FRAUD--HOW CAN UNAUTHORIZED TRANSFER TO MERCHANT HAPPEN?

[cwl]

Got email, "you have sent $10."   It truly was a transfer, to a merchant on ebay, from whom I had bought something some months back.

I immediately disputed, and changed password.  Paypal reversed charge about a week later.

The question is, how in the world could this happen?  I believe it is impossible for a merchant to pull funds from anyone.

I have not fallen for, and clicked on any of the bogus,  "you have won" emails, etc.  The merchant is still on ebay.

Paypal has not been forthcoming on this, and just sends standard "how to avoid fraud" replies.

[surplusdealdude]

If the merchant sent you an email outside of ebay's message system, it could have contained a keylogger.

That would have recorded your paypal password


And, to make your Paypal account bullet-proof, visit the security center in your Paypal account and buy one of their security keys for $5.  It puts a separate, randomly-generated numerical password on your account that changes every 30 seconds and cannot be hijacked, even if the scammer has your password.