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Wednesday, April 20, 2011

FAIR WARNING


I woke up a few days ago and checked my paypal account for something that I had sold on Ebay.  When my page opened I literally almost fell OUT of my chair. I discovered that some guy in another country had hacked my paypal account, posed as me and made 40 transactions of 25.00 each out of my BANK ACCOUNT!  After I gained my composure and started to breathe again, I called paypal and my bank to flag it all but it was TOO LATE. They had already taken it all. Was this a horribly wrong thing of him to do? Absolutely. Could I have avoided it? Probably. But hindsight is always 20.20 right?  I had my business account linked to Paypal for direct deposits. I hope all of you Etsyans and Ebayans are listening to this!
The creep stole my keystrokes on my computer and found my password for crying out loud! How did he do this? I have Norton and firewalls!!These people are smart. After talking to many people who are apparently smarter than I am, I learned this.....

1. Have an Internet bank account that is ONLY for Internet transactions. When you receive money, immediately transfer into a safe account.

2. Change your password often.

3. Have a separate password for each website you use. If  you have the same password and it gets stolen, your email address is easy to come by. They will check every site known to man that could have an account attached and suck you dry.

My friend Shay shared this website with me called www.lastpass.com. It will store all your passwords..... not only so you don't forget them, but also that your key strokes won't be detected.

This is helpful so you don't end up like Maxine here........





Paypal will eventually reimburse me, but it is taking forever and I have no money to buy furniture for redos until they give it back. CRAZY.

Don't let this happen to you! Go change your passwords now!!! RUN!

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14 comments:

  1. Allison@FabRehabApril 20, 2011 at 9:59 PM

    Oh Kelli, what a bummer. I am so sorry this happened. These hackers need to get a real hobby!

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  2. Joy@aVintageGreenApril 20, 2011 at 11:27 PM

    This is awful.
    - Joy

    ReplyDelete
  3. Vivienne @ the V SpotApril 21, 2011 at 1:43 AM

    Holy Cats! Thank you for sharing this sucky news with us, as it is a wake up call for all of us. :(

    ReplyDelete
  4. KayeApril 21, 2011 at 6:30 AM

    I'm so sorry to hear this. I'm glad PayPal is going to reimburse you but life is on hold for now.

    Thanks for your valuable advice.

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  5. Cameron CurranApril 21, 2011 at 7:09 AM

    So sorry to hear this. People can be such jerk faces! Why do they feel entitled to YOUR money??????

    ReplyDelete
  6. CourtneyApril 21, 2011 at 8:53 AM

    Thank you for sharing. I'm sorry you have to deal with this and hope it gets settled soon.

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  7. Simply AJApril 21, 2011 at 9:58 AM

    I am so sorry this happened to you too! I had the same exact thing happen to me!! The bad guy actually keystroked my banking info (he changed my password/questions to my bank account) - set up a new paypal acct with my name and checking acct and tried to suck me dry. I had to cancel all bank accts (several linked together) and change all passwords to anything of importance. I also have Norton and was using Google Chrome at the time. Norton said they are aware of this happening and admitted that a patch is needed but not yet developed (Chrome users are most vunerable)I switched back to IE (yuck). Apparently, a fake Java update is how individuals are getting into your system. The update looks real and when you click to update -you are downloading the bad guy keystroke junk. Norton suggested that I turn off the auto update for Java and Adobe and manually update direct from the sites. I also only use a designated Credit Card now for ALL internet purchases - No more bank info. Finally, Norton suggests that users let Identity Safe auto fill website and password to avoid all keystrokes. Hope this helps. Email me if you have any additional questions. It is a terrible feeling knowing someone can violate your privacy so easily!! AJ - queenofmynest(at)gmail(dot)com

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  8. Alison AgnewApril 21, 2011 at 10:12 AM

    this is horrible! i once got phished and had my ebay account hacked, but not paypal...i'm going to change my passwords right now...so sorry to hear of your misfortune, but thanks for the warning.

    alison
    stuff and nonsense

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  9. MarieApril 21, 2011 at 4:06 PM

    Ughhh!!! How horrible! We are so comfortable ordering and paying for things online we forget that there are bad bad people out there. Hopefully I have a little good news for ya. The TLC wax that you used on your desk is at Christopher House Inc. in Birmingham, Alabama. 800-752-3511

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  10. PicturePerfectPixiesApril 21, 2011 at 5:17 PM

    That is so scary! I hope it all gets fixed and soon.

    That bugger is going to get what's comin' to him.....

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  11. The Shabby HomeApril 21, 2011 at 6:11 PM

    Oh Kelli, I'm so sorry that this has happened. AND thank you for sharing - I have just changed mty password to Paypal.... I'll have to work through the rest.

    ReplyDelete
  12. UnknownApril 22, 2011 at 12:49 AM

    that happened to me but the person only made one transaction and i called paypay and they credited me back.

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  13. Lori @ Katies Rose Cottage DesignsApril 23, 2011 at 8:34 AM

    Oh my gosh that is horrible !!
    Thank you for the reminder to change passwords ~

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  14. Youaretalkingtoomuch.comApril 26, 2011 at 8:38 PM

    That really scares me. I am so out there in riskville with this. I am thankful you posted this. I need to get some securities set up. Thanks, Reb

    ReplyDelete

I appreciate each one of you and love to read your comments. Even though it is impossible to respond to each one, please know that I read them all. You guys are the best! I pray for y'all daily and consider each one of you my friend.