Is PayPal Safe?

PayPal is an online payment processor used for transferring funds online. It helps you transfer funds between people and business at click of the mouse. You can add funds to PayPal using credit card & bank accounts. It is convenient to use and it protects all the financial information.

Though PayPal does not claim to be totally foolproof, it has incorporated many tests and balances into its system which leaves very little scope for any error or fraud. Let us look in to some of the important security features of PayPal.

PayPal’s Safety Features

Dealing with PayPal is quite safe; it works almost like an online bank.

Guarantee against Fraud and Identity Theft - PayPal assures total protection against any unauthorized payment from the customer’s account. Each and every transaction of the customer is confirmed with him by an email. In case of a disagreement of any transaction, PayPal gives access to a support team of analysts who work day in and day out to solve your problems.

Insured eBay Purchases - eBay purchases can also be insured up to $1000 through PayPal. A service called PayPal Buyer Protection is another way that PayPal will certify that certain sellers are trustworthy.

PayPal's Anti-Fraud Team – This team is dedicated to make each and every transaction of PayPal completely safe and flawless. It uses the latest technology and sophisticated risk models to find out and then predict any suspicious activity which could lead to identity theft.

PayPal Buyer Safety Features

If you use PayPal for buying, then you may be wondering how PayPal make sure everything is working perfectly. Here is how:

PayPal uses the same fraud prevention technology used for merchant transactions - so that all your payments are executed accurately.

PayPal uses secure encryption technology that encrypts your data before transmission. This means, all your private date including credit card details are very safe with PayPal.

PP Seller Rating – PayPal assigns each seller with a rating. This rating is based on propitiatory algorithms that track the sellers and their transactions. If a seller has huge rating, then you can be sure that this is a trust worthy seller.

It also gives you an option to get refund of your payment, if you can provide some proof of your claim. For example, if you do not receive the goods you bought, you can request a refund claim. PayPal will investigate the issue and will ask seller to respond to your claim. If PayPal believes you, you will get your money back.

How to make sure your PayPal accounts are secure

Make sure you are accessing PayPal website. There are many fishing websites that claim to be original PayPal websites. Beware of such websites and make sure you are actually connecting to PayPal website. It is easy to identify by check the "https" section in browser address bar. In Firefox, you can click on the https section and see the owner of SSL certificate. (It will be PayPal and not any other company.)

Make sure your computer is free from spyware and viruses. There are trojans and spywares that can monitor your keystrokes and use them to transmit your private date to hackers. Hence, always install antivirus / anti-spyware software to prevent such situations. If you cannot use them, at least start using form filling software such as roboform. Roboform, helps you fill user/password form easily by single clicks.

Do not answer any messages claiming from PayPal. PayPal never request your personal information. The most probably this information is asked by scammers who want to use your private data for their own use.

Do not log-in from public computers. Public computers are notorious for viruses and spy-ware. Thus, avoid such situations.

Never share your private PayPal details (or even financial information for that matter) with any one. People can be of different types. You do not know when they will use it against you.

Facts about PayPal

Before using PayPal, the below mentioned facts should be understood for a clear view of its working.

1. PayPal Need Not Follow Banking Regulations - Since PayPal is not a bank, it does not have to follow the standard banking rules and regulations. Simply stated, PayPal is the final authority on any dispute. For example, it could freeze the customer’s account for many reasons, especially if it found anything suspicious. Whenever there is a disagreement between two parties, PayPal decides the verdict and both of the parties have to follow it.
2. When You Use PayPal, You Waive Your Right to Credit Card Chargebacks - This happens when someone else uses your credit card without your authorization or when you dispute a charge on your account. A person can dispute a charge on their credit card, and you may not get to collect if PayPal decides the user does not owe you the charge you sent to the user.
3. When You Link Your PayPal Account to Your Bank Account, Your Funds Can Be At Risk - When the customer has a problem with a PayPal transaction, which PayPal thinks to be doubtful, PayPal can take money from the customer’s bank account to settle the dispute. Although the customer gets back his money sooner or later, it means that the customer’s bank account is at risk. This could create anxiety among some customers.

So how safe is really PayPal? The fact is PayPal is absolutely safe! This will be testified by the many number of customers who use PayPal and have not experienced any problems whatsoever till now. Though the number of gripe websites attacking PayPal continues to grow and there are potential problems, the customer can rest assured. PayPal employs top level secure technology and a large team of dedicated experts in all areas of online safety.

PayPal maintains its position at the top of the list of companies providing safe online payment. The customer cannot ignore this popular e-commerce site! The disadvantage will definitely be the customer’s!