "s" in "https" at the beginning of the URL means you are logging into a secure page. If the URL does not begin with https, you are not on a PayPal page.
end of email.
After receiving the email above, I logged into my PayPal account using the hyperlink provided. I transferred money from my PayPal account to my checking account and everything appeared to be functioning normally.
After receiving the notice dated May 24, 2002, I examined the previous emails dated April 28, 2002. Upon examination, I found that the hyperlink, in fact, pointed to http://www.paypal.com.wf:f=ra@216.147.65.206/login.html
It should be noted that this URL is no longer functional.
I checked with ICANN and found that the DNS "216.147.65.206" is in fact registered to:
start of record
Whois Server: whois.geektools.com
Query: 216.147.65.206
Registry: whois.arin.net
Results:
Alabanza, Inc. (NETBLK-ALABANZA-BALT-2)
10 E. Baltimore St. Suite 1300
Baltimore, MD 21244
US
Netname: ALABANZA-BALT-2
Netblock: 216.147.0.0 - 216.147.127.255
Maintainer: ALAB
Coordinator:
Cunningham, Thomas (TC12-ARIN) ipadmin@alabanza.com
410-779-1400
Domain System inverse mapping provided by:
NS.ALABANZA.COM 209.239.47.252
NS2.ALABANZA.COM 209.239.47.201
ADDRESSES WITHIN THIS BLOCK ARE NON-PORTABLE
Record last updated on 26-Jan-2000.
Database last updated on 23-May-2002 19:59:23 EDT.
Results brought to you by the GeekTools WHOIS Proxy
Server results may be copyrighted and are used with permission.
Your host (158.135.8.9) has visited 1 times today.
end of record
I called 1-410-779-1400 and received an automated answering system listing seven choices. When I pressed "0" to speak with an operator, I received a recording from a person who identified herself as "Amy Roney". I left a message explaining the problem and asking them to return my call. To date, May 29, 2002, my call has not been returned.
I contacted PayPal again at 1 888 221 1161 and tried to get the phone number for PayPal security. The clerk would not give me a phone number, but offered to transfer me to the voice mail system. I refused. I had tried the voice mail before and they didn't call back. The clerk stated that the account had been frozen.
At about 12:46 PM I called PayPal again and told the customer service person I needed to have my account frozen. I was transferred to another person who stated that the account had already been frozen. This person also refused to provide a direct contact number for security, offering instead, to transfer me to the voice mail system.
Update: As of June 10, 2002 PayPal investigations has not contacted me regarding this matter nor has PayPal made arrangements to return the balance of my account or restore my account.
Update: June 11, 2002. I contacted PayPal customer service again and spoke with "Bill". I explained that I had not been contacted by PayPal security. I was again referred to "investigations" where I was again asked to leave a voice mail. I called customer service again. This time I learned that my balance was over $700.00. I explained that the balance should be just over $16.00. Therefore, it appears my account has been used by the perpetrators to hold money stolen by fraudulent transactions. This time, I explained that no legitimate transactions occurred after April 28,2002. "Bill" asked if I had received an email from PayPal security. I explained that I had but it told me to log into my account.
Summary:
Based on this experience, I can no longer recommend PayPal as an online payment service and strongly urge any person who may have acted on my past recommendation of PayPal to reconsider their relationship with PayPal. Moreover, the PayPal organization, particularly investigations, seems to be infected with "bureaucratic encephalitis" whereby they avoid dealing with problems by resorting to "standard procedure" regardless of whether the procedure is appropriate.
Update: August 16, 2002
As of this date, I have not been contacted by PayPal Security. PayPal is now requesting that I provide them with my checking account number in order to login. Given the above, "it ain't gonna happen."
Update March 10, 2003
This scam continues and PayPal Security still doesn't have its act together. I still contend that this scam could not be accomplished without complicity on the part of people inside PayPal. More...
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