I got an email Thursday night that was a receipt from PP for a transaction I did not make. It was an ACH transfer from my bank account $38.27, someone or some company outside of the US I have never heard of and certainly have never authorized any payments to. I disputed it with Paypal right away and got the message that they are "investigating" it, but of course Friday morning when I logged onto my bank website there it is as a pending ACH transfer.
I called the bank and they said they can't do anything until the transaction had posted. This morning it had posted, so I called the bank and filed a claim with them. They are sending the paperwork to me to fill out and return and they will investigate it and credit my account as a courtesy within 10 days while they investigate the claim. They asked if I had filed a police report. They said it is up to me whether I want to file a police report or not, but if whoever this is is allowed to keep my money, I certainly will. The bank also told me to remove my bank account number from Paypal and they said it would be a good idea to close my account and open another one. They said it's better to use a check card or credit card for payment because they can stop/reverse those transactions, but it's not as easy to reverse an ACH transfer from a bank account.
My last experience with Paypal was several months ago when I DID use Paypal for an ebook online and after paying, I never received any information from the seller on how to access the ebook or any contact at all, for that matter. I filed a dispute with Paypal for that and they did nothing. Said they contacted the seller and "resolved" the dispute. The seller still had my money and I still had no ebook or even an email from the seller. It was my bank who resolved it and got my money back.
I am afraid to remove my bank account from Paypal right now because if/when my money is returned they will need to refund the money to that account. But when it is resolved, either through Paypal or through my bank, I am removing my account information from Paypal. It might have been a good idea at one time, but it's not safe anymore and not worth it to me, plus they do nothing when someone steals money from you.
