PayPal | Computers & Technology | Fun Trivia Forums

Rules
Terms of Use

You are not logged in. [Log In] FunTrivia Home » Forums » The Trivia Forums » Computers & Technology » PayPal

Page 1 of 2

1

Topic Options

#283046 - Thu Oct 27 2005 05:19 AM PayPal
bloomsby Moderator Registered: Sun Apr 29 2001 Posts: 4095 Loc: Norwich Englandï¿½UKï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï...	As I sometimes use eBay to buy various things it would be an advantage to open a PayPal account. (So far I've always paid by personal cheque through the post, which can be cumbersome especially if the seller waits for seven working days for the cheque to clear). I'd be very glad to have comments on the safety of PayPal. Ideally, I'd like to open an account that is linked only to one of my credit cards (as there's a fairly low credit limit on that card). However, I'm bothered by the fact that in order to open a PayPal account one needs to give details of one's current bank account. Obviously, anyone who gets hold of that could have a real field-day at my expense. I'd be most grateful for comments and advice, please.
Top

#283047 - Thu Oct 27 2005 05:41 AM Re: PayPal
agony Administrator Registered: Sat Mar 29 2003 Posts: 16595 Loc: Western Canada	All I can give is my experience. We have had a pay pal account for about four years now. We have never had the slightest trouble, of any kind. There haven't even been any minor accounting errors, no money has ever gone astray, and the only communications we get from them are the ones notifying us of any transactions. We use it both to pay for things, and to get paid, as we also sell on ebay.
Top

#283048 - Thu Oct 27 2005 01:07 PM Re: PayPal
ing Prolific Registered: Wed Mar 30 2005 Posts: 1636 Loc: Canberra ACT Australia	I've got an account too which I use fairly regularly for family history related purchases. I haven't had any problems - in fact I recently caused them some headaches with needing to change information and their service was very prompt, friendly and helpful. This says nothing about security, of course, but I haven't had any problems there either. I just make sure I keep an eye on my statements (which is an accomplishment for someone so organisationally challenged!) Bloomsby when you say "details of one's current bank account", it's my recollection that all that was necessary was the Credit Card number (and name/address obviously). I'm a bit confused if that's the extent of your concern (which you have at least partly addressed by saying you'd link it only to a card with a fairly low credit limit) or if perhaps it's different for different banks/countries, or...?
Top

#283049 - Thu Oct 27 2005 05:13 PM Re: PayPal
ren33 Moderator Registered: Thu Sep 30 1999 Posts: 12593 Loc: Kowloon Tong Hong Kong	Quote: All I can give is my experience. We have had a pay pal account for about four years now. We have never had the slightest trouble, of any kind. There haven't even been any minor accounting errors, no money has ever gone astray, and the only communications we get from them are the ones notifying us of any transactions. I thoroughly agree. I am sure, also, that I didnt supply them anything but the card number. I also use a card with a small limit. I find it invaluable, I even pay my gold membership of FT with it! _________________________ Wandering aimlessly through FT since 1999.
Top

#283050 - Thu Oct 27 2005 05:20 PM Re: PayPal
bloomsby Moderator Registered: Sun Apr 29 2001 Posts: 4095 Loc: Norwich Englandï¿½UKï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï...	Thanks. It was my impression that they wanted full details of my current account (that is my cheque / cheque account). It's possible of course that I misunderstood something. I'll keep you posted.
Top

#283051 - Fri Oct 28 2005 01:41 AM Re: PayPal
ing Prolific Registered: Wed Mar 30 2005 Posts: 1636 Loc: Canberra ACT Australia	Quote: I find it invaluable, I even pay my gold membership of FT with it! Me too!
Top

#283052 - Fri Oct 28 2005 01:57 AM Re: PayPal
picqero Multiloquent Registered: Tue Dec 28 2004 Posts: 2813 Loc: Hertfordshire<br>England UK	My wife and I have had no problems. We sometimes pay for things on e.bay using paypal. I reckon the site is as secure as any good financial site. like many banks and other financial organisations, PayPal are subject to 'phishing' scams whereby a criminal organisation, purporting to be them, asks you to confirm various financial details, passwords, etc. PayPal will never request such details by e.mail, and you should never respond to such mails.
Top

