Pay Pal put $$ in my sis's checking & savings accts. & she has NEVER USED paypal!

[Ronda93]

She is the victim of fraud by someone who was able to see the small deposits made by PayPal. This could NOT have been done with a lost check, by a merchant or malicious wait staff. Someone had to respond to PayPal with the proper dollar amounts to get this far. To do that they had to either know enough to get into the checking account online, be in cahoots with someone at the bank or fool someone at the bank into giving them the deposit amounts.

 

[C.Ann]

Not necessarily. If the account has an ATM card hooked into it, it could be done at any "merchant" in real life.

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But they would also have to have her email address and a password.. So even if they set up a "fake" one after gaining access to her bank account it should be relatively easy for Paypal to go back and see "what" that email address is and somehow verify the validity of the account that way..

Something just doesn't sound right and if she positively NEVER clicked on any links in any emails, I suspect the crime is really close to home..

 

[mum4jenn]

Could also be a neighbor. I have heard that people can get the wireless router to get info from neighbors computers by hooking up their own computer using the router.

 

[C.Ann]

Could also be a neighbor. I have heard that people can get the wireless router to get info from neighbors computers by hooking up their own computer using the router.

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Very true - without the proper precautions in place when using laptops and wireless routers, people can gain access to whatever you have on your computer..

 

[wuv tigger]

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But they would also have to have her email address and a password..
She doesn't have a PayPal Acct. and NEVER has had one.
She does NO online purchasing of anything. Never has, never will.

So even if they set up a "fake" one after gaining access to her bank account it should be relatively easy for Paypal to go back and see "what" that email address is and somehow verify the validity of the account that way..

Something just doesn't sound right and if she positively NEVER clicked on any links in any emails,

I suspect the crime is really close to home..

 

[Ronda93]

Not sure I understand what you are saying

Either your sister inadvertently revealed the necessary information to someone by falling for a fake email (phishing) or the person who did this already has access to her checking account. This could not have happened unless someone was able to see the two deposit amounts hit her account.

ETA: This made me think about my own PayPal account. I haven't used it in a year or so and the checking account that was connected to it is closed. When you add a checking/savings account to PayPal it comes back with this:

Within the next 2-3 business days, two deposits will be made into your bank account.

Bank Account Information: my bank, XXXXXX1234

The value of each deposit that will appear in your bank account is between $0.01 USD and $0.99 USD. Enter these amounts the next time you use PayPal.

This process confirms that you are the owner of this bank account, because only you have access to the deposit amounts sent by PayPal. This important security measure increases the safety of our payments network.

 

[Feralpeg]

Either your sister inadvertently revealed the necessary information to someone by falling for a fake email (phishing) or the person who did this already has access to her checking account. This could not have happened unless someone was able to see the two deposit amounts hit her account.

Ronda93 is absolutely correct. When you open a Paypal account linked to a bank account, Paypal makes two very small deposits to your account. You have a couple of days to go back to the Paypal website and enter the exact amounts of the Paypal deposits to your bank account.

Whoever did this, had to have been able to view your sister's bank account to determine the exact amount of the Paypal deposits. The deposits differ every time, so they could not have just guessed it. Just seeing her bank information would not be enough. They would have to be able to see her deposit information.

I know that it took some steps to set up a means to view my bank account info online. My guess is that it would have to be someone connected to her bank or someone able to get into her computer. Hopefully, she doesn't keep a list of her online passwords on her PC

 

[MagicKingdom05]

I would say that she feel from a fake e-mail and that's what caused this.

 

[va32h]

She is the victim of fraud by someone who was able to see the small deposits made by PayPal.

This could be accomplished if the scammer signed up for online banking.

The OP says her sister does not bank online. So there would not already be a username and password set up for her online access with her bank.

For my bank, you need your account #, billing address & Social Security number to get a username and password for online access.

Any check has the account # and address....OP - does your sister's driver's license have her social security number on that? All you'd need is one cashier to write the SSN on a check and boom - you have everything you need to empty someone's account on one piece of paper.

 

[Ronda93]

For my bank, you need your account #, billing address & Social Security number to get a username and password for online access.

Man, that is dangerous. Mine is more restrictive. If you want online banking they will create a user id and the first password. Much like ATM cards they arrive in the mail separately. You cannot change the user id, only the password.

 

[C.Ann]

Man, that is dangerous. Mine is more restrictive. If you want online banking they will create a user id and the first password. Much like ATM cards they arrive in the mail separately. You cannot change the user id, only the password.

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Ditto.. Also - here in NY your SS# does not appear on your driver's license and if a "sales person" ever asked for it, they would never get it.. I guard that number very carefully and I'm very selective about who gets it and why.. Even my health insurance card doesn't have my SS# on there..

 

[Ronda93]

wuv tigger, What happened? Where'd the money go? Did your sister get it back?