S Bashi <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Hi Judith,Unfortunately the level of credit card fraud on the internet has become so high and the fraudsters have become so skilled at stealing total and perfect identities that most credit card companies and internet sites now rely heavily on spending patterns to differentiate between genuine and fraudulent transactions.This is a powerful technique, but as you have discovered it does have a weakness, genuine people don't always act predictably and a spending pattern is not gospel !!Most good credit card companies solve this problem by telephoning the card holder to clarify the situation.Problem here is that Paypal is being a cheapskate and does not want to make an international call ( eventhough for most corporates the call charges are the same as national calls !)My only suggestion would be to pay your sellers directly with your credit card instead of going through Paypal. If the sellers don't take credit cards, the other strategy is to reduce your reliance on Paypal by signing up with a number of other online payment systems.RegardsSiamak BashiManaging Director
www.CQout.com
"The Most Trusted Online Auctions"
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error in transmission.----- Original Message -----From: Judith WeaverSent: Wednesday, August 18, 2004 12:36 PMSubject: [MOPO] HELP--AGAIN!If you've never had a problem with eBay or Paypal, please delete this now. I have a MAJOR problem with Paypal. No identity theft--oh, no, it's even worse than that. They don't believe I'm ME, and I can't prove it to them!! If anyone can help, I'll be eternally grateful. Here's the story:
I could write a book--a horror story. I don't blame you if you don't believe any of it. If I read it in a book, I probably wouldn't believe it either and say "That could NEVER happen!" But it is happening--to me.
I was gone for so long on an unexpected and extended business trip and owed for so many auctions that when I got back (night of Aug 12), I went to my office on Aug 13 (Friday the 13th! Yikes!!!) and paid for a bunch of auctions via Paypal--60+ items. Then on Monday, Aug 16, I paid for a bunch more. I was trying to do it in a hurry because people (like Jim Dietz) had been kindly and patiently waiting for so long and I wanted to get their money to them ASAP. Then on Tues, I got to work and found an email from Paypal that they had put a Hold on my account and cancelled all the payments I had made because of the "unusual activity" in my a! ccount!!!! (It's not unusual for me to pay my bills, but try telling that to Paypal!) In addition, their emails to all the sellers said that payment for the auction may have been made with "fraudulent funds"(!!!!!) and they were canceling the payments!!! I have gotten emails from people calling me thief, crook, deadbeat, fraud, and worse things. Unfortunately, everybody is not nice like Jim who just asked what's going on.
I have been in touch with Paypal via email for 2 days now and keep sending them emails asking what they want from me, what do I have to do, etc. They have a system whereby you send in an email and they will call you on the phone to prove you are you. But they wouldn't call me because I am long distance (international)! Instead, they have sent me a letter with some kind of code in it and when I receive it, I must email that code back to Paypal. This proves I'm me. How it proves I am the one who actually made all those auction payments, I don't know. But this could take 7-10 days to accomplish and have! ! this matter cleared and my Paypal account taken off Hold. One email even said it could take up to 30 days! I called them long distance from Jerusalem and spent an hour trying to convince some poor guy who is just a clerk, I guess, that I am me. He was pleasant and sympathetic, but said it will take several days AT THE VERY LEAST for them to sort it out. He put all the info in the computer under my account hoping it would help. Meantime, they didn't just put a Hold on the payments--they cancelled them completely. So if and when they DO let me have my $1,000+ back, it willbe up to me to determine which sellers did and which did not receive their money. Can you imagine the recordkeeping????
This is a case where I am actually the one using the account and there is NO fraud involved whatsoever. But can you imagine how difficult it is to prove you are you when you are a long distance away from the US? It's almost impossible!!!! I don't know what to do until I can get Paypal to lift the Hold on my account. I have sent emails to sellers telling them I would like to complete the transaction. I want the items!! But I fully understand if they are fed up and want to cancel the transaction, re-list the item, giv! ! e me bad feedback, send me nasty letters, etc. (An interesting side point is that all of that money I sent in payments that were then cancelled is not being returned to my bank account. Oh, no--It is sitting in my Paypal account. It's well over a thousand dollars. If they did this same thing with 100,000 people with accounts out of the millions of accounts they have, that would be over $1,000,000 dollars sitting in their Paypal accounts instead of being with the buyer or seller. Interesting.....)
I have spent two full workdays working on this problem. I just don't know what else to do and am ready to give up. Please advise if you have any ideas that would help. I'll agree to almost anything including that I fling myself off the highest building. (If I didn't know better, I'd think this was some kind of bizarre Alfred Hitchcock modern-day movie plot!) Thanks for any advice. Best regards, Judith Weaver
Judith Weaver
PSC 98, Box 0039
APO AE 09830
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