Paypal Digital Gift Card Security Issues / Hacked - Check Your Balances ASAP

M

malalrd

CAGiversary!
Not really a deal I know but as Paypal Gift Card Promo deals are posted here so wanted to let you guys know there was a security issue with them.

For myself, I purchased some Best Buy Gift cards through Paypal Digital Gift Card on Aug 6th (when they had ebay bucks promo). Checked the balance today and they are all zeros. Looks like it is affecting mostly people who purchased gift cards last month. Still advise to check your balances ASAP!!!

Call Paypal Digital Gift Card regarding the issue :
https://www.paypal-gifts.com/us/contact-us/

Here is an article explaining more in detail what happened :
http://www.doctorofcredit.com/pay...ast-month/

 
Hm, I preordered some stuff at Best Buy which holds the funds on the GCs so I would assume I'm good. I'll have to keep an eye on some orders though.

 
Thank you!  Had 2 Best Buy $100 gift cards from last month that now show zero balance.  Contacting PayPal Digital Gifts now.

Edit:

Contacted PayPal Digital Gifts, and they refunded the amount to my purchasing method.  The issue there is that my purchasing method was eBay Gift Cards (Oh, when that still worked) that I no longer have access to, since they were physical and I threw them away after they were used.  Have now contacted eBay to retrieve the eBay Gift Card number used for that transaction, and should get it in 7-14 days.  Will then have $200 in eBay credit that I can't roll into anything more useful, but that's better than just being out $200, for sure.

 
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Mine are all fine, but these were purchased from a few promos back, so maybe it's just the recent promos that are being affected by this issue.

 
Glad all the ones I had from before are all empty from my use, not through asshat hackers that drained them out.   Thanks for the heads' up on it. 

 
I keep up with my gift cards for the sake of smart cash flow reasons. I don't see the point in holding onto tons of credit. The ones I purchased over the weekend are fine.
 
Donut2922 said:
I keep up with my gift cards for the sake of smart cash flow reasons. I don't see the point in holding onto tons of credit. The ones I purchased over the weekend are fine.
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I'm on the opposite of the spectrum. Whenever I see GCs with a rare discount I stock up.

Of course this is risky in situations like this. Can't have a win-win situation I guess.

 
Yeah, if it's something you know you'll eventually use and it's on discount/comes with a good bonus, I go ahead and get it and just hang onto it.  Sucks that it didn't work out as planned in this case, but at least I shouldn't be out money overall, even if the money isn't in the form I'd want it to be.

 
donny2112 said:
Thank you! Had 2 Best Buy $100 gift cards from last month that now show zero balance. Contacting PayPal Digital Gifts now.

Edit:

Contacted PayPal Digital Gifts, and they refunded the amount to my purchasing method. The issue there is that my purchasing method was eBay Gift Cards (Oh, when that still worked) that I no longer have access to, since they were physical and I threw them away after they were used. Have now contacted eBay to retrieve the eBay Gift Card number used for that transaction, and should get it in 7-14 days. Will then have $200 in eBay credit that I can't roll into anything more useful, but that's better than just being out $200, for sure.
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We would probably see many more stories like this if eBay didn't cut off the rolling.

 
purchased 3 on august 8 they are empty now. two on august 9 is good no problem. problem is i dont remember if i use those three gc.

 
https://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Apaypal-gifts.com+Here%27s+your+Gift+Card#q=site:paypal-gifts.com+Here%27s+your+Gift+Card&filter=0

fuSRZCt.jpg


 
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Perhaps use digital gift card to buy physical gift card?  Or buy another digital gift card?  lol, sounds like gift cards laundry.  =P

 
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I just had a couple of Best Buy GCs that showed a balance 2 days ago get drained to 0. Called PPDG and got the run around telling me to call Best Buy to check whats up. Has anyone gotten a successful refund or reissue of the drained GCs?

 
P.S. If your cards were fine when you last checked, they're probably drained now. All mine were fine on the 6th. Tried to buy something today, and every single one is drained.

 
Person808 said:
Has anyone gotten a successful refund or reissue of the drained GCs?
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I haven't. Paypal said they refunded the purchase (eBay gift cards), but eBay still hasn't given me the gift card number used in the transaction. Therefore, I may have been refunded, but I have no way of knowing, since I don't have that eBay Gift Card to check! It was the one time I had used it straight off the eBay Gift Card instead of putting it into Gyft first. :(

 
So just an update on the whole issue.

Had a pretty good discussion with an informed rep (after dealing with a few incompetents and ignoramuses in between), it seems like Paypal is finally starting to take the issue more seriously.  All reps were sent out an email yesterday (yes, yesterday as oppose to weeks ago) in regards to this specific issue. 

From the sound of the explanation, it seems that they're trying to get someone else to pay for this mistake as the way it was explained to me they're going to try and get the money back from the other party.  Whether that is eBay, or Best Buy, or w/e; I don't know since the rep didn't elaborate further, but they're going to go through the process of claiming reimbursement for the transaction. 

The rep said it can take a couple of days, or it can take up to a week, but they will get me my money back.  In the end, it certainly sounds like they're trying to make someone else pay for this mess up, and not have to eat the cost on their own.

So for those that have been waiting for awhile after opening a case, it may get resolved soon as they're finally starting to admit this is an issue that this is an issue.

