I believe one of the methods used by these guys is infecting your computer with a keylogger virus. What the virus would do is record all the key strokes that you make and send back that data to the person's email, all without you knowing a damn thing. So if you type out your debit card number online for a purchase or something they will then have that number.
Only thing you can do there to prevent that is to have a very strong anti-virus and/or internet security program installed.
Plus don't open any emails or links that look suspicious.

Anyways I'm sorry to hear man and i hope everything works out for you.

i've had my CC number stolen before, even tho i rarely used the card. i got my charges disputed and i got credited back so everything is fine now. keep track of everything in your online accounts and you should be fine. CC companies are usually good about this stuff. but from my own expeirences, Paypal is pretty shitty with their customer service which is why i never applied for their CC.

Another way they may have gotten your card info is a skimmer. There have been a lot of these devices showing up attached to ATMs recently. Consumerist had a bunch of stories about this a few weeks ago.

A similar thing happened to my brother earlier this year. He was moving his fiancee from Houston to Virginia and he got called by the bank about suspicious activity on his card from a WalMart. He still had the card, but someone was able to buy nearly $800 worth of stuff. He had already returned to VA when the charges happened.

Guess bad economy is making people especially predatory.

Wow..... I didn't even know what the hell an atm skimmer was before your post, had to google that shit. Damn ... now you got me scared using a freaking ATM machine. I use them because they're so damn convenient. I can withdraw and deposit cash anytime of the day. But now ... hmm... got to keep an eye out for suspicious shit on them.

something like this happen to me. but I was forunate in that my bank caught it and put a stop on it. Then sent me a new card. I think that some where down the line a store got hold of my number. Now I pay with cash for alot of stuff and use my card in big chain retail stores.

it is kinda odd you posted this i got what im positave was a spam e-mail today trying to tell me my paypal account was hacked. and i must they they did a good job on the e-mail.but it was from a webssl.com email address and mailed to undisclosed recipentis.

Wow, thanks for all the responses guys. First of all, I do expect it was a key-tracker virus of some sort because my anti-virus kept shutting down on me the last few weeks and my system was incredibly slow. I'm backing up all my data and going to do a clean install, but I can't do it all in one shot because I have a lot of business that I do with this computer. I'm ordering a new laptop though and when I get it, I'll be using that while I re-do this computer from scratch.

In final closing, yes people do in fact suck big time.

You were probably phished or keylogged. It'll be okay, but it just sucks having to jump through all those hoops.

that shit happened to me a few years ago, i bought something online and then i got a weird phone call asking to confirm information ( social engineering) next thing you know i got some weird charges on my account from a walmart (my town didnt have a walmart yet) and some other website...needless to say i disputed them but not before my idiot bank claimed that they WERE my charges because my billing address was on the invoices, i had to write a long letter explaining to them that the phone number and shipping address was from California and that i never visited these websites...THEN they gave me my money back, but they sent me some paperwork with the thief's address and phone number on it...i called the number and it turned out to be (or so she said) the thief's best friends mother...the boy was 14. i dont know if the bank pressed charges or could but i scared the living shit out of that woman telling her that i had HER address and would be pressing charges, possibly she went and reamed out that kid and his folks for me.

but yeah...always check your balance, change your PIN every so often if you have to and double check any ATM or website you use to purchase stuff on/from...and never let anyone even your friends/family use your card unless its an emergency....i had a few issues with my ex-fiance using my card, which is one of the many reasons why he is now my EX, but i digress.

Man that. I can't imagine someone with my info or banking info.

Yeah, I've had a card physically stolen and I had an un-authorized charge on a card I still had in my wallet. In the latter case, it turned out that it was my dad using the number off my bill while I was away as a college intern. By the time I talked to him about it, I had already disputed with my CC (Citi) and they were not going to hold me responsible.

In the former case, it was a Best Buy card (issued by HSBC, it was my wife's card). It was stolen and used by a local kid. We were able to track down who it was based on a shipping label. But the bank still wanted to hold them as valid charges. Granted, we didnt have to pay out of pocket as the parents of the kid (friends of ours) came up with the loot. However, I was deeply saddened that the bank took the stance that the charges were valid, even though their was plenty of evidence (which the bank supplied BTW) that someone other than my wife made the purchases.

Citi I've found to be particularly "proactive". One Christmas, I bought a bunch of gifts for my wife, her sisters, and my mother-in-law. Most of this was girly stuff bought at places like Victoria's Secret. While in Vicky's, my card was declined, needing "verification". So the cashier called the number and I talked to the Citi rep. They just thought that the purchases were too many and too different than my normal habits so they wanted to stop any potential fraud. On one hand, it was Christmas so I'd think they'd expect increased spending. But, OTOH, I guess it was "proactive".

So HSBC to hell, but I've had good dealings with Citi, BoA, and Discover

hostyl1: Yeah, I've noticed that with Citi too. Good thing is that when they notified me about a purchase I didn't actually make, they took care of the problem right away.

good luck

Again, thanks for the kind words and good wishes guys. Sorry to hear that so many of you have experienced this as well. I always hear about credit theft and identity theft, but once it hits you it becomes oh-so-personal. I know it'll work out one way or another, but Paypal definitely is not very pro-active about it and is very laid back. I'll let you know what happens guys as always ^_^

Good luck!

I got a phonecall on my cell the other day from "my credit card company". It was automated and said they'd tried contacting me multiple times about lowering my rate and this was a final notice and I was to push 1 to speak with an operator or 3 to ignore. Despite having just been woken up by this phone call I was able to ascertain that it was fake because my bank doesnt have my cell number and just hung up the phone without pushing anything.

Wow, that sucks goomba. Hope everything works out.

A friend to Canadians like myself and a good man such as Goomba doesn't deserve this crap happening to him. I hope they catch those bastards and throw the book at them.

Whoa magiic, like a blast from the past. How are you buddy? I haven't seen you in AGES. Are you still down under?

Chronis, I'm sure it will. I hope to have a nice happy blog in a week or so saying I got it all back =P

lustyhitter, let's hope! If we're going to throw books, might as well stock up on some dictionaries and phone books ^_^!

The same thing happened to Me on Tuesday Night, except it has only one charge for AT&T for 119.27, wiping out all 42 dollars I had in the account. AT&T didn't help one bit.