tigerwoodKhorns Posted May 20, 2003 Share Posted May 20, 2003 I have made a lot of purchases on eBay using paypail to pay. paypail wants a bank account number if I exceed a certain amount of purchases. they already have my credit card number, why do they need a bank account number? is this legitimate. Has anyone else had to do this? Thanks, Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunnysal Posted May 20, 2003 Share Posted May 20, 2003 yes it is normal. I gave up on paypal a few months ago due to problems with them and customer service, I now use only bidpay and yahoo payments. regards, tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrot Posted May 20, 2003 Share Posted May 20, 2003 Chris, The reason they want your bank account number, I kid you not, is because the fine print reads that they can withdraw money from your bank without your permission if someone claims that payment was made to you without his knowledge. For example, Joe Blow sends you $500 through PayPal, you send him the item he paid for. He goes to his bank and says he didn't authorize the charge. The bank contacts PayPal and your money is frozen "pending investigation," which is liable to take two months. If you do not have $500 in your PayPal account, PayPal will take it out of your bank account. I know it is hard to believe, but it's true. If you want to investigate PayPal's notorious "chargebacks" you should look at a couple of sites: antipaypal.com paypalsucks.com If you have proof that you sent the stuff, you may or may not be covered under PayPal insurance. But once I got burned from them, I ended my account as soon as I could. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edster00 Posted May 20, 2003 Share Posted May 20, 2003 I have been using Paypal without problems for several years. When I signed up for Paypal they required me to give 2 pieces of information to verify I wass who I said I was. I had to give them my residential address as well as my bank information (routing numbers). They first sent a snail mail letter to my home with instructions to log into their site and give them some info that was included in the letter. Once I did that they made 2 small deposits into my bank account and I was required to tell them the date and amount of the deposits to verify that it was actually the account associated with my mailing address. I have added a couple more bank accounts to my Paypal account since then and they always require my routing numbers and they make two more small deposits to verify the bank information is correct. The first time I had money at Paypal that I wanted to get out I had them mail me a check, but for the last 3 years or so I have always had them transfer the money directly into my checking account. BTW opened a checking account dedicated to my Paypal/ebay transactions to keep it seperate from my regular checking account. Whenever dealing with Paypal always make sure you are on their actual site (https://www.paypal.com/) if the address you go to doesn't have that exact address it isn't actually paypal and could be someone trying to rip you off. There should also be the "closed lock" SSL Secured icon at the bottom right portion of the web page. I recently received an email asking me to verify my paypal account and was to click on a link provided in the email to do so. It looked exactly like the paypal site but the url was something like "http://www.paypalsecure.com" and I didn't fall for it. I reported it to paypal and they had me send them some more information so they could go after the scammers. As usual, you need to be very careful when doing financial transactions over the internet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Posted May 20, 2003 Share Posted May 20, 2003 Yes its normal,some sellers won't take credit card pay pal,it cost them.Some only take pay pal through your checking,I have not had problems,some have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrot Posted May 20, 2003 Share Posted May 20, 2003 The scheme Ed mentions is also done with eBay a lot. You get an email that looks for all the world like it is from eBay, same page layout and everything, and they ask you to verify your information, blah, blah, blah. If you gave these fake guys the info, they'd have enough to steal your identity, empty your bank account, anything. Also, speaking of PayPal, a woman I know got her computer hacked into and the hacker got all her passwords and account numbers. Through her PayPal account they emptied her bank account. PayPal is great for convenience, and that's what the 3% commission is for. And most of the time you'll be fine. But the 1% or whatever of people who get ripped off will wish they had stuck with Postal Money Orders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted May 20, 2003 Share Posted May 20, 2003 Paul, I hate to disagree with my good friend. But I have now used paypal for what seems a lifetime without instance of a single problem 5 years maybe more ? For what to happen with a payment from a buyer going back to his bank and complaining about unauthorized debits the Buyer would have to have some validity to his claim. Paypal is not going to refund any account and reverse charges for anything without just cause they make no guarantees of what you pay for without you paying for insurance. I would bet that 99% of the complaints on the sights you listed are from bad ebay or other internet scam sellers getting exactly what they deserve !! If your honest and conduct your business in a honest fashion there is no recourse ! No matter what business your in doing the transactions volume they do between unknown people with unknown goods there is bound to be some bruised knees along the way. The people on these sites exaggerate the circumstances because there problems didn't go there way. Paypal has thousands upon thousands of customers with very few complaints over all. Don't believe everything you read especially on the internet !! If these problems had any real validity wouldn't you here about class action law suits against paypal in this day and age ? What happened to the person getting there computer hacked could happen to anyone that leaves there computer open to hackers with important information on it. Anyone ever hear of a firewall ?? This can hardly be blamed on Paypal ! Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrot Posted May 20, 2003 Share Posted May 20, 2003 The case that involved me, the guy used his mother's charge number. The long and short of it is he got $5000 worth of stuff from a couple dozen people on eBay and got away scot-free because PayPal always sides with the bank. eBay suspended him. Big deal, he will register under another name. I'm not blaming PayPal for the hacking. But then again, if the woman had not had a PayPal account, she wouldn't have had her bank account emptied out either. PayPal looks at it like this: They get their commission no matter what. Once that is taken care of, they want as little hassle as possible. If that means siding with bunko artists who lie to their banks, so be it. PayPal is much more geared to buyers than to sellers. Get this, they will not discuss your own case with you whatsoever without a court order or FBI request. Your own case!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted May 20, 2003 Share Posted May 20, 2003 Paul, I really don't understand how that could happen I could of swore that Paypal requires everyone go thru a process to Validate who they are by the method the was described above. Mailings and 2 small deposits into there bank account. So how could someone use a credit card in someone elses name ? Or is there some small lead time they let you operate with just a credit card like the original poster is saying and is this new ? I believe I had to go thru the entire process above to set up my account before it could be used. Also if you would file a criminal complaint against this theif maybe the next guy wouldn't get scammed by him. There is such a thing as CC fraud and fraud in general. I was once ripped off by a ebay seller and I used a dam Money order and never got all my money back but that guy is in Jail today because others and I filed a complaint with the postal service and the FBI. There is no completely safe way to buy or sell goods on the Net or in your yard for that matter. Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrot Posted May 20, 2003 Share Posted May 20, 2003 I never was able to figure out all the ins and outs of the whole scheme because PayPal wouldn't discuss it!!! But piecing things together, I think the verification process did indeed go through as outlined above. I think it had to do with the two people involved passing off one another as the baddie, but I don't know. Money orders that you get at a 7-11 or gas station can indeed be counterfeit. I think the only really safe thing is a postal money order. The government nails anybody who steals them, and they can quickly call up info on who cashed them, when and where. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.