#283053 - Fri Oct 28 2005 06:50 AM Re: PayPal
lothruin Multiloquent Registered: Wed Nov 12 2003 Posts: 2165 Loc: Nebraska USA	I've used paypal for a long while as well. I have used it as an Ebay buyer AND as an Ebay seller, I've donated money to charities with it, I've sent my sister cash occasionally and I'm getting ready to use it to process credit card orders of an up-coming online business my sis and I are starting. I've never had a problem with it. I did give them my account info, because it is a second payment option, but also because as a seller, I can get money into my paypal account and transfer it to my actual bank account, and THAT is a feature I LOVE! _________________________ Goodbye Ruth & Betty, my beautiful grandmothers. Betty Kuzara 1921 - April 5, 2008 Ruth Kellison 1925 - Dec 27, 2007
Top

#283054 - Fri Oct 28 2005 08:44 AM Re: PayPal
tellywellies Forum Champion Registered: Sat Apr 13 2002 Posts: 5473 Loc: South of England	The above posts show that the service is OK. I have a PayPal account. I haven't used it much but on the occasions I have, everything went as expected. Most people holding Paypal acccounts will be aware of the existence of fake e-mails and web sites that claim to be about PayPal. Someone who has never had an account before may not be though. So, just in case, they are perhaps worth a mention. This is PayPal's own page on the subject Here's an example Once you know about that, these things are usually fairly easy to spot. _________________________ Error: Keyboard not attached. Press any key to continue..
Top

#283055 - Fri Oct 28 2005 09:44 AM Re: PayPal
Taesma Prolific Registered: Fri Jun 20 2003 Posts: 1179 Loc: Bay Area California USA	I've had a Paypal account for a long time and haven't had any problems. I do NOT have a credit card attached to the account (don't have one at all, actually )and I believe it is as secure as it can be. I know that many people open a separate bank account just for Payal/ebay to avoid any potential problems with their main account. If you are adventurous and don't mind wading through some pretty dumb posts to find the good stuff, the Paypal forum at ebay is very active and you can read about some potential problems. Mostly they fall into the catagory of "This'll only happen to you if you do something stupid", though. Also be aware when buying or selling on ebay that the buyers' and sellers' protections are different for those not in the USA. (Regarding phishing attempts:) Quote: Once you know about that, these things are usually fairly easy to spot. But they are sure getting pretty slick! I've gotten quite a few recently that look awfully legitimate, even using official Paypal "stationery", and an https: url. And everything was spelled correctly. I report all of them, I don't know if it does any good, but it's easy to hit the forward button and pass it on to them. _________________________ "A bookstore is one of the only pieces of evidence we have that people are still thinking." ~ Jerry Seinfeld
Top

#283056 - Fri Oct 28 2005 05:00 PM Re: PayPal
agony Administrator Registered: Sat Mar 29 2003 Posts: 16595 Loc: Western Canada	About needing your bank account details - as Lothruin says, if you sell using paypal, they can deposit the money right into your account. With our ebay account, we did open a bank account for paypal, but have ended up not using it, and just spending the money we make!
Top

#283057 - Fri Oct 28 2005 06:42 PM Re: PayPal
lothruin Multiloquent Registered: Wed Nov 12 2003 Posts: 2165 Loc: Nebraska USA	I've seen quite a number that even list a link that SAYS "whatever.paypal.com" or something very legitimate-looking, and they also have an actual link to the Paypal homepage, but if you mouse over the "whatever" link that you're supposed to follow, you can always tell that it isn't an address that is actually at the Paypal domain because the hyperlinked address will show up somewhere in your browser. (At the bottom if you're using IE, as a little pop-up text box if you're using Opera.) _________________________ Goodbye Ruth & Betty, my beautiful grandmothers. Betty Kuzara 1921 - April 5, 2008 Ruth Kellison 1925 - Dec 27, 2007
Top

