Weird emails and pms about a paypal transaction I never made

[DireWolfM14]

Did you reuse the password for your Bitcointalk account anywhere? Do you remember when the last time you changed it was?

I'm also curious to know how kenzawak's account was breached. 

@kenzawak, did you use a laptop or a public computer to access your account while you were traveling?  Did you connect to an unsecured public wifi?  Did you download and install any software during that trip or just before?  Sorry if I'm being a bit nosy, but it's important to know how the account was compromised if you are to be certain it's now secure.

Also, please run a malware/virus scan (Malwarebytes, Avira are two free ones that work well from what I've seen).

If it were me swimming in a sea of uncertainty I would eliminate any potential for doubt.  I'd boot that betty from a USB, shred the hard drive, nuke the partitions, low level format, and start with a fresh OS install.

@iChanger,
You'll be able to get your money back from PayPal.  Friends and family payments make it a bit harder, but not impossible.  Be the squeaky wheel.

[suchmoon]

@iChanger,
You'll be able to get your money back from PayPal.  Friends and family payments make it a bit harder, but not impossible.  Be the squeaky wheel.

It's a shitty thing to do though. The scammer most likely already cashed out so PayPal would have to cover it, which is one of the reasons for the exorbitant fees and ridiculous restrictions they put on legitimate users. I know most people here are not fans of big corporations but this scam is not PayPal's fault in any way. Personal responsibility FTW.

[asche]

It's a shitty thing to do though. The scammer most likely already cashed out so PayPal would have to cover it, which is one of the reasons for the exorbitant fees and ridiculous restrictions they put on legitimate users. I know most people here are not fans of big corporations but this scam is not PayPal's fault in any way. Personal responsibility FTW.

Is it?

Or maybe paypal will eventually enforce KYC on their accounts even under 2000€/$ like it was last time I used it.

This would actually avoid scammers using it.

[DarkStar_]

So like DarkStar_ said in this situation you have to compensate us without discussion.

I've never stated that. This is what I stated:

Even if he was hacked, the most likely expectation would be for him to reimburse you out of pocket if you can't chargeback.

[kenzawak]

I'm also curious to know how kenzawak's account was breached. 

@kenzawak, did you use a laptop or a public computer to access your account while you were traveling?  Did you connect to an unsecured public wifi?  Did you download and install any software during that trip or just before?  Sorry if I'm being a bit nosy, but it's important to know how the account was compromised if you are to be certain it's now secure.

No it's ok, I understand and do appreciate the concern.
I do logon from hotel wifis when abroad, I don't have much choice if I wanna get online. This never happened though, that's the first time I get hacked.

I've been running antiviruses all day and I will format the whole laptop.

I'll also contact Theymos in a few days to check on the IP logs again as suggested.

[suchmoon]

It's a shitty thing to do though. The scammer most likely already cashed out so PayPal would have to cover it, which is one of the reasons for the exorbitant fees and ridiculous restrictions they put on legitimate users. I know most people here are not fans of big corporations but this scam is not PayPal's fault in any way. Personal responsibility FTW.

Is it?

Or maybe paypal will eventually enforce KYC on their accounts even under 2000€/$ like it was last time I used it.

This would actually avoid scammers using it.

Not sure what that has to do with anything. Scammers will use any tool available to them, if not PayPal then WU or whatever.

Defrauding PayPal with a feigned "chargeback" is NOT the right way to deal with this.

[asche]

Defrauding PayPal with a feigned "chargeback" is NOT the right way to deal with this.

This is slightly offtopic, but following your logic, if you loose your credit card on the street, and someone spends 10k on it, you shouldn't get the money back from your bank's insurance company, just because it was your fault in the first place?

Because this aspect is present in every single aspect of our lives. You only rarely pay direct costs. You usually pay a fraction of a total cost + margin for the company offering the service. This is true for paypal, but also any bank, or any insurance contract really. If your insurance is expensive, it is not because of the mess you make, but because of the mess of others.

[kenzawak]

I just received this pm :




I answered this :



EDIT : anyone knows how to alert Telegram about that guy @iamanubis ?

[suchmoon]

This is slightly offtopic, but following your logic, if you loose your credit card on the street, and someone spends 10k on it, you shouldn't get the money back from your bank's insurance company, just because it was your fault in the first place?

CC has fraud/loss "protection" and yes, it's ok to use it because you're paying insurance premiums via fees.

PayPal F&F payment does not have such protections. That's one of the reasons scammers want to use it. Attempting to reverse an F&F payment in this situation would likely be considered fraud.

