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Skype Billing Gone Haywire For Some Users
Cousin Scuzzy writes "This morning I awoke to 26 e-mail messages from Skype and PayPal notifying me of multiple payments for my Skype account that had been charged to my credit card and subsequently refunded. At first I suspected that this was a new wave of spam that had slipped through my defenses, but it quickly became apparent that they were legitimate messages. I then began to worry that my Skype account had been compromised. The first message from Skype thanked me for setting up their "Auto-Recharge" service which automatically purchases Skype credit when the balance falls below a certain amount. This was very suspicious, as I had never requested this service. Based on posts to Skype's forum, it now appears that there have been serious billing problems at Skype relating to Auto-Recharge for over a month. Although I believe that all unauthorized charges to my credit card have been refunded, it is worrisome that Skype, or anyone, would charge my account erroneously. Skype, for their part, has not yet e-mailed me an explanation or posted one online. This problem reinforces my aversion to automatic bill payment services that give companies the authority to draw money from my bank account at their discretion." For all the Skype users out there, have you experienced this? For what it's worth, the company's own response on the linked forum thread says that the problem is now solved.
FTFS
This happened to a friend of mine about a month ago. He got logged out of skype and couldn't get back in. Then he starts getting emails from Paypal about charges from his skype account for phone calls to somewhere in eastern Europe.
He got his account and money back but his contacts had all been wiped.
There is either a hole in skype or a piece of malware out there harvesting skype credentials. Google "lost skype account" or something like that.
I am with Skype/Paypal Customer Service Biling. Please submit your account and credit card info hear and well ensure all refunds will be examined. Thank you
The absolutely hilarious thing about paypal is that one of its co-founders fancies himself a libertarian who says of paypal: "The basic thought was if you could lessen the control of government over money and somehow shift the ability of people to control the money that was in their wallets, this would be a truly revolutionary shift." despite the fact that paypal is basically just an (expensive) escrow service with a frankly nasty reputation for incompetence, asshattery, and penny-ante fraud(Sorry, your account is locked, hope you didn't have any money in there).
That's one thing I find somewhat hypocritical of many libertarian thinkers. Its not okay when the government infringes on your privacy, but its perfectly okay when some corporation does so.
We all know what to do, but we don't know how to get re-elected once we have done it
And this is why you NEVER, NEVER give your bank account information to anyone, let alone PayPal (PayPal motto: screwing buyers AND sellers since 2002)
If you must use PayPal--and I concede that it's barely imaginable that there's something you just have to buy that you can only get online and that is only sold by a site that only takes PayPal--you link your account to a credit card. Then if PayPal screws you, you contest the charge and they can take it up with American Express or whoever.
Under no circumstances does any online business get my checking/savings account info. If they don't take credit cards, I'll find somewhere else to shop. The inability to block charges from creating an overdraft and the lack of consumer protection that banks give account holders make this something that no one should ever do. Combine those faults with the dangers inherent in a recurring charge system and it's a no-brainer: don't give PayPal (or anyone else, especially anyone with as bad a customer service reputation as they have) your bank account info.
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If they take money from your credit card without you authorizing it, you can contact your credit card company and request a charge back. If you already have a payment plan, however, you have essentially pre-authorized payments, which makes getting the money back much more difficult.
We all know what to do, but we don't know how to get re-elected once we have done it
The power rests in the ability of the individual to rectify this. He can stop using the corporation's services, remove personal information, etc.. You have no such ability in regards to the government.
but I DID have it on my computer in a text file
This is a problem, because anyone who got access to your computer would have access to your CC number.
To avoid this security hole, rather than keeping my CC number in my computer, I keep it on a small plastic card in my wallet.
so is it paypals fault you didn't turn off the auto renew? You need to make sure that you turn off auto renew or keep enough cash in your account to cover afew extra hundred bucks.
This was a long time ago when I was unemployed and living in my parents basement digging through the couch for change to pay for gas money to go to job interviews. I never said it was paypals fault, as well.
Also, fuck you.
Posts not to be taken literally. Almost everything is sarcasm.
The power rests in the ability of the individual to rectify this. He can stop using the corporation's services, remove personal information, etc.. You have no such ability in regards to the government.
That's the theory. In practice, lots of these companies act as complex monopoly-type webs and you are forced to deal with some of them no matter how much they suck (e.g. ISPs in some places). Just like dealing with the goverment, except that there's no way to get rid of them at all.
Virtually every company has some sort of unacceptable T's & C's - like including the clause that they can change the T's & C's at any time without notice. And they've already grabbed public goods (like easments) many years ago so you can't even set up in competition to them if you have the money.
Paypal doesn't quite fall into this category, although I have been completely unable to buy certain goods because I refuse to have an account.
but the three digit code is there as proof that I am holding the actual card. If I memorize it I will have broken the entire security model.