#283058 - Fri Oct 28 2005 10:11 PM Re: PayPal
tellywellies Forum Champion Registered: Sat Apr 13 2002 Posts: 5473 Loc: South of England	Spoofstick is useful for showing the actual site you are on (should one of those links be clicked). It's reassuring to give it a glance when visiting sites that involve security. http://www.spoofstick.com/ Edited by tellywellies (Fri Oct 28 2005 10:16 PM) _________________________ Error: Keyboard not attached. Press any key to continue..
Top

#283059 - Sat Oct 29 2005 11:32 AM Re: PayPal
bloomsby Moderator Registered: Sun Apr 29 2001 Posts: 4095 Loc: Norwich Englandï¿½UKï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï...	Many thanks. Since I started buying things on eBay about six months ago I've had three (!) spoof bills by email, and one of these purported to be from eBay, but the others didn't. The first spoof bill threw me into a mild panic, as it looked so genuine - despite the fact that it was perfectly obvious that I couldn't owe eBay anything at all, as I wasn't a seller and had only bought things. I contacted a long-standing eBay seller from whom I'd bought a few items. He replied very quickly, reassured me and told me to report the thing to eBay as spoof. He also urged me to click on the links that eBay itself provides on fraud and so on. He added that there was quite a lot of spoof claiming to come from eBay. Ebay confirmed that the email was spoof, but as you can imagine, all this has made me rather wary.
Top

#283060 - Sat Oct 29 2005 01:46 PM Re: PayPal
sue943 Administrator Registered: Sun Dec 19 1999 Posts: 38005 Loc: Jersey Channel Islands	There was an interesting programme on television yesterday about fraud and ebay. It went into several scams and how some people lost quite a lot of money. I hasten to add it wasn't through using paypal, it was mostly when a seller contacts the would-be buyer who wasn't successful, apparently the seller says the successful bidder had pulled out so if the money is sent (not paypal) then the seller would send the goods - but they don't. The advice was never to purchase direct when bidding not successful and only use the protected method of paying. They also said to report any possible problems to the ebay links provided for fraud. _________________________ Many a child has been spoiled because you can't spank a Grandma!
Top

#283061 - Sat Oct 29 2005 06:15 PM Re: PayPal
bloomsby Moderator Registered: Sun Apr 29 2001 Posts: 4095 Loc: Norwich Englandï¿½UKï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï...	Thanks for mentioning that, Sue. I watched the BBC News, which had a report but didn't go into that much detail. I also noticed (in the BBC report) that there was no mention of PayPal, but at least one other method of payment was said to be particularly open to fraud.
Top

#283062 - Sun Oct 30 2005 06:03 AM Re: PayPal
sue943 Administrator Registered: Sun Dec 19 1999 Posts: 38005 Loc: Jersey Channel Islands	That is Western Union John, not PayPal. Although not mentioned, I wonder if MoneyGram could also be a problem. _________________________ Many a child has been spoiled because you can't spank a Grandma!
Top

#283063 - Sun Oct 30 2005 12:15 PM Re: PayPal
Flynn_17 Prolific Registered: Tue May 17 2005 Posts: 1138 Loc: Hull Yorkshire England UK	PayPal has always been fine for me, but then I've never actually used it for eBay, because I don't like the idea of putting my credit card details on there (but have no issues doing do with PayPal). If you have a hotmail account, however, you must put your credit details on eBay. So, it's great for buying things from private sites, but I wouldn't use it on eBay. Paypal is safe, eBay isn't... _________________________ Oh, a functional love life is like icing a cake - you've got to concentrate!
Top

#283064 - Sun Oct 30 2005 04:07 PM Re: PayPal
rogue Mainstay Registered: Sat Apr 05 2003 Posts: 664	I've used PayPal for a few years, mainly for ebay and purchasing cd's through different online shops. The account was first tied to my credit card. Later, I signed on for a PayPal credit card. I haven't had any problems with PayPal, I've found them very helpful in resolving any conflicts with purchases done through ebay.
Top