[asche]

EDIT : anyone knows how to alert Telegram about that guy @iamanubis ?

Afaik you can't report anyone on Telegram. It is part of their "guidelines". The only thing you can report a user for, is spamming.

CC has fraud/loss "protection" and yes, it's ok to use it because you're paying insurance premiums via fees.

PayPal F&F payment does not have such protections. That's one of the reasons scammers want to use it. Attempting to reverse an F&F payment in this situation would likely be considered fraud.

Point taken even if PP still takes fees on numerous occasions, for instance when you change currencies.

And regarding the CC premium, there is none in most banks in France for instance. It is included for free. So in the end the merchant is paying it with his fees. Still pretty unfair.

[kenzawak]

EDIT : anyone knows how to alert Telegram about that guy @iamanubis ?

Afaik you can't report anyone on Telegram. It is part of their "guidelines". The only thing you can report a user for, is spamming.

I contacted their support, not sure they'll be able to do much though.

[marlboroza]

EDIT : anyone knows how to alert Telegram about that guy @iamanubis ?

Afaik you can't report anyone on Telegram. It is part of their "guidelines". The only thing you can report a user for, is spamming.

I contacted their support, not sure they'll be able to do much though.

Don't bother, I don't know for the rest of the world, but in my country you can get new phone number for 1$...sometimes for free...

Side note...
I was thinking, how does one prove that their account was hacked? I mean, it can happen to anyone, but how exactly will anyone prove that their account was hacked and they didn't scam?

[DarkStar_]

Side note...
I was thinking, how does one prove that their account was hacked? I mean, it can happen to anyone, but how exactly will anyone prove that their account was hacked and they didn't scam?

If they reimburse then it's not really an issue, which is why it's generally expected that people do so.

[bones261]

So the fact that I opened a bitcointalk account has exposed me to unlimited liability? That's pretty scary to me. 

[marlboroza]

Side note...
I was thinking, how does one prove that their account was hacked? I mean, it can happen to anyone, but how exactly will anyone prove that their account was hacked and they didn't scam?

If they reimburse then it's not really an issue, which is why it's generally expected that people do so.

I can't agree with this.
Lets suppose hacker hack account and made a 50btc deal and "send first", which could have happened here. Hacked person should send nearly half million dollars in this case?

So the fact that I opened a bitcointalk account has exposed me to unlimited liability? That's pretty scary to me. 

No.

[suchmoon]

So the fact that I opened a bitcointalk account has exposed me to unlimited liability? That's pretty scary to me. 

Lets suppose hacker hack account and made a 50btc deal and "send first", which could have happened here. Hacked person should send nearly half million dollars in this case?

Whoa whoa... unlimited... 50 BTC... is anybody really going to do that without as much as asking for a signed message?

Back on planet Earth though, I'm with Darkstar_. If someone gets screwed due to my shitty opsec, I better be able to compensate or be labeled a scammer.

[marlboroza]

So the fact that I opened a bitcointalk account has exposed me to unlimited liability? That's pretty scary to me.  

Lets suppose hacker hack account and made a 50btc deal and "send first", which could have happened here. Hacked person should send nearly half million dollars in this case?

Whoa whoa... unlimited... 50 BTC... is anybody really going to do that without as much as asking for a signed message?

Back on planet Earth though, I'm with Darkstar_. If someone gets screwed due to my shitty opsec, I better be able to compensate or be labeled a scammer.

Ok, in your opinion, where is the line between the "Earth" and normal?

And, of course, in my opinion

is anybody really going to do that without as much as asking for a signed message?

is anybody going to do 200$ without signed message.... Please....don't pull lines...

[suchmoon]

Ok, in your opinion, where is the line between the "Earth" and normal?

And, of course, in my opinion

is anybody really going to do that without as much as asking for a signed message?

is anybody going to do 200$ without signed message.... Please....don't pull lines...

Honestly - I don't know. It was as much a question as a statement of disbelief. I'd like to think that anything out of character for the user in question (larger than usual deal) would be suspicious but this thread shows that it wasn't.

[bones261]

Perhaps there should be an option to be notified by e-mail whenever a personal message is sent, not just received. As we can see, a hacker can do quite a bit of damage by just sending PMs, right under the rightful account holder's nose.

[asche]

Perhaps there should be an option to be notified by e-mail whenever a personal message is sent, not just received.

Or any connection from an unusual "new" IP adress, ideally geo-filtered. A lot of services offer this.

For these using vpn connections or such, maybe make it an option that is opt-out.

Any connection from a new country or region could trigger a warning.