Anonymous Hackers claim to leak 28K Paypal passwords on Global Protest Day "November 5th" (Guy Fawkes Day)

Today I had received an email from paypal saying that my subscription payment for the hostgator hosting got declined.

I couldn't find any reason for this issue from my side as my credit card is in Good standing, and the subscription payment was working properly for many months without any issue, and I haven't made any changes in hostgator account, paypal account or in my credit card account.


So, I thought there should be some problem with either paypal or the Credit card side.

When I searched for "paypal", I came to know that there is some problem from paypal side.

Anonymous Hackers have announced that they hacked many paypal accounts. It seems they have published around 28K paypal account passwords in private paste document. (Now, it got removed).


And, it seems Anonymous Hackers hacked Symantec and Australian Government websites also for marking November 5th as a global day of protest. (i-e Guy Fawkes Day)

Guy Fawkes was a Catholic conspirator arrested for plotting to blow up the English Parliament on Nov. 5, 1605. He’s become something of an icon for Anonymous activists;

Guy Fawkes Day, on Nov. 5, is a popular British holiday that commemorates Fawkes’ arrest, and it’s also a popular day of action for Anonymous Hackers. Last year, they threatened to close down Facebook on Nov. 5, 2011 without success.


Updates:

Paypal has informed that Paypal is NOT attacked by Anonymous Hackers.

Please know @paypal was not attacked by #Anonymous original story has been corrected bit.ly/SmB7bG

— PayPal (@PayPal) November 5, 2012

Since paypal is saying that there is no problem from their side, I contacted my credit card company. And, they confirmed that there is no issue with my Credit Card. And, as per their suggestion I had tried to use my credit card in other websites which don't use paypal. I was able to use my Credit card on those websites without any issue.

So, I had decided to use the credit card option in hostagator instead of using paypal. But this transaction also got declined. I think they may be internally using paypal as payment gateway. I am NOT sure about it. Anyway I assume there should be some problem from paypal side. And therefore I had sent all these details to paypal support, and waiting for their reply.

Anyone else face these kind of issues? You can share your experience thro' the comments.

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Space for Improvement in PayPal Dispute System.

Today I have noticed a need for the improvement in the Dispute System of the popular Payment Gateway system "PayPal".



Recently I sold a script to a Buyer and I clearly mentioned below Terms and Conditions in the invoice itself apart from communicating this message to buyer thro' email.

Terms and conditions

- The Discount is applicable only for this un-updated version of the script. i-e you can get this for $150 only if you buy it today (2nd November) before we start updating this script.
- Refund is NOT applicable at any situation, as we will provide the source code.
- Any further corrections and updations are NOT free. We can do any corrections/updations for additional charge based on hourly billing.

But, today I was surprised to see the Buyer was able to remove this $150 from my PayPal account using "PayPal Dispute". I didn't like this paypal's behavour. Why paypal is reducing my balance while I clearly mentioned as "Refund is NOT applicable at any situation" in the Terms and Conditions of the invoice?

I couldn't understand why PayPal is supporting the buyer who is NOT respecting its "Terms and Conditions" feature.

The worst thing is, because of this dispute PayPal had cancelled my last Bank withdrawal. I will be losing significant amount because of the exchange rate difference during this cancellation.

I think PayPal Dispute System can be improved further. For example, apart from providing text area for entering free text for "Terms and Conditions" field, PayPal can provide a checkbox or radio button for specifying whether refund is allowed or not.

And, if the Seller chooses checkbox not to allow refund, the buyer should not be able to start the dispute for asking refund. Since the Buyer will be notified about "No refund" policy, it won't affect the Buyer. This feature will be very useful for the Sellers who sell digital products. I am NOT sure whether any disadvantage is there. You can share your comments about this suggestion.

I have asked PayPal Support to take necessary action against this Buyer who wastes my time without respecting the "Terms and Conditions".

I will update this post later once after I get the response from the PayPal support.


update on November 15
PayPal Support helped me to close the Dispute and I got back the Money.

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Paypal increases Receiving Limit to USD 3000 for Indian Users.

The Payment Gateway "PayPal" has increased the payment Receiving Limit to $ 3000 USD for the Indian Users.

At the end of January month PayPal had added many restriction for the Indian users. One of the Restrictions is the $500 USD limit for receiving the payments.

