I think a PayPal representative changed/reset my password without authorization?

[PongV2]

Hello,

Long story short, recently I ran into a problem with PayPal, so I called their customer service centre. The guy I spoke with had no idea what he was talking about and did not help at all, so I was very dissatisfied. I got an e-mail survey asking me a few questions about my recent call to gauge my satisfaction level. I harshly criticized the employee, but my criticism was completely justified - the employee just kept on saying "I don't know," and did not even bother to refer me to someone who was actually able to answer my question.

Now here's where things get weird. Up until the day I replied to that survey, I could log into my PayPal account just fine. However, about a day after (I'm not sure exactly when this happened), it kept asking me to check my log-in info when I tried to log in. I thought I might've had capslock on, or I might have been making typos, so I typed really slowly. After 5 tries, it locked me out. I logged into my Steam account, which I linked my PayPal account to in order to speed up orders. Linking your account means it automatically logs you into PayPal when you make a purchase, using your previous log-in info. I tried making a purchase, and it told me to double check my PayPal account info - this tells me that my password was indeed changed. I certainly did not change it myself, and I even checked through all my e-mails to see if there was a password change notification from PayPal. Nothing.

I quickly reset my password and logged in. Strangely enough, none of my funds were touched. Why would anyone hack into/change my PayPal and not do anything with it? How did they even change my password, without PayPal sending me an email about it? That's when it hit me that there was only one possibility, and the timeframe from my recent phonecall to PayPal matched up perfectly: only a PayPal representative could have changed my password. Now, I am not trying to sound accusatory or melodramatic, but this is a simple fact. There is no other way for my password to be changed without any e-mail notification whatsoever. The password to my PayPal and e-mail are both unique, consisting of a combination of symbols, letters, caps, and numbers - no one knows my password, and my computer is not infected with any keyloggers. This is definitely very valid circumstancial evidence, and I believe the culprit would have had a motive as well.

I hope my suspicions are not true, as that would have been very immature and unprofessional, and I would not want to use PayPal ever again. Has this ever happened to anyone else?

[PayPal_Adrian]

Hi PongV2,

Welcome to the Community!

I'm very sorry to hear that your phone call was not sufficient to answer your questions.  We do our best to provide our representatives the training and resources to resolve customer inquiries in a timely and efficient manner, and in the event a representative is unsure how to answer a question during a call, we provide even more resources for them to resolve the query.  We want to make sure that our agents are answering your questions!

What you're describing is interesting, though, especially since it fits the description of a very small issue that affected a few accounts recently. 

This particular technical issue rejected the correct password for the accounts when they were accessed, and those members would then have to reset their password in order to workaround the error.  Once the password had been reset, no further resets were required.  That issue was quickly fixed by our technicians and seems to be the source of the problem in this instance. 

I'm sorry for any confusion that caused

The good news, too, is that PayPal representatives don't have the ability to change, access, view, or alter your password - this is a security feature PayPal has always had to help take care of our customers.

Thanks,

Adrian

[esurette]

Hello I have a problem similar to this in that I need to talk to a real live paypal employee. The paypal website will not let me change my banking info. I have been trying for a long time and have cancelled my Skype subscription but paypal still debits my empty account. This costs  me over $50 each time for NSF charges