Paypal.. Safe Or Not? well is it?

[rpgsearcherz 5]

I have very mixed feelings about Paypal..I guess it is safe to post my story here since this will be on topic.To start out, I had a Paypal account for over a year. I experienced not even one issue with them, ever. Never had any money missing, never got overcharged, or anything. So by this time I gain full trust in them.One day I wake up and check my account and magically I had over $2500 in there. Now I am confused as I only had around $68 the day before. So I go ahead and report it to figure out what happened to my account that I have this much(This was me being nice. I could have easily just withdrawn the money from the account.)After I do so, I am notified that "I" bought a laptop off Ebay and that the money was a return since the item was sold to someone else instead. Now this really confuses me so Paypal allows me and this person who "I" bought the laptop to speak to each other through Paypal. We do and he claims that I live in Africa or something...So I notify Paypal that this is all false and I'm not sure what to do because it's fraud or at least that's what it looks like. Paypal notifies me that it was 'taken' from my bank account, however cannot display the number or confirm it for me. They then decide that they can "fix" the situation. So they put a lock on my account. This then locked my original funds. So I call them up asking when I can withdraw what I originally had in the account.From this point they tell me that they need a positive identification. So I am only 15 at the time and can not do so. They let me know that now my account is going to be permanently locked and upon turning 17 I will be allowed to withdraw the funds. By this point I am extremely aggravated because I do not completely comprehend what is going on. They notify me that there is a minimum age to sign up.Now being that I am not new to the whole contract thing or anything I make up another mock account - without actually completing it, to see where it asks if you are 18 or older. It doesn't. So then I check out the Terms of Services. Wow, this also says nothing about it. Now I'm just confused as to what is going on so I call them again, this time with my mother present. She speaks to them and they notify her that you must be 18 or older to sign up, and that it should be assumed already and therefore there is nothing that we can do.Once I was 17 they required positive ID and stuff for me to withdraw still, and took about 6 months to send me the funds.I just kind of feel like I was screwed. I could have withdrawn 2500+ and had no issues with Paypal but due to me being an honest citizen I was penalized and I highly doubt they returned the extra funds to their owner.Needless to say I once again use paypal, mostly because there is no other choice for a lot of things. It's good for donations, selling items, buying items, etc. Ever since this issue(2 years or so ago) I have had no other issues with paypal either. So I mean, you can take it as you will. I had the issue listed above before, but since then I've returned and have nothing else bad to say. I just hope that I do not go back through another situation like that again.

[Evolix 1]

PayPal is safe. (I think) they use an SSL certificate for proof. Its better than typing your credit card details on any random site, because thats a risk of being scammed. Most websites now use a "pay-by-paypal" system, where you just pay for whatever you want via PayPal. But you better watch out of email scams, according to this topic here: http://forums.xisto.com/topic/22052-paypal-scam-warning-new-email-attempt-to-hack-your-account/

[ihost 0]

Hello!Well, first of all, to briefly introduce you into the world of internet, the brief answer would be : NO.It is not safe. BUT there is nothing really safe in life. Peoples usually consider the internet world to be the most unsafe compared to real life, but it is untrue. From many studies made over years (And from my questions that I've once asked my bank before apply for the service where you can see how much money you have on your bank account online), it was proven that there are less chances for you to get your bank account hacked or frauded online than in real life.But it does not means that all systems are that much safe, because if some hackers are able to hack many different important websites like CIA ones, it means that there are chances for anyone on internet to be frauded, but still, there are more chances that you get frauded in real life rather than on internet on any type of website.From my own experience using paypal, I find it not as much secure as it could possibly be, but it is a must to have, because it is mostly used everywhere.So in conclusion, I will strongly suggest you to apply for a PayPal account. It might be useful anywhere on internet.Tim.

[Sandeep Singh 0]

Hi,Paypal is the best way to pay or collect money over the internet. I reccomend everyone to use paypal(if possible).You don't even need a credit card if you have a bank account.Bye

[sylent 0]

Ive been using it for a few years now, and have a bank verified account and no problems... even with overseas payments by check.They take a little longer to clear all the banks, about 2 weeks or so, buit no issues at all either buying or selling.I think most of the problems have been stated in the above posts as far as dealing with people that have suspected fraudulent activity etc., but myself have had none at all.Just beware of phishing etc., but thats with any website at all.Always know who you are dealing with, keep all records possible and SSL is the way to go whenever possible!

[liod 0]

I`ve never got a problem with paypal and i hope i`ll have no problem with it.

[buxgoddess 1]

I have an account with paypal and was charged little under $2 for verification of membership. Now I am verified member, but am not using it because of payment related issues. I am from india and the $ to Rs conversion charge seems to be high.Instead I have shifted to Alertpay which is giving me no trouble at all. Everything is smooth. A few days back one of the top instant payout Paid to click site went on to seek donations just because paypal froze their account and 72% of their total money got blocked. without the fund it was impossible for them to pay instantly. It was like check bouncing due to insufficient fund. I made my donation through alertpay and was redeemed the money donetad by other business gift, worth much higher of course.Paypal however is very good if you are into ebay. paypal and ebay are one unit and transactions cannot be smoother than that.

