Hacking victim hacked off with PayPal

The victim of a hacked PayPal account is upset with the lack of communication from the money transfer company.

Leah Stewart, 20, spent two weeks trying to contact the global online payment business about a transaction she didn’t make, without speaking to an actual person.

“They need a better communication system because it could have been a lot more serious if it was more money,” she said. “I think they don’t take it very seriously.”

Miss Stewart received a receipt for US$89 (roughly NZ$130) paid with her debit card, which was linked to her PayPal account, on March 8.

The AUT student immediately cancelled her card and contacted PayPal.

She was told through automated messages that the only way to report an unauthorised payment was through an online form on their website.

Her case was then supposed to go on the Disputes Page, however this didn’t happen for Miss Stewart.

Desperate, she then private messaged and tweeted PayPal, telling them about her current situation.

The online money transfer company only replied through Twitter a week later, asking whether her case was now visible - it wasn’t.

Finally on March 18, Miss Stewart received a no-reply email from PayPal saying that they were following up on the unauthorised payment.

Her money was finally returned four days later, after spending 30 minutes on hold with automated replies from PayPal.

PayPal spokesperson Kelvin Lee said that a number of users in New Zealand have found the automated messages “highly annoying”.

However, Mr Lee said it was common for their customers not to speak to a real person through the process of reporting an unauthorised transaction.

“I know it can be quite frustrating but that’s a normal process,” he said.

Miss Stewart said she is a lot more cautious online now and urged others to exercise the same caution.

“It just seems that it’s actually quite easy to hack into someone’s PayPal account,” she said.

NetSafe NZ operations analyst, Stephen Denniston, said that there were 113 reports of hacked accounts last year, an increase of 20 per cent from the previous year.

While individuals can take steps to protect their information, Mr Denniston said that companies like PayPal have to take responsibilities too.

“I think there’s always room for improvement,” he said.