Now, PayPal has increased this limit from $500 to $3000 which will will be welcomed by Indian PayPal users as well as by the Buyers from many countries who faced difficulty for paying more than $500 for the Goods/Services bought from Indian merchants.


Mayur Patel, India country manager of PayPal is published below blog post.

We’ve been notified by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) that our merchants in India can receive export-related payments for goods and services into their PayPal account up to USD 3000 per transaction (raised from USD 500 per transaction), effective immediately. This is great news as the vast majority of our merchants in India can continue to use PayPal for their online payment service with overseas customers.

Over the past few months, we have received feedback from our merchants in India and shared it with the RBI. We are thankful that the RBI has responded in a positive way and increased the transaction limit to better enable entrepreneurs and small and medium sized businesses to conduct cross-border trade.

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PayPal Auto Withdrawal problem

Few days back I had mentioned about Auto withrawal of PayPal balance. Since the PayPal removed the 50 Rupees withdrawal fees, I thought there won't be any problem in this Auto Withdrawal.

But yesterday I realized the big issue of this Auto Withdrawal.

Yesterday PayPal has started auto withdrawal of my PayPal balance to my India Bank account.

A Buyer has requested refund once after the Paypal initiated the auto withdrawal. And, PayPal placed a hold for the disputed transaction. And, immediately PayPal cancelled the Auto withdrawal.

Finally my PayPal account is having Negative balance. Ideally it should be 0 instead of negative balance. So, I had done detailed analysis to know the reason.

And, I came to know that the exchange rate difference caused this Negative balance. Even if the PayPal did the auto withdrawal and Cancellation within few minutes gap, there was a huge difference in Exchange rate.

i-e PayPal used lower Exchange rate for converting USD into INR while doing auto withdrawal. And, it used higher Exchange rate for converting INR into USD while cancelling the Auto withdrawal. So, finally I lost significant money because of this Auto withdrawal implementation.
I think PayPal can take necessary steps to prevent such losses. For example, instead of placing the hold immediately after  getting dispute, it can do it only after finalizing the dispute. What do you think about it? You can share your thoughts thro' the comments.


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PayPal has implemented Daily Auto Withdraw for Indian Users

PayPal has implemented Auto Withdraw for Indian Users. It seems it will be done on Daily basis.

And, I have noticed that PayPal has removed the Rs.50 fees for the withdraw. Anyway PayPal will still get income from the Exchange Rate difference.

Find below more details from the PayPal site.

Withdrawing your payments

What is auto withdrawal?

Auto withdrawal is the process of automatically transferring your funds from your PayPal account into your bank account in India.

Where will my funds be auto withdrawn to?

Your PayPal balance will be auto withdrawn to your bank account in India. If you have one bank account added to your PayPal account, it will be set as your auto withdrawal account. In case you have more than one bank account added to your PayPal account, you will have an option to set your auto withdrawal account.

Why are my funds being auto withdrawn?

This is an Indian regulatory requirement and applies to all PayPal users in India.

When does auto withdrawal happen?

Your PayPal balance is auto withdrawn to your local bank account in India daily. You can check your bank account within 5-7 working days after your funds have been auto withdrawn from your PayPal account.

Can I withdraw my funds?

You can also withdraw your funds. Here's how:

• Log in to your PayPal account and click Withdraw at the top of the page.
• Select the bank account you want to use.
• Enter the amount and click Continue.
• Select your purpose code for withdrawals.
• Make sure that your information is correct and click Continue.

Can I use my PayPal balance?

When you receive payments and it is available as balance in your PayPal account, you must withdraw your funds or let withdrawals happen automatically. In accordance with Indian regulations, you can’t make purchases or send payments with your PayPal balance. Please use your card linked to your PayPal account to make purchases or send payments.

Type of withdrawal	PayPal fee
Auto withdrawals made to your bank account in India	None*
Withdrawals that you make to your bank account in India	None*

*If foreign exchange or currency conversion is required to complete any transaction, this will be performed by a licensed financial institution. The foreign exchange rate is adjusted periodically on a daily basis to reflect market conditions and includes a 2.5% processing fee which is retained by PayPal. The exact exchange rate that applies to your transaction will be displayed to you at the time of the transaction.


In the January Month, PayPal had informed the India users to transfer the paypal payment to Indian bank account within 7 days.




Updates on September 14
This Auto withdrawal is having a shortcoming. You can read this post for more details.

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