Unauthorised "Microsoft" transaction with Paypal

[mpainesyd]

Check your Paypal and credit card accounts. I just had a small transaction via Paypal which was shown as "Microsoft Pty Limited Pre-approved payment". I have not used Paypal for any recent transactions with Microsoft and have never authorised ongoing payments.

 

[Richdmoore]

I would call PayPal, although when I did a few months ago I discovered they don't have 24 hour 7 day a week customer support. Someone had broken into my account on a Friday after PayPal telephone support closed (probably timed the fraud to make sure it would take days for me to contact PayPal) and charged $30 for a farming game (I assume as a test of the password), and then someone transferred $1000 from my account to some other user (a random bunch of letters at gmail.com if I remember correctly.) Of course both amounts were immediately debited from my and my wife's joint checking account. (I probably would have overdraft had I not discovered the fraud within minutes of it occurring via an email receipt.)

Right away I called my bank and disputed the charge and did a stop payment (which cost me $30, if I remember correctly) When PayPal opened on Monday, I was able to get them to conduct an investigation, they reversed the charge a couple of days later.

I was not happy that PayPal can take money out instantly, but not even have staff to take a fraud report on the weekend. I also wonder if they would have refused to reverse the charge had I not already involved my bank? I don't know.

Anyway, since PayPal simply was not available to reverse charges 24/7, and is linked to my only checking account, I chose to close the PayPal account for good. In my opinion having PayPal linked to a primary bank account is way to risky, unless they provide fraud support 24/7.

 

[mpainesyd]

I would call PayPal, although when I did a few months ago I discovered they don't have 24 hour 7 day a week customer support. Someone had broken into my account on a Friday after PayPal telephone support closed (probably timed the fraud to make sure it would take days for me to contact PayPal) and charged $30 for a farming game (I assume as a test of the password), and then someone transferred $1000 from my account to some other user (a random bunch of letters at gmail.com if I remember correctly.) Of course both amounts were immediately debited from my and my wife's joint checking account. (I probably would have overdraft had I not discovered the fraud within minutes of it occurring via an email receipt.)

Right away I called my bank and disputed the charge and did a stop payment (which cost me $30, if I remember correctly) When PayPal opened on Monday, I was able to get them to conduct an investigation, they reversed the charge a couple of days later.

I was not happy that PayPal can take money out instantly, but not even have staff to take a fraud report on the weekend. I also wonder if they would have refused to reverse the charge had I not already involved my bank? I don't know.

Anyway, since PayPal simply was not available to reverse charges 24/7, and is linked to my only checking account, I chose to close the PayPal account for good. In my opinion having PayPal linked to a primary bank account is way to risky, unless they provide fraud support 24/7.

[doublepost=1500190657][/doublepost]Thanks for that info. I immediately removed the credit card from my paypal account and also changed my paypal password of course. I reported the issue to the Paypal investigation team.
I am careful about using paypal so I would not be surprised if it turns out there has been a security breach further down the line. I would recommend changing the Paypal password ASAP.

 

[BeeGood]

[doublepost=1500190657][/doublepost]Thanks for that info. I immediately removed the credit card from my paypal account and also changed my paypal password of course. I reported the issue to the Paypal investigation team.
I am careful about using paypal so I would not be surprised if it turns out there has been a security breach further down the line. I would recommend changing the Paypal password ASAP.

My niece had this exact thing happen to her about a month ago. She contacted PayPal also and they immediately credited her. Paypal will take care of it. Good move to remove your credit card and changing your password.

 

[eyoungren]

@mpainesyd

You can set up two-factor authentication with PayPal. It's kind of inconvenient, but anyone trying to make a transaction would not only need your email/account name and password but they'd also need your phone number. PayPal text's you a code before it gets used for a transaction.

You can set this up in your account. You can also add another person to your account and they login under their new credentials and enable 2FA for their device.

It's all in your PayPal profile settings.

 

[maflynn]

You can set up two-factor authentication with PayPal

That's what I have on my paypal, and I sleep well at night now

 

[eyoungren]

That's what I have on my paypal, and I sleep well at night now

Yeah, it's kind of a pain in the ass though if you have more than one person using your PayPal account. I've added my wife as a second user and her email address has long been linked to the account. But PayPal won't let you use an email address as a user name for additional users tied to the account. Consequently any time she's paying for her eBay purchases the code goes to MY phone and not hers. Which means I have to give her the code before she can proceed.

OTOH as I explained to her last night, someone hacking our account and gaining access to financial stuff would be much more of a pain.