Fraudulant use of my card by Half.com

[Gladly1]

My first bank statement of the year had a surprise for me:  a purchase of more than $100 on Half.com, using my debit card.  I have never purchased anything from Half.com, ever.  I went to their website, logged into my eBay account, checked to see what "my" purchases there might have been -- and they had no record of my ever making a purchase, either.

When I called the Half.com toll-free number, their automated answering machine invited me to fax them my credit card statement with the full CC number plus security code, a copy of government-issued ID, my full name and address, and my e-mail address.  I was not inclined to do so, since my first contact with them was in the form of a fraudulant purchase....

The fraudulant purchase was made with my debit card, not with my PayPal balance (nor by a withdrawal from my bank account, which would have dismayed me no end).  Was it just coincidence that the fraud was committed at an eBay-owned site?  Did they get my debit card information somewhere else, or did they pluck it from my PayPal account?  That's an unhappy question....

I have arranged with my bank to cancel my debit card and have removed all cards from my PayPal account.

I wanted to report this fraud to the eBay-PayPal community, so that maybe my unpleasant surprise might help other people from dealing with the same thing.  If the problem came from someone harvesting my information from my PayPal account, it's something that deserves attention.

The fraudulant purchase cleared the bank on December 27th, 2010.

Thanks for your time.  My trust of the system has been bruised, but I'm still here.

Ruth

"Gladly1"

[PayPal_Kevin]

Hello Gladly1

Thanks for sharing and I am sorry to hear that you have had this experience.  It can be very difficult to tell where the person may have obtained your debit card information but I can assure you that it most likely was not from within your PayPal account.

In a worst case scenario, if a person did gain access to your PayPal account, they would only be able to view the last four digits of your card number which would do them no good.  As a debit card is used in many places there are many opportunities for someone to obtain the information but I have no doubt that your PayPal account is the most secure place you can store your financial information.

YOu did the right thing by reporting this to your bank and as a rule of thumb it is a good idea to change your PayPal password on a semi regular basis.  I appreciate you being a part of our community and I wish you a good day.

KB