PayPal alerted me that my account was hacked on Thursday morning. The thieves were attempting to transfer nearly $3,000.00 from my checking account. Understandably I was major pissed off. PayPal agent informed me that if transfer somehow slipped through the money would find its way back to our account in 3-5 business days. TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE!
When telephone conversation with PayPal ended I immediately called the bank and froze our accounts. It took two days to straighten out the mess. We had to file consent forms with the bank to initiate the freeze and filed even more paperwork to launch a criminal investigation. The account remained frozen for nearly 36 hours during which time we were unable to access our own money.
My husband who is a law enforcement official had to take three hours from work to sort through the red tape involved, and was none too pleased (to say the least) with PayPal's limited response. When we returned from the bank I contacted PP and angrily informed them they miserably failed in their primary role as a barrier between their customers and criminals.
In my initial conversation with PP agent regarding the breach I was told to rely on PayPal to put things back in order. At no time did anyone suggest I call the bank in an attempt to shut it down on my end. If I hadn't taken upon myself to do so there's no doubt that money would've vanished from our account.
I'm writing of this experience because my husband just informed me there have been three official complaints of hijacked PayPal accounts in the past 72 hours in our immediate area. People are devestated to learn that local law-enforcement agencies are basically powerless when a crime is committed out of their jurisdiction.
There's reason to believe this breach is widespread so if you number among the millions of people with a PayPal account I strongly urge you to monitor it. THE BEST ADVICE I CAN OFFER IF YOU SHOULD FALL VICTIM IS TO CALL THE FINANCIAL INSTITUTION INVOLVED IMMEDIATELY. Otherwise, your money could be tied up for quite some time.
NEEDLESS TO SAY I AM NOW RESEARCHING ALTERNATIVES TO PAYPAL.
When telephone conversation with PayPal ended I immediately called the bank and froze our accounts. It took two days to straighten out the mess. We had to file consent forms with the bank to initiate the freeze and filed even more paperwork to launch a criminal investigation. The account remained frozen for nearly 36 hours during which time we were unable to access our own money.
My husband who is a law enforcement official had to take three hours from work to sort through the red tape involved, and was none too pleased (to say the least) with PayPal's limited response. When we returned from the bank I contacted PP and angrily informed them they miserably failed in their primary role as a barrier between their customers and criminals.
In my initial conversation with PP agent regarding the breach I was told to rely on PayPal to put things back in order. At no time did anyone suggest I call the bank in an attempt to shut it down on my end. If I hadn't taken upon myself to do so there's no doubt that money would've vanished from our account.
I'm writing of this experience because my husband just informed me there have been three official complaints of hijacked PayPal accounts in the past 72 hours in our immediate area. People are devestated to learn that local law-enforcement agencies are basically powerless when a crime is committed out of their jurisdiction.
There's reason to believe this breach is widespread so if you number among the millions of people with a PayPal account I strongly urge you to monitor it. THE BEST ADVICE I CAN OFFER IF YOU SHOULD FALL VICTIM IS TO CALL THE FINANCIAL INSTITUTION INVOLVED IMMEDIATELY. Otherwise, your money could be tied up for quite some time.
NEEDLESS TO SAY I AM NOW RESEARCHING ALTERNATIVES TO PAYPAL.