#283065 - Sun Oct 30 2005 05:45 PM Re: PayPal
damnsuicidalroos Multiloquent Registered: Mon Feb 10 2003 Posts: 2167 Loc: Sydney NSW Australia	Quote: Ebay confirmed that the email was spoof, but as you can imagine, all this has made me rather wary. I receive at least 3 fake emails claiming to be from eBay a week. Some of them advise that I`m a great power seller despite the fact that I have never sold a thing there and if I click a link they will reward me in some manner and some tell me that I have been suspended for oweing money and had better just go to their linked site and make amends. Personally I find that by paying by direct deposit into the sellers nominated account I avoid being scammed, I do check and re-check the sellers history and also use the Firefox extention that shows all a sellers negatives. Not using Paypal I miss out on only overseas purchases, which I have little interest in dealing with anyway, unless it`s Hong Kong-and the sellers there generally have Australian bank accounts anyway. Paypal and eBay have some special arrangement here in Australia that encourages people to use Paypal, maybe the sellers get some sort of bonus. The scam I have read about in eBays forums that affects most peoples hip pockets is Western Union. The number of people that have been ripped off by scammers that insist that payment be made by Western Union is amazing. Edited by damnsuicidalroos (Sun Oct 30 2005 09:57 PM) _________________________ Responds to stimuli, tries to communicate verbally, follows limited commands, laughs or cries in interaction with loved ones.
Top

#283066 - Sun Oct 30 2005 06:55 PM Re: PayPal
ladymacb29 Moderator Registered: Wed Mar 15 2000 Posts: 16214 Loc: The Delta Quadrant	Quote: Paypal and eBay have some special arrangement here in Australia that encourages people to use Paypal, maybe the sellers get some sort of bonus. I don't think the sellers get a bonus - it's just that eBay and PayPal have configured their software so they're compatible with each other. For eBay, you just check a box and put in your email address that you have registered at PayPal to put the link in, from what I remember from the days when I sold on eBay. There are also additional protections if the sale goes bad and you paid through PayPal (akin to those if you had purchased with a credit card). You can have people pay with another service, but those aren't support with eBay's programming (at this time) and their contract with PayPal is probably one where they can only 'support' PayPal and not the other services. _________________________ "Without the darkness, how would we see the light?" ~ Tuvok Editor for Television Category
Top

#283067 - Sun Oct 30 2005 10:04 PM Re: PayPal
damnsuicidalroos Multiloquent Registered: Mon Feb 10 2003 Posts: 2167 Loc: Sydney NSW Australia	Bonus was the wrong word to use Ladymac. I recall that a short while ago many Australia sellers suddenly had Paypal on their sales pages and was thinking that something had changed. I guess it`s the software and the fact that Paypal lowered their charges. Quote: -There is no setup fee or monthly fee to maintain your PayPal account. -We’ve recently lowered our receiving fees! Please visit the fees page on the PayPal site for more information, including details on how to obtain our lowest available merchant rates. -PayPal's industry leading loss rate is less than 0.5%. _________________________ Responds to stimuli, tries to communicate verbally, follows limited commands, laughs or cries in interaction with loved ones.
Top

#283068 - Mon Oct 31 2005 01:56 AM Re: PayPal
Taesma Prolific Registered: Fri Jun 20 2003 Posts: 1179 Loc: Bay Area California USA	Ebay owns Paypal now, that's why it's the "preferred" payment method. They get more fees that way. _________________________ "A bookstore is one of the only pieces of evidence we have that people are still thinking." ~ Jerry Seinfeld
Top

#283069 - Mon Oct 31 2005 03:51 AM Re: PayPal
Bossyboots Enthusiast Registered: Wed Jun 19 2002 Posts: 380 Loc: Dorset England UK	I have never had any problems with Paypal nor received any spoof emails from eBay, but it has been educating to read about the experience of others. I have always had a mental limit of about £50 value of goods on eBay and I know that if I paid over that, by any method, I would be quite anxious until I got the goods. All sellers want their money up front before despatch. Paypal is just about the safest way to pay (I would never send a cheque) but I suppose nothing is 100% . I have installed Spoofstick as everything we can do to protect ourselves is worth doing.
Top

#283070 - Tue Nov 01 2005 11:38 AM Re: PayPal
sue943 Administrator Registered: Sun Dec 19 1999 Posts: 38005 Loc: Jersey Channel Islands	This article from the BBC New website is timely. _________________________ Many a child has been spoiled because you can't spank a Grandma!
Top

Page 1 of 2

1

View All Topics

Moderator: flopsymopsy, ladymacb29