Evan Kleiman
- 2002.04.03
While eBaying has been around for a relatively long time now,
another trend has just been emerging in the past few years. The
latest and greatest trend of online shopping is PayPal,
a service that lets you pay for otherwise risky to pay for online
auctions and other things via your credit card or bank account -
all in a nice "secure" package.
Now we have a wonderful alternative to the otherwise unsafe ways
of sending money of the olden times of the 1990s. And since that
little "lock down" icon pops up in Internet Explorer's bottom right
corner of the status bar, it obviously must be some form of an
Internet-age armored truck!
Once hearing about this wonderful little service, everyone
quickly grabs their credit cards, bank cards, small animals, etc.
and quickly converts them into PayPal money. After all, if Internet
Explorer says it's safe, why doubt them?
PayPal is the safest thing in the world, right?
Wrong.
Once lured into the false sense of security that a flashy Web
page with all kinds of beautiful logos and magazine quotes
proclaiming PayPal's safety prowess, one is now willing to pay for
all kinds of things, because, after all, if they say it's safe, it
must be safe. However, the cases of Internet hacking and bank
account fraud on PayPal would amaze anyone.
A quick glance over to PlanetFeedback.com reveals
over one hundred complaint letters regarding money stolen
from bank accounts, non-sending sellers, etc. The amount of praise
for PayPal? None.
More and more every day, more and more people are being gypped
out of their money and/or items newly won on eBay auctions.
Everyone is at risk.
Once example is Amy Koresdoski, whose PayPal password was given
to a hacker with the common hacking knowledge needed for getting
into an email account. A few more security features on PayPal's
behalf, and none of this would have happened. Amy would still have
her $3,500+ that was stolen from her - taken directly out of her
bank account! And this is not an isolated incident.
I surmise that PayPal realizes that things like this can happen,
so they have many services in place, such as their insurance policy
that promises to refund up to and including 75% of lost purchases,
to protect people such as her. However, their insurance is nothing
more than a façade for a seemingly endless chain of
auto-reply message and not at all helpful tech-support people.
PayPal's customer service and their representatives are
deplorable. In theory it's a great idea for a service for people
wanting to buy and sell items online, the system is flawed. Anyone
who does not want to run the risk of losing money or eBay items
should never use PayPal. While the majority of people that use this
service are able to successfully complete their transactions, there
are way too many people who have had the opposite result in their
PayPal endeavors.
I, too, am one of those many people in the PayPal Victims
Club.
Upon breaking my third cellphone in two years, I was once again
faced with the dilemma of where to buy my next rather expensive
cell phone. As always, I made a very careful choice about where I
bought my phone, since the price warranted a little thought in
where my money went. Innocent enough, I found a nice little place
on the Web called GSMandmore.com, and they had the phone I had been
looking for, new, at an even sub-eBay price!
I was quick to jump on this deal and get the phone. However,
something inside of me told me this might be too good to be true,
so I contacted the webmaster, who too was quick to assure me of the
quality of his product and the safeness of his website - which of
course used PayPal. This guy seemed to know what he was talking
about.
Little did I know that six months later I would still be
without a phone or without a resolution from PayPal, who promises
protection in a case such as mine. My money was taken by a business
and then the site closed, leaving me and probably an endless stream
of people without phones or money.
I had considered this an isolated incident and went on with my
life until I figured out that millions of other PayPal users were
affected in some way by their customer support negligence. I am not
alone.
I have a very risky feeling about my recent purchases using
PayPal, which thankfully have been sent correctly. Wishing to play
it on the safe side, I decided that I should consider trying to
close my account - little did I know that it would be
impossible!
Among the lost money complaints at PlanetFeedback are many other
complaints of PayPal not allowing people to cancel their accounts.
That is a rather childish business tactic.
What is one to do to avoid being afflicted with the PayPal money
losing bug?
First, all I can recommend is don't use PayPal unless you
are one-hundred percent sure the person you are sending your money
to is reliable, get proof of this in writing if you can. If you
can't trust this person wholly, send a postal money order. While it
might be slower, you're more guaranteed safely here.
Secondly, I recommend removing as many bank accounts and credit
or debit cards as you can from your PayPal account, because any
hacker with your password will have no problem getting any bank
account numbers, etc. that they want.
While using a credit card for a purchase from them and then
deleting it from your profile until you need it again will take
more time than usual, it can save you future heartaches.
PayPal's idea is a terrific one, but its future is in jeopardy
if they cannot better their customer support.
Further Reading
- PayPalWarning.com
- PayPal no
friend to online buyers, MSNBC/ZDNet, 2000.07.19.
-
Micropayment Wars Over . . . PayPal Wins?, Slashdot,
2000.08.31.
-
Losing Faith in PayPal, Damien Cave, Salon, 2001.02.23.
- How PayPal Works, Dan
Knight, Mac Musings, 2001.03.07.
- Feedback on PayPal, Dan
Knight, Mac Musings, 2001.03.14.
- Dealing with Internet
Fraud, Evan Kleiman, Mac Daniel, 2001.12.26.
