Someone hacked my PayPal account and I could use some advice

[S'task]

Two things:
1. Contact Paypal and see if they can force logout your account from all logged in locations.
2. It sounds like there may be something enabling this hacker to do a Man in the Middle attack on your Paypal credentials, that is, he's intercepting your login from your computer somehow. Are you using a VPN or other such software?

 

[Captain X]

Are you using a VPN or other such software?

No.

 

[S'task]

No.

Then yeah, you might have some nasty spyware deeply embedded in your computer.

 

[Robovski]

Yeah, considering what you described either your computer is compromised or somewhere in your internet connection you are compromised. Save what you must (and as little as possible) and start over with a fresh installation of everything. A new PayPal account is also probably a good idea.

 

[Captain X]

Then yeah, you might have some nasty spyware deeply embedded in your computer.

Yeah, considering what you described either your computer is compromised or somewhere in your internet connection you are compromised. Save what you must (and as little as possible) and start over with a fresh installation of everything. A new PayPal account is also probably a good idea.

Is there anything I can do to make a definite determination? I'm wondering, because if this is something in my internet connection or on the PayPal end, I don't want to go through all of this only to end up with the same problem. I would be giving up a legal copy of Adobe CS3 because Adobe are dicks and won't let me do a fresh install with it.

 

[Simonbob]

Is there anything I can do to make a definite determination? I'm wondering, because if this is something in my internet connection or on the PayPal end, I don't want to go through all of this only to end up with the same problem. I would be giving up a legal copy of Adobe CS3 because Adobe are dicks and won't let me do a fresh install with it.

Have you reached out to PayPal, and asked them?

They're likely to want to fix the problem, because it threatens their whole busness model. If you can't trust their security, you'll find a different way. Sure, there's going to be lazy/and or corrupt people within the company, but the whole thing depends on it working.


That might be your best option, anyway. Walk away from PayPal, and no more problem!

 

[Captain X]

Have you reached out to PayPal, and asked them?

They're likely to want to fix the problem, because it threatens their whole busness model. If you can't trust their security, you'll find a different way. Sure, there's going to be lazy/and or corrupt people within the company, but the whole thing depends on it working.


That might be your best option, anyway. Walk away from PayPal, and no more problem!

The thing with that is, I do art commissions, and a lot of artists only use PayPal.

 

[Simonbob]

.... I'm slowly coming back to mercs.

Honestly, I want them to go after scamsters of all sorts. Fuck those guys.

 

[Robovski]

If we could drone strike scam call centers that'd be great.

 

[Simonbob]

If we could drone strike scam call centers that'd be great.

Yeah, Obama would hit random islamic guys, and their families, but not our real enemies?

Weak sauce, man.

 

[Captain X]

The odd thing, to me, is that if this is something on my computer, it seems hyper-focused on my PayPal account, at least thus far. While both my LinkedIn and Facebook accounts were hacked back in February, there has been no attempt to do so again since I've recovered them, and none of my other accounts seem to have been compromised.

 

[Marduk]

Is there anything I can do to make a definite determination? I'm wondering, because if this is something in my internet connection or on the PayPal end, I don't want to go through all of this only to end up with the same problem. I would be giving up a legal copy of Adobe CS3 because Adobe are dicks and won't let me do a fresh install with it.

Try accessing paypal with a different device than usual, a phone, different computer or whatever else you have.

The odd thing, to me, is that if this is something on my computer, it seems hyper-focused on my PayPal account, at least thus far. While both my LinkedIn and Facebook accounts were hacked back in February, there has been no attempt to do so again since I've recovered them, and none of my other accounts seem to have been compromised.

Well it's not like the hacker can get money out of those accounts, unlike Paypal...

 

[Captain X]

They could potentially get stuff, which is what they've been doing with my PayPal. They aren't transferring money, they're buying stuff at online stores and shipping it to different addresses around Germany.

 

[Captain X]

There is also PC based versions.

But considering you're concerned your computer itself is compromised that might still be risky. Another option is to buy a physical token generator and try and link that to your Paypal.

Regardless, two-factor authentication is the BEST way to prevent and ensure this kind of thing cannot happen. There's a reason we encourage people to set it up for this forum, and it's MANDATORY for staff here.

Apparently the app you recommended ended their desktop version back in March of 2024. Do you have any other recommendations for a desktop version of one of these apps?

 

[posh-goofiness]

KeepassXC