I read the Paypal post with great interest ... then I realized something that might actually help anyone that this has happened to.
As a video store owner if person #2 on a contract rents a movie and fails to return it and I go after the person who signs the contract (person #1) I can be SUED BY PERSON #1
Now, I know this is a different industry but it seems to me that it should fall in the same category.
I am not an attorney, but I don't see how you can legally be held liable for money owed to a company by another person simply because they used your computer.
I'll bet there are some unique legal arguements here. And this could probably have effects with other businesses, too.
posted on January 21, 2002 07:15:27 PM new
Of course the flip side of the coin is:
Do you really want to open up this Pandora's Box for fraudsters?
New scam! Defraud on a your computer and then tell PP to take a hike? Gee Mr PayPal, it wasn't me, it was my dog Sam (or maybe his son)!
Somehow I have a feeling that PP has some sharp sharks in their legal dept who have reviewed precedent & have concluded that fraud committed on an individual's PC is THAT person's responsibility to straighten out
posted on January 21, 2002 09:13:57 PM new
i dont think this has to do with password,one ex room mate of a business partner's daughter used the pc to access his own account,this account eventually has a deficit,aka he owes paypal money.
paypal software concludes this deficit account is linked to the other healthy accounts with mucho dinero in them,so LOCK THEM ALL UP,SAID PAYPAL!!!!!
see,guard your pc,your isp and your email addr etc with your life if you like to eat!!
but then we dont always know the whole story.
posted on January 22, 2002 12:08:33 AM new
Well, these methods of fraud protection assume that a single computer equals a single user. This is something new. eBay and now Paypal are using the same strategy to cut down on fraud. I agree, the moral is never let anyone else use your business computer.
posted on January 22, 2002 05:15:46 AM new
the worst thing of all is that this poor guy will have his CASH locked up for a long time at least 30 days before he gets it back!
posted on January 22, 2002 07:09:26 AM new
Not to defend PayPal but if the winner of one of your auctions emailed you that they did not place the bid, someone using their computer did, would you just take their word for it?????
I think maybe PP needs a better system for handling these types of problems because they are bound to happen, but I don't see anyone just taking someone's word, especially where money is concerned.
How would someone prove that they did not give permission, were not aware it was going on and have absolutely no ties to the alleged guilty party?
posted on January 22, 2002 08:13:52 AM new
I don't see any reason to defend Paypal on this issue. They locked the accounts, that's an appropriate step -- but at least respond to the account holder(s) with enough information so they may be able to resolve this issue.
The account holder is willing to resolve the problem by paying off whatever is owed, but Paypal is just not reponding.
Paypal is saying "you're guilty...you're guilty...you're guilty". The account holder is saying "I am innocent, but since this account is very crucial to my business I will pay the fine and prove it later". Paypal continues "you're guilty...you're guilty...you're guilty..."
posted on January 22, 2002 08:29:53 AM new
paypal never said he is guilty,i think paypal is snow under with all the disputes piling up on its desk!!
the author never said he is willing to pay off the debt of this ex roommate,first he does not have his paypal id,nor does he know how much is involved.
what about if this deficit is more than what he has in his own accounts??
i think this case would be resolved in his favor once paypal is satisfied he is not related to this deficit account.
one simple way of making sure no one can use your pc while you are away is to remove the keyboard.
posted on January 22, 2002 09:15:57 AM new
Stopwhining is right. Paypal didn't say he was guilty and the person never said he would pay it. The problem is paypal won't tell him the amount owed, maybe if it isn't alot he would pay it. But, I still think that that roommate had the password to PayPal. Think about this. When you go to paypal on your computer your email address is already there, I think because of Cookies. Then all you have to do is enter your password and your in to your account. I have never used a different email address to enter because it wouldn't work because I have no password for the different email address. Now, I wouldn't think of going into paypal with a different computer and put my email address and password in there because you would never know if that computer can store your information. I also wouldn't go into a different computer to enter any password that I didn't want other people to know. This is my opinion. When you to to a cyber Cafe or Kinkos why would you access any of your accounts that need passwords. I wouldn't do that, but that's me.
posted on January 22, 2002 11:08:26 AM new
there are cases where you will need to access your paypal account on another pc,say you are away and have been using the paypal debit card and you want to check your balance,a cybercafe (overseas) or kinko or airport.
or when you are away,you want to make sure someone has made payment or if you need to make payment.
nothing is 100% secure,think of bank ATM,someone could confront you with a weapon and force you to withdraw your daily limit from your account.many cardholders have their password scribbled on the back of their card.
i find it hard to believe he is going to appear on tv shows to confess how loose an operation he is running,consider he is doing 75k a month.
posted on January 22, 2002 06:50:32 PM new
I use two different computers to log into my PayPal account. Say I have an employee and one day while I am not there they access their Paypal account and then they get a new job and move away. A year later they get a fraud chargeback on their PayPal account so PayPal freezes their account ... and mine, along with my niece who once checked her paypal balance on my computer. Oh, and my best friend's daughter who I Paypaled money to for a graduation present. She didn't understand how PayPal works so I showed her how to log into her account on my home computer.
Sorry, but that cannot possibly be legal. If I were the person whose account was locked I too would be looking to the media for help along with a lawyer.
Heaven forbid if you get a divorce and then your wife decides to destroy your eBay business by playing with her Paypal account.
posted on January 22, 2002 07:03:09 PM new
I don't ever think they stated that the roommate had their own account. He said something about the ISP but there are a lot of people using the same ISP that would have nothing to do with paypal. It has to do with the computer and I still say when they went to paypal and the email address was there all they had to do was enter the password and your in. Maybe he used the daughters email address and set up his own account. Well, PayPal looks at the account, see's the email address the same, maybe not the password, but the address is the same. What do you think PayPal thinks. It is a mystery, do you think we will ever know the answer.
posted on January 31, 2002 06:39:15 PM new
Wasn't he the one that was going to tell us when he was on 60 minutes. I haven't been to the PayPal board lately maybe the results are there. Or maybe we will never know. Oh how I hate those flashing ads....
