billy8156
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posted on February 16, 2006 06:26:12 AM
For the last month I've been getting a lot of fake emails from saying I've sent $xxx.xx to various people.
Usually when you get these emails it will say Dear PayPal Member, or sometimes your email address.
However lately the emails have been coming through my real first and last name! Here is the strange thing. EVERYWHERE except on PayPal I always have used my middle initial, PayPal was the only place I dropped the middle initial simple as a typo when first signing up long time ago.
These fake emails are coming through with my first and last name only!
Warning, guard your PayPal account or better yet drop it! In my eBay business I just started removing PayPal as a payment option and now got a real merchant account for Mastercard/Visa/Discover. I've had no drop in sales and have received many emails from customers saying they're glad I use a real merchant account as they're getting afraid to use PayPal too.
Bill
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paloma91
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posted on February 16, 2006 07:12:59 AM
Can you tell me about the merchant account you use? I am thinking about doing the same thing but it might not be for a small time seller like myself
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TnErnie
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posted on February 16, 2006 07:42:28 AM
Paloma - I don't know about Billy, but I just got my own merchant account through CardService International - http://www.csi-usa-corp.com
I've never been happier and my sales are as good or better than before. I love being PayPal-free. 
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mikes4x4andtruckrepair
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posted on February 16, 2006 10:30:03 AM
You may have sold something to someone and they sold your paypal email address and your name to a spammer. That would be one way they got your name.
They say your memory's the second thing to go, I just can't remember what the first thing is.
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agitprop
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posted on February 16, 2006 01:00:32 PM
Billy revealed: However lately the emails have been coming through my real first and last name! Here is the strange thing. EVERYWHERE except on PayPal I always have used my middle initial, PayPal was the only place I dropped the middle initial simple as a typo when first signing up long time ago.
Quite possibly an insider job. More common than realised, and often goes undetected in companies with lax internal security. You may recall the AOL employee who sold details on a few million account holders to an identity theft ring, or the various cases of offshore/outsourced employees in third world countries selling financial data on US/UK customers for pennies. Mostly detected by chance than design. Real financial institutions guard your personal data like gold.
Home of the best eBay auction fee & PayPal calculators: http://auctionfeecalculator.com
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sparkz
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posted on February 16, 2006 02:22:46 PM
I wonder if it's the work of the same person who stole the information on 25,000 Paypal debit cards?
If Murphy's law is correct, everything East of the San Andreas Fault will slide into the Atlantic
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blackjack21
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posted on February 16, 2006 02:44:03 PM
I think a reputable merchant account with a good track record is what a lot of us need, especially since Paypal and that suspended fraudulent multi-time false claim filer from Mexico ripped many of us off. I'm referring to my thread last weeked called "Chronic chargeback history ignored by Paypal/ebay".
Any reliable alternative to Paypal is a GREAT IDEA!
Jack
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paloma91
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posted on February 17, 2006 07:34:27 AM
Thanks Blackjack, I'll check it out
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billy8156
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posted on February 19, 2006 06:48:13 AM
http://www.paybyweb.com/ is where I got my merchant account. Its been up and running about 2 weeks and been doing great.
And best of all my money is in my bank account every morning when I wake up. I do not have to say "withdraw my funds" and pray. Just like clock work my money is in my FDIC insured bank account.
FREE AT LAST, FREE AT LAST, OH PAYPAL I'M FREE AT LAST!!
Billy
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fluffythewondercat
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posted on February 19, 2006 08:20:15 AM
It seems quite likely PayPal itself gives your name out and it's not even as nefarious as employee theft.
I received an invitation to participate in a San Jose-based focus group on PayPal. The research firm leading the group is legitimate. It is quite clear to me that they asked PayPal for a list of local users; there would be no point in inviting someone from Poughkeepsie. The invite was sent to my main PayPal address.
Read PayPal's laughable Privacy Policy sometimes. It doesn't limit them, in any real sense, from sharing your information with whoever they choose. Loopholes abound.
fLufF
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carolinetyler
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posted on February 19, 2006 02:01:33 PM
I've received a few of these using my real name - very scary - I hope everyone who get spoofs turns them in to Ebay and Paypal so they can shut them down or investigate. It may not do a world of good, but they sure can't do anything about them if they don't know about em.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 Caroline
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billy8156
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posted on February 20, 2006 09:02:10 AM
I quite reporting eBay and PayPal spoofs about a year ago. I simply get too many. It is not my responsiblity to help eBay and PayPal track down their hackers. I don't get paid for forwarding spoof to them but since I recieve over 100 per day now it would take too much of my time.
I have simply stopped using PayPal, went to a real merchant account. PayPal just lost over $1000/month in fees from me! Next will be eBay, with my other websites up and starting to produce more sales than eBay I'm probably less than 6 months from pulling the plug on eBay! eBay can kiss an average of $8000/month in fees good buy!
Lets see, my websites and the dedicated server cost me $150/month ($1800/year), advertising about $1,000/month ($12,000/year) and generate more sales than eBay. Here's what eBay cost me last year, nearly $90,000 in fees and $200 in Extra Strength Tylenol....You do the math!
eBay is for people who don't know how to sell and advertise their websites via other means....
Billy
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paloma91
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posted on February 20, 2006 09:38:02 AM
I don't know if this helps or not. I had a few email addresses listed with paypal. At one point I was going to sell using one and the other to buy with. Well, since I decided not to sell using paypal that one email acct just sat listed on my paypal account. It has never been associated with my dealings with ebay. All of a suddent I was getting paypal & ebay spoof & phishing emails to that one acct only. You know the kind, "your paypal acct is in danger of being closed", "Your ebay account will be closed unless you respond". "You just received $100,00,00,000.00 from a Nigerian king", BLA BLA BLA. .. Paypal verified that the emails were not theirs. Interestly, as soon as I deleted that one email address off of my paypal acct, those types of emails started to decrease down to almost zero. The only kind I have received recently is one " Learn how to buy and sell online with Ebay from the Ebay Experts " email.
Interesting, don't you think.
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ewora
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posted on February 20, 2006 10:37:17 AM
I don't know Fluffy....I got the same invitation to attend the focus group in San Jose. I told them if they paid my way...
I'm not quite in Poughkeepsie but it amounts to the same thing....How did you even know how to spell Poughkeepsie?
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fluffythewondercat
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posted on February 20, 2006 02:22:55 PM
Amy: Very odd, indeed.
I signed up for it. I figured, why not? $150 will go a long way towards paying PayPal fees.
fLufF
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