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Posted: Friday, 12 June 2009 8:58AM
Suburban cop becomes PayPal ID theft victim
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(WBBM) - A police commander in suburban Gurnee says what happened to him "was a clear reminder that no one is immune to criminal activity."
That activity: identity theft.
Last month, someone accessed the PayPal account of Gurnee Police Cmdr. Jay Patrick.
That person charged $947 to his bank account for purchases Patrick did not make, the Chicago Tribune reports.
The online PayPal service lets members send and receive money. The funds come out of members' PayPal balance, bank account or credit cards.
PayPal says it can't talk about Patrick's case because of privacy issues but said the situation he encountered is rare.
"We have a really low rate of fraud, only one-third of 1 percent," PayPal's Charlotte Hill told the Tribune. "One of the reasons we are safer [than using a credit card online] is that we never share financial information with the recipient of the payment. In addition, if you paid with a credit card [on PayPal] you are still getting protected by the credit card, so you are doubly protected."
Patrick says he had not given his PayPal password to anyone. As a cop, he's well aware of scams and says he does not send personal information to anyone via e-mail.
According to a customer service e-mail that Patrick received from PayPal: "The PayPal system has never been compromised since its inception," claims a customer service e-mail sent to Patrick.
The Tribune reports that PayPal investigated and, nine days after Patrick contacted the service, PayPal said he would receive a refund. He got the money back this week.
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