Hacked account - Email address and password changed

[aauk1]

Hi, please could someone let me know what can be done about this?

An old, dormant Paypal account got hacked. The email address and password were changed. Looking back (over a year) I did receive an email but it was automatically filtered away so I never read it or realised that there was a problem. 

Recently I received a letter from a debt collection agency demanding payment of over £2000. After investigating this it turns out that it is related to the old account. So it seems the hacker somehow managed to charge £2000 to my Paypal account - although no money ever came out of my bank. 

I've been in touch with Paypal via my newer, active account. I've also reported it to the Police and advised Paypal of the crime reference number. Paypal promised to sort it out but instead they have put a restriction on my new account so I can no longer access it!

I can no longer access the hacked Paypal account, as the hacker changed the email to his own address, which I obviously can't access. When I try and log in to my new account, it say that I need to "resolve the problem with the linked account" before I can continue.

So I'm stumped - as I say I've reported it to Paypal but so far despite saying the right things on the phone they've done absolutely nothing to actually resolve the problem. 

Any advice please?

Thanks

[kernowlass]

You say recently but don't give a timeframe. I guess it would take quite a while for paypal to actually investigate the matter.

Why did you not close the account you did not want anymore instead of leaving it dormant? 

The only people that can actually tell you how far they have got with it are customer services so your best bet is to contact them directly.

Click on the words "Contact" at the bottom of your paypal account summary page and use the phone option (if there is one in the country you are in) > click on the "call us" option on the left (fees "may" apply so check the cost with your phone tariff first, as you sometimes have to wait a while to connect).

When you get through don't select any options just hang on till you get transfered to an agent or say the word "agent".



OR have you considered contacting Customer Service via Facebook or Twitter?

You can send them a personal message from their facebook or twitter pages.

It's: https://www.facebook.com/PayPal and @AskPayPal for Twitter.

[aauk1]

> Why did you not close the account you did not want anymore instead of leaving it dormant? 

In case we started trading again.

> You say recently but don't give a timeframe.

6 weeks.

> The only people that can actually tell you how far they have got with it are customer services so your best bet is to contact them directly.

I have done, 3 times now, and they seem completely incompetent - I have had to repeat all the information every time I've called and all I get in response is "we will get this dealt with for you and contact you back" - needless to say nobody ever does. Which is why I came on here to see if anybody had any relevant experience or advice. 

[kernowlass]

Hmmm, 6 weeks should be long enough.

Sorry nothing more I can do to advise you apart from giving you contact info.

Hopefully someone may post with a similar experience.

Good luck.