[joeblogg 0]

of course i trust paypal. its owned by ebay - a big company so there not going to scam you to get a few bucks from you in the risk of losing many customers. all the people who buy and sell of ebay will tell you how reliable and excellent paypal is.

[twiztidkilla 0]

Pay pal is a very safe and reliable way of paying for things online. It is alot safer then credit cards because the credit cards people can accually get hacked alot easier then the pay pal accounts because paypal gopes through your bank and your band if it is any good has anti hacking protection. Yes paypal is safe!!! Also it is alot easier to use then credit cards as well. for the fact that you dont have to pay interest for the bank account.

[anwiii 17]

NO NO NO!paypal is NOT safe. the only good thing about paypal is that it's convenient.i've been warning people about paypal or years and i will continue to warn people so they can assume their own risk. there have been so many people burned by paypal it's not even funny. just because ebay bought it doesn't mean it's safe. are people kidding themselves?paypal will redflag you for NO REASON. this is a FACT. when they red flag you, your whole account is limited until you fix the problem. if you can't fix the problem with the solutions they give you, then you have no choice but to cancel the acount. this still goes on today.the other thing which i feel is still going on is that they will try to regulate hw you do business online. paypal has no authority over how you do business. their only authority is to convert currency offline -> online and vica versa.now to be honest here, have never taken the time to read all their terms of service but i don't need to when i know so many people have had problems with paypal.i was a little vague. paypal is unsafe if you want to accept money. if you want to spend money, it's reletively safe i guess. but i would never create a paypal account to spend money when anyone can just use their credit or debit card from their bank or finacial institution,if someone wants to recieve money, don't trust paypal. try some other means to recieve money. for businesses, it means to create a REAL merchant account. it's more money to start up but alot safer than paypal. i give my word on that one knowing how paypal operates.and just because you haven't had a problem yet with paypal just means you haven't been randomly red flagged yet or have done someone that you didn't know was wrong under their terms. again, many man people have been burned by paypal. that is a FACT so to say paypal is safe is not really knowing how paypal operates

[Bluebear 0]

A question: I do not have any money in my PayPal account, but yes it is connected to my credit card. If they flagged my account, would they be able to spend my money? Or could I just tell my bank to help me?

[anwiii 17]

since you have no money in there right now, then you wouldn't run in to that problem. as far as your credit card, i wouldn't be concerned about paypal misusing credit card info. if you do ever have money in your paypal account and is randomly flagged, they will want to verify who you are including charging your credit card with your permission. if they ever charge your card without permission, then yes, report it to your bank within the dispute dept.

when i had problems with them, they never did charge my card because i never gave them permission. since i refused to deposit any money in to my account, i was unable to fix the issues they wanted me to fix. they pretty much wanted to force me to deposit money as a verification process of who i am. but this is something small to the horror stories i know about and there are hundreds....not just 1 or 2. why i will NEVER go paypal unless i had to purchase something online that offered paypal.

i remember it took a lot of time establishing an acount with the process they require for new acounts. they wanted me to repeat that process and other verification methods when they suspended my account for no reason but "we randomly flag people". screw it. i was using it for business and accepting money and it hurt my business tremendously where i had to cease all business online. paypal was convenient, but it is definately not reliable.

i'm sure other people haven't had problems with them, but that doesn't mean they are reliable.

why i urge people to find another source to recieve payments

A question: I do not have any money in my PayPal account, but yes it is connected to my credit card. If they flagged my account, would they be able to spend my money? Or could I just tell my bank to help me?

[Bluebear 0]

Whenever I have a couple of dollars in my account I spend them strait away. Giftcards on sites where I know I am going to by something anyway is really helpful, so that is what I do. Anyway I wish there were other companies as big as PayPal and that it could be used almost all around the web - but that they actually cared. I have never had any problems but you guys freak me out from time to time due to all your horror stories.

[anwiii 17]

didn't mean to freak you out. just wanted to make you aware. just be aware and don't keep a whole lot o money in your account if you want to limit any possbile future headaches. paypal is supported on a lot of sites around the net. that is true. there are other companies, but not everywhere you shop are they supported as much as paypal. like i said, paypal is convenient.. just be aware of the possibilities. that's all.

Whenever I have a couple of dollars in my account I spend them strait away. Giftcards on sites where I know I am going to by something anyway is really helpful, so that is what I do.
Anyway I wish there were other companies as big as PayPal and that it could be used almost all around the web - but that they actually cared. I have never had any problems but you guys freak me out from time to time due to all your horror stories.

[Bluebear 0]

You are not the one freaking me out in particular, everyone is haha. I never really keep money in my account - why should I? When i buy something it is drawn from my credit card and the deal is sealed.