I recently "won" an EBay auction for a small-value item for my 1967: about $25.00. The vendor mentioned something about a PayPal "direct cash payment" in his ad. That seemed OK as I assumed a VISA account would do the trick. I do have a PayPal account. But I refuse to post my checking and savings account numbers there. My VISA has some protection so I will take that risk.

So I transferred the money by VISA. I have done this a number of times before with no problems. This time the vendor refused my transfer. He wanted a "cash" transfer rather than VISA. You know how this works: I have a VISA and he does also; the money goes on-line from one to the other. And both seller and buyer are supposed to be protected. But no, he wanted a direct cash transfer. That would reveal my savings account number I believe. I may be wrong on this but....it gives me the heebie-jebbiees.

So I cancelled the transaction. I was burned fairly badly in August by VISA scammers and had to change my account number. My bank is investigating the fraud and I have been reimbursed but you have to watch these things in your monthly statements. So I will have a black-eye record on EBay for a botched purchase but quite frankly I do not give a damn. PayPal is not going to get my bank account numbers. You really have to watch these things! Just an observation....

 

Was it still done through PayPal? Some people don't have a premier account so they can't accept credit card payments. Now if you transfer money from your bank account into your paypal account they will be able to accept the cash as it's just withdrawn from your paypal balance.

 

Paul,

Since I do "hunt" for items on Ebay, I have a separate checking account used only for that purpose. After winning an auction, the money is transfered to that account. Since the account generally has only $5 in it otherwise, I could care less if th account is hacked through Paypal.

 

Paul,

Paypal does not show anyone your checking account # if you should buy something and transfer funds that way. It just shows you have recieved funds from that person. Granted, someone may very well hack the internet and get that information, but that's something we all have to just hope does not happen. Personally I like the idea as I am not paying both Paypal and Visa that way and I just transferred $250+ directly to my checking account tonight that I had built up there at no charge.

 

I don't blame you, I almost got taken for $3300 when someone hacked into my paypal account, changed the password, email, etc. Paypal made it sound like my problem. Their fraud unit was going to contact me, been 3 weeks, no word from them yet. Better to be careful. :iagree:

 

Coincidence but I just made my first ebay/pay-pal purchase this week. Today I get an email to confirm my new pay-pal account even though I’ve got payment confirmation from the merchant and the item arrived yesterday? Thought it odd back when I registered for ebay they requested a credit card and number but did not pay for my item when I used “buy it now”. I still had to open my pay-pal account to (another password and same credit card & number). Now they want confirmation again with more information – date of birth etc.. I just felt something is wrong here and deleted the email.
Now I’m kind ‘a worried. Thanks for the heads up. :eek:

 

he probably wanted cash transfer because visa takes a certain percentage out of the seller's money to pay for the trasnfer, while bank account transfers, theres no fee or % taken out. i've used my bank/cash transfer through paypal all the time. it should be safe and protected...i also have the winning bidders money transfered to my account.

 

Yeah, VISA costs him extra money. I allowed it on one item I sold, and it cost like 4 bux. Not a big deal (it is done in percentages, like 2 percent IIRC)

I check my VISA/Checking accounts EVERY day online. One of the perks of this new online stuff. If anything happens, I can call and fix it BEFORE the funds even clear from my account.

Be careful out there, my sister's VISA number was used to buy items and pay for toll roads in BELGIUM. She lives in Wisconsin, and has NEVER been to Europe. :cheers:

 

Oh F@#$!

That's scary. I just purchased something and sent my Visa account number over paypal. I didn't like the idea. American Express is VERY good about removing things off your bill in case of fraud, but I've had less success with Visa. I just didn't think I could pay back Amex the very next month, and the Visa was convenient.

How can Paypal say their site is secure if they are getting hacked into?
Yikes! :eek: That is now the most common internet payment method.


[Modified by Bearcat, 11:28 PM 10/2/2003]

 

That's an interesting idea!

 

some people make the stupid mistake of using the same pass on a forum or something as on paypal. Since the login is just your email and a pass, once they hack forum software to read out the Db they can easily log in if the pass is the same.

 

I should have been clearer in what I said. My VISA was not hacked through PayPal. I have not had problems with that company and my account is intact. My VISA number was used several times by someone in August to purchase computer software. Delivery was in the western USA. I was in Atlantic City and Carlisle at that time. My address is in Canada.

My issue with PayPal is their insistence that I provide a savings/chequing account number before I can become a "verified" client. I have a real problem with that as my bank does not afford the same level of protection on savings accounts as with VISA. The thought of putting my savings number on-line makes me very nervous. And I refuse to do so. The suggestion of opening a small dummy account is a good one. I will think that through.

I have corresponded with the EBay vendor and he will accept a postal money order. So it is back to snail mail.

 

I have had a paypal acount now for several years, used it many times both with bank transfer and cridit card transfers. The seller does not recieve your credit card info. Also for him to accept a credit card he has to have a premier account, then they charge him when he accepts a payment by credit card. Paypal does have some fraud protection, although it is not as good as the protection you would recieve with a credit card. Also if you use a credit card with paypal the protection from fraud you would get is with the transfer of money to your paypal account, not protection for purchasing an item. Also as mentioned above you should not use the same password for more than one account. If you want to be more careful you should change it regularly and not use things such as names or series that can be easily guessed. :cheers:


[Modified by stickboy, 3:28 PM 10/3/2003]