PayPal Warns Its Customers To Safeguard Personal Data

TwistedMetal · Mar 16, 2004, 02:39 PM

"Online payment giant PayPal warned users yesterday that scam artists have obtained select customer aliases, mailing addresses, e-mail addresses and transaction data by using phony e-mails to fool retailers into revealing the information.

The company said it appeared no personal financial information had been disclosed. But officials said they worried that the fraudulently obtained data could be used to deceive consumers into turning over credit card numbers and other sensitive information.

PayPal is a widely used online payment service that allows Web users to transfer money to each other electronically. PayPal handles the transaction, and neither side sees the other's financial information. Founded in 1998 in San Jose, the company was bought by Internet auctioneer eBay Inc., a major source of new PayPal accounts, four years later. The company now has 40 million customers.

Amanda Pires, a spokeswoman for PayPal, wouldn't identify which merchants were taken in by the scheme or the number of customers whose information might have been exposed. She characterized the number of companies as a "very, very small percentage" of PayPal's millions of merchants.

The companies were apparently sent legitimate-looking e-mails claiming to be from PayPal that asked for password and other account information. The passwords gave the fraudsters access to customer rosters and other sales data, but not to actual credit card or bank account numbers, according to PayPal."

Full article: Yahoo! News

zerodamage · Mar 16, 2004, 02:48 PM

This is the reason I handle my paypal information instead of my wife. This is why all e-mails and etc are sent to my e-mail so If it is a fake, I will know. My wife who is smart but doesn't keep up with this stuff may get taken. It is scary to think what could be done if someone accessed my account. They could leach straight from my checking account. Scary stuff.

Mar 16, 2004, 02:39 PM	#1
TwistedMetal MC John-117 Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Phoenix, Arizona Posts: 729 Rep Power: 0	PayPal Warns Its Customers To Safeguard Personal Data "Online payment giant PayPal warned users yesterday that scam artists have obtained select customer aliases, mailing addresses, e-mail addresses and transaction data by using phony e-mails to fool retailers into revealing the information. The company said it appeared no personal financial information had been disclosed. But officials said they worried that the fraudulently obtained data could be used to deceive consumers into turning over credit card numbers and other sensitive information. PayPal is a widely used online payment service that allows Web users to transfer money to each other electronically. PayPal handles the transaction, and neither side sees the other's financial information. Founded in 1998 in San Jose, the company was bought by Internet auctioneer eBay Inc., a major source of new PayPal accounts, four years later. The company now has 40 million customers. Amanda Pires, a spokeswoman for PayPal, wouldn't identify which merchants were taken in by the scheme or the number of customers whose information might have been exposed. She characterized the number of companies as a "very, very small percentage" of PayPal's millions of merchants. The companies were apparently sent legitimate-looking e-mails claiming to be from PayPal that asked for password and other account information. The passwords gave the fraudsters access to customer rosters and other sales data, but not to actual credit card or bank account numbers, according to PayPal." Full article: Yahoo! News

Mar 16, 2004, 02:48 PM	#2
zerodamage DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Virginia, USA Posts: 3,574 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	This is the reason I handle my paypal information instead of my wife. This is why all e-mails and etc are sent to my e-mail so If it is a fake, I will know. My wife who is smart but doesn't keep up with this stuff may get taken. It is scary to think what could be done if someone accessed my account. They could leach straight from my checking account. Scary stuff.