A few nights ago, I noticed an anomaly on a Paypal account. I got an email from Paypal notifying me they had debited a particular credit card for a “purchase” I had made. Uhhhhh… That was a red flag to me because that card was brand new and had NEVER been used at all. Without going into detail, suffice it to say that Paypal knew it was knew and had never been used without my telling them. They knew the background on this card account, so without my knowing it, they had been continuously denying payment daily on an unauthorized charge to that card since August 28th, but had never told me what was happening until I got that innocuous email 3 nights ago, then called them. They only told me what was really happening when I talked with them, not in the email.

Suffice it to say that ONLY Paypal and I know the account number of that card… and both of us KNOW it’s NEVER been used. That means that someone has found a way to discover the number on that card without me telling them. There is NO piece of paper anywhere that has the number of that card, so they didn’t get it through the mail. To me, the fraudster had to get that number through Paypal alone. There’s no other way.

The biller who repeatedly made the attempt to charge my account for some unknown purchase (the bill didn’t say what was purchased and Paypal says it doesn’t know either) is a company owned by a well-known and respected internet marketer in Austin, TX. The name of the company appears along with the company’s phone number on the bill. Paypal said they started trying to bill me for the “purchase” on August 28th, and when Paypal declined to pay because I always keep zero funds in that account except when I’ve actually added money to pay for an actual purchase, the company kept repeating their actions and submitted the charge every 3 days since then. 

For whatever reason, Paypal never told me this until someone sent money to my Paypal account on October 9th and the TX company immediately submitted their charge on October 10th again. Paypal then tied up the money in my account, sent me the email notifying me of the “charge to my card,” notated charge “pending” in my Paypal account, and waited for my call. After talking with me, they immediately returned the funds to my account, but said they expect the company will do it again and again. 

They think that the company thinks they have a legitimate charge to make on my account. But that’s impossible. Unless they’re thieves who stole my card number. And I do not believe they are.

I believe someone else is using this company to make these fraudulent purchases and perhaps has an inside way to then take that money from that company once it has stolen my money through Paypal. Either it’s an inside job in that company or outsiders are using their billing system to steal money through Paypal, then route it back to the fraudsters.

I left a message with this TX company. Haven’t heard from them yet. But because the nature of my card and its account number, it’s pretty impossible for this to have happened, unless the number itself was stolen from Paypal. And it’s also pretty impossible for the TX company to have any way of knowing what that card number was to even make the charge to my account, so I don’t think they’re the original instigators here. It appears to me that someone stole the number (via computer systems) and are using the TX company (against their knowledge) to make the fraudulent charges, then perhaps following up and siphoning that money back to the fraudsters through the TX company.

Just my opinion… but thought I’d let yall know… something fishy is going on with Paypal charges right now. Be sure to keep a close watch on your charges, especially knowing that even if Paypal sees something weird is going on, they may wait OVER A MONTH to even let you know about it.

Anyone else heard of these scams going on lately?

Robin

I have gotten many fake Paypal emails and I always report them to Paypal.  I also read another article about someone whose Paypal account was compromised.  We always have to be on the alert and be smart about our internet activities!

@hildaalanisgonzalez  Hilda! That’s kinda too creepy weird, too similar, and too coincidental, lol! BUT, in my case, I discovered the charge and noticed it said it was a “signature purchase.” At first I thought they were just “holding” a certain amount back to ensure there were funds in case the payer wanted a refund. But no… after I called, I talked with three different departments, including the fraud department, who put the money back in my account immediately. That was on Friday around 4:00pm.

Around 5:30pm, that same company made another charge against my account… and WHOOSH… out went the money and back to them again! OMG!!!! Before I knew what had happened, I started thinking that maybe I needed to get that money out of my account BEFORE those crooks grabbed it again… but alas, I was too late! Only minutes too late! At ten till 6pm, I called Paypal again, and went through the same three departments with all new people. Ugh!

But that’s when a little Sherlock like me decided she was reeeeeeeally going to dig deeper and we discovered they had actually been attempting to grab that money every couple of days since the middle of JULY!!!!!

Okay, my big OMG question for Paypal… is why the heck have they not contacted me before, knowing full well that someone’s been stalking my account? I mean, Paypal has known this since JULY!!!! These people did this 27 times… trying to take money out of a zero-based account that I ONLY put money in when I’m paying for a specific thing… and only put the exact amount in that account so no one can steal from me ever again… whether by computer glitch or on purpose!

Well, October 9th, someone sent money to that account unexpectedly and on the 10th our little greedy friends zapped it out. Paypal puts it back in on the 12th… and greedy friends zapp it out the next hour. Unbelievable.

Today, the 13th, Paypal put the money back, with assurances that this time, since they allowed it to go through, this company CAN’T zap it out again, as we’ve now closed that account number permanently. They put Paypal money in my account, opened a dispute, and will retrieve the funds from that company themselves.

How did all this happen? Well, that little Sherlock and I found that company’s name on a $5.00 product I had purchased the beginning of June. It was a dud and their empty forum was filled with stories of “bait and switch,” but no one had reported they had been attacked directly in their wallet via credit card stalking. 

I’m truly shocked by this company’s “credit card stalking” habits! And it’s run by two guys that I had tremendous respect for prior to this. Not so now!!!!

No wonder their “support line” did not answer or return my calls. The first message I left them, I told them that I was immediately calling the police and filing a report about this. I will DEFINITELY follow up on that. And perhaps call a few of my reporter buddies who live in Austin, too. 

It’s bad enough that we have to beware of blatant criminals and hackers. It’s worse when people you respect have such nasty business practices that cross the criminal line, too! Fraud? You bet. I’ll be calling their Attorney General’s Office on Monday. They usually have special prosecutors to deal with these kinds of crimes… once they can get solid evidence that it’s a repeated practice. At the very least, people need to be warned when dealing with that company that anything goes, including stalking and unscrupulous credit card practices following blatant bait and switch sales.

I’m still just… just… shocked… that these guys are doing this! Live and learn…

Robin Carlisle