01 Aug 08 Be Careful With PayPal

PayPal is a great service generally speaking. I’ve had an account for a few years. I’ve got their debit card, and one for my wife too. I like that they give me 1.5% back into my PayPal account every time I use the debit card. I get quite a few hundred bucks back each year that way. On top of that they currently pay me two point something percent on my account balance. I can send and receive money from all over the world, at low or no cost.

I set up many of my affiliate accounts that way, and my Google Adsense too; the money just goes right on inthere, and starts earning that little bit of interest.

However, a word of warning. There’s a story on the wire about someone getting $450 removed from their PayPal account via iTunes They’d set up a pre-authorized agreement with Apple so they could fund their iTunes purchases from their PayPal account. Apple apparently has or had lax security there (I personally don’t know, as I’ve  never used iTunes myself), and this allowed someone to hack their iTunes account, and buy stuff, the funds for which were instantly debited from their PayPal account.

PayPal say they’ve done nothing wrong, and on the surface of it they haven’t. It looks to me like Apple should be making restitution to the guy who is $450 out of pocket.

Still, I’m always careful when setting up recurring payment agreements. It’s much like those credit or debit card payments you set up, and then find that you can’t cancel them unless your cancel the card itself – I know a number of folks that got caught out trying to cancel AOL accounts that way.

Be sure to only sign anything with a reputable company – although rumor has it that Apple are supposed to be one of those. Be sure to read the small print, so you can get a refund on any charges that were applied without your consent. If you can’t get that, don’t use the service. I’d rather have the inconvenience of entering my details each time, than lose $450 to some thieving smuck because the retailer can’t work out how to implement decent security.

Remember that at the end of the day, the banks don’t give a damn about you. They’re in it to make money. While they’ll happily slap on huge NSF fees the very instant you’re a penny over your limit, they almost always take forever to credit you back when they make a mistake. Of course they often need to investigate claims, as many are fraudulent, but even when it’s the banks fault, they’ll drag their feet so they can make a bit more interest from the money they have of yours.

However, in this case, PayPal don’t appear to have been at  fault. Come on Apple. Pony up the $450.  From here you look like the smucks in this too.

PayPal is a great service generally speaking. I’ve had an account for a few years. I’ve got their debit card, and one for my wife too. I like that they...

Tags: account balance, affiliate accounts, aol accounts, apple, debit card payments, google, inconvenience, lax security, little bit, money, paypal account, reputable company, restitution, smuck, smucks