Question about Paypal safety

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Posted By: Paul

I usually pay by Paypal directly through ebay's website. But, today, the seller sent me an invoice by email. I opened it and it had a link to an auction helper service which in turn had a link to paypal, and I paid through this link. (I know some sellers insist that you use an auction helper service, so this must happen fairly often).

I think this particular sale was legit. But it seems like this system is ripe for a scam. Someone can send you a fake invoice, redirect you to a fake website, and steal your paypal i.d. Even the seller can get your paypal i.d. this way if he fraudulently redirects you to a fake website.

My question is this. Is there any way to know for sure that you are really on paypal's website? The URL at the top of my screen said https://www.paypal.com/a-bunch-of-stuff. Is that enough to be sure your safe, or can the URLs at the top of your computer screen be faked too?

Paul

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Posted By: Jason Carota

The "httpS://" is usually a safe sign. What helper service was it? Vendio or something similar?

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Posted By: davidcycleback

A test I use is to type in the wrong password. Only you and PayPal know
the correct password, and a fraud sight won't know that you typed in
the wrong password. If the site asks you to retype your username and password
as one or the other is incorrect, that's a sign you're working with PayPal.
If the site says "You have successfully logged in!," that means it's not
PayPal.

I'm also aware of the site I'm visiting. If you're unfamiliar with the company,
site or seller, there's nothing wrong with saying I'm not going to type in my
PayPal info.

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Posted By: Joey

The eBay toolbar has a button on it that is green on any eBay site including Paypal. Although I detest toolbars, this one would seem to protect you from that sort of scam.

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Posted By: Dave Hornish

I only pay through the eBay site. I do not trust any e-mails I get from Pay Pal or Ebay that have links in them. You would think there would be some foolproof way around this problem with all the billions of dollars at stake for these companies.

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Posted By: Paul

David, I like your idea of typing in the wrong password as a test.

Jason, I don't remember the auction-helper-style site I was directed to. It was not "Auction Helper," but it may have been Vendio.

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Posted By: davidcycleback

Even if sellers have preferred special ways to pay (auction helper,
PayPal button on website, etc), I doubt many would have a problem
with the buyer going to the PayPal site and paying from there.

The other thing is, after paying, you can go directly to PayPal.com. If the
payment is listed there, you were dealing with PayPal. It should register right
away.