Paypal account was used for unauthorised transaction

[roguesw]

My paypal account was used for 3 unauthorised transaction to an entity called playfish.
This had happened on 6/17 and the last time I accessed my account was on 6/15 to send a payment to Mac here on CPF.
So please beware and check your accounts.
It seemed, a third party had gained access to my paypal and used it to send funds, all relatively low value, 3 x 35 dollars, but just a warning to all to check their paypal, since we all use it so often .

Also, any recommendations on how to check if they installed a keystroke reader on my pc that allowed them to gain access to my pc

Thanks for your help
Best regards
Des

 

[mechBgon]

Also, any recommendations on how to check if they installed a keystroke reader on my pc that allowed them to gain access to my pc

Antivirus software is a good way to check for software-type keystroke loggers. If you have feeble antivirus software (Avast, AVG, McAfee, CA come to mind) then I suggest uninstalling it and installing a free trialware of Kaspersky Antivirus, which has relatively good detection rates. Update the virus definitions and run a full system scan. At the end of the 15-day trial period, you can right-click the red "K" icon in your system tray, choose Exit, and then uninstall it. It uninstalls cleanly. Since some people object to anything Russian, let me mention in advance that Kaspersky Lab is based in Russia. But they know their stuff.

Hardware-mode keystroke loggers are out there. Hopefully no one's broken into your home and installed one on your PC :tinfoil: but if they did, one place it could be located is between your keyboard plug and your PC (assuming it's not a laptop).

A subverted router and/or modem can also be used to divert you to a faked version of PayPal's site so the bad guys can get a copy of your log-in credentials. how to secure your router against subversion. In the past, attacks on routers and modems have been done using maliciously-built Flash advertisements, for example. A "hard reset" to factory settings, followed by securing the device, will clear out a subverted router or modem.

There are some other methods of attack, too, some of which are beyond your control (PayPal getting hacked, for example). If you haven't already done so, you might want to go through my security guide at http://www.mechbgon.com/security for some further security steps.

Hope that helps, and thanks for the heads-up

 

[MarNav1]

Happened to me last year. 3 x $1690 in one day. Bank and or PP replaced the funds but they aren't in any particular hurry to do so. Took about 10 BUSINESS days. No problems since but they also won't tell you how it was done either. Funny how they won't tell you how somebody stole your money (they act like it's their money) so you can protect yourself.

 

[IHA]

Do you have kids, or anyone in your home who have access to your PP account?

This is Playfish... http://www.playfish.com/

 

[TooManyGizmos]

IHA ..... I refuse to click that link and allow them to store cookies & such on my system.


That's like ..... the stove is HOT .... touch it and see !

not me

.

 

[roguesw]

I have never visited playfish nor do i have any family in my home, i am a single person.
so the most likely scenario is someone managed to steal my login and password for paypal.
I filed a dispute with paypal and ran a virus scan using kaspersky and its come up empty.
So now, just waiting for them to give me back a refund.
Luckily, paypal alerted me to the unauthorised transaction, otherwise, it would have been a long time before i knew it. It seems paypal was doing its job with monitoring transactions.
The lucky thing was, the transaction took place on 6/17 and immediately, paypal locked my account. So they were monitoring it.
Now to wait for my money to go back in again.
Des

 

[Bogus1]

The same thing happened with me with Playfish for 2x $100 orders. Then I got a remark back from playfish that I should protect my passwords better. Paypal didn't tell me how they did this either. I was running anti Virus before (Norton) with constant updates and now I'm running with 2x antivirus programs and it's a big waste of time!

No one had access to my computer and I had to notice the theft, otherwise it would have been permanent. Maybe since then playfish is being watched? This was months ago.

 

[callmaster]

It's happened to me as well, right after I made a $300 payment. No one accessed my account though. I did log in from another network at work (using an IP based from another country) so I suppose that was the reason.

A call to their customer service fixed that. Had to change password, reconfirm something and had to upload some documents with proof of cc information.

 

[Norm]

I've been using one of these since they first became availible https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webs...iven/securitycenter/PayPalSecurityKey-outside

 

[roguesw]

So this has happened to 3 members here on the forum already with regards to the suspicious playfish site.
I hope everyone got their money refunded.

 

[PhotonWrangler]

I've been using one of these since they first became availible https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webs...iven/securitycenter/PayPalSecurityKey-outside

Same here. I snapped one up as soon as they were available. And my CPF name is totally different from my PayPal name.

 

[Stillphoto]

I've been using one of these since they first became availible https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webs...iven/securitycenter/PayPalSecurityKey-outside

Yep same here. Loving it.

 

[paintballdad]

I've been using one of these since they first became availible https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webs...iven/securitycenter/PayPalSecurityKey-outside

Same here, another layer of security couldn't hurt. You can also use it on your ebay account.

 

[Norm]

Same here. I snapped one up as soon as they were available. And my CPF name is totally different from my PayPal name.

Another good, hint same here.
Norm

 

[Monocrom]

This, and other horror stories, is why I don't have PayPal; and never will.

Sometimes you miss out every now & then, if a private seller only takes PayPal. But it's probably less of a headache in the long run.