Ick, what a mess... ~_~

 
Thanks for the detail!  Just called PayPal again (before calling eBay again), and now PayPal is saying that they do not see a refund attempt from my previous call on Sept. 6.  (Don't know why the rep at the time told me they did, then. :/ )  They're going to start processing it now, though, and they said to just wait on emails from PayPal on it.  She didn't mention a memo, but they don't have to give that kind of detail, anyway.  Glad yours shared some behind-the-scenes info, though!  For myself, I've already converted the most recent batch of BB GCs to physical ones just to avoid this happening again with BB.  Have some other PPDG-purchased GCs on my account, but to this point, it's only been my BB ones that had issues.  (The others aren't so easy to convert to physical or I would've gone ahead and done that, anyways.)

 
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donny2112 said:
Just called PayPal again (before calling eBay again), and now PayPal is saying that they do not see a refund attempt from my previous call on Sept. 6. (Don't know why the rep at the time told me they did, then. :/ )
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Yeah, I actually had the exact same thing happen too when I had my rep check if there was an attempt for the refund when I spoke to the rep last time, and sure enough, nothing was processed then either.

I have a feeling they were probably waiting for enough cases to finally warrant representatives to start resolving the issues starting now.

 
I've called them on 4 separate occasions since I discovered my gift card balances had gone to $0.  Last Friday (Sept 23rd) I was told to expect a supervisor call within 24 hours, which I never received. So I called again this morning.  I am now being told again to expect a supervisor call within 48 hours.

Also, on two occasions one of their reps tried asking me if I had spoken to the card issuers (Gamestop/Best Buy) about the issue, as if it is my responsibility to find out how the gift cards were used.  I insisted that I have never used or shared any information about the gift cards, and since Paypal had the security breach, it was their responsibility to investigate with the card issuers. I honestly think it's one of the tactics they are using to try to give people the run-around.

 
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UPDATE:  Just after my last post, I received a call from Paypal.  It was the supervisor wanting to confirm information about the gift cards.  I provided all the details (dates, amounts) and he told me he would call back in 15 minutes.  He did, and he refunded the transactions associated with the gift card purchases.

Hope this helps some of you.

 
if my gift cards are currently being used in a preorder (for FFXII Zodiac Age) I should be safe right?

I only ask because BB doesnt actually take funds from a credit card until the item ships...so was wondering if its the same with gift cards...

 
arsenalcrazy8 said:
if my gift cards are currently being used in a preorder (for FFXII Zodiac Age) I should be safe right?

I only ask because BB doesnt actually take funds from a credit card until the item ships...so was wondering if its the same with gift cards...
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i think with GCs, BB takes the money from it immediately. Even if it is a preorder.

 
paul6 said:
UPDATE: Just after my last post, I received a call from Paypal. It was the supervisor wanting to confirm information about the gift cards. I provided all the details (dates, amounts) and he told me he would call back in 15 minutes. He did, and he refunded the transactions associated with the gift card purchases.

Hope this helps some of you.
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Encouraging! Called PayPal again, since it'd been almost a week with no response, and they filed a claim dispute for me with PPDG (claim with themselves?). 10 days for claimant to respond, so will see what comes of it. Even if they do refund (for real this time :/ ), still have to go back to eBay to get them to give me the GC number used in that transaction. Maybe moving toward a resolution, though, so that's something.

 
donny2112 said:
Even if they do refund (for real this time :/ ), still have to go back to eBay to get them to give me the GC number used in that transaction. Maybe moving toward a resolution, though, so that's something.
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I can relate to your situation - my Paypal refund is being processed to a credit card account which no longer exists, so I'm unsure exactly if and how I will receive it.

 
PPDG trying to pass the blame but the blame falls on them. The webpage where you get the code is indexed via google so anyone can search for them using key phrases.

Its their fault.
 
So for those situations where it was buy a GS $50 GC, get additional $10....I lost my x2 $60 GC.  Will they only refund me for the $100 or $120?

 
Just realized paypal was hacked today after trying to use my $25 and $50 gift card I bought in july and both of them coming up as zero. I also used ebay gift cards that i no longer have to pay for them so getting my money back might be hard.

 
I wish I would have seen the original post sooner. Here's my sob story.

I had $125 in gift cards from Best Buy that were zeroed out. These were purchased back when they had the $15 off $75 deal in July. One of the $25 still had a balance which I've since used. The others were used to purchase other gift cards in 3 different states according to the CSR (although she wouldn't divulge any other information). They suggested filing a police report (gee, thanks).  

I contacted PayPal who indicated they were aware of the issue, but that I should contact Best Buy's gift card department to report them as lost or stolen. I did this and they opened a case to investigate which the CSR indicated would take up to 3 business days.

Am I basically SOL? Has anyone been successful in getting their Best Buy gift cards refunded and if so, is my recourse with PayPal or Best Buy?

Edit: I paid for this using a credit card linked to my PayPal account and not EBay gift cards like others. Would this be something that falls under credit card protection or no?

 
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Ugh, looks like I had a few cards drained out.  Are people getting better resolution with PPDG directly or should I try Best Buy instead?  I bought them with ebay cards that of course I threw away last week....

 
As I am the only person here who has reported receiving a refund, my suggestion to everyone is to keep calling PPDG.  The CSR needs to fill out a ticket request for a supervisor to call you.  Write down the ticket number, and if they don't call within 48 hours, call back and repeat.

This is a PPDG issue, NOT a Best Buy, Gamestop, etc. issue.  Don't let them give you the run-around.

 
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For me, they filed a claim dispute that PPDG has 10 days to respond to.  If they don't respond, then I'm refunded on the 11th day.  Thinking they may just not respond, due to this situation, so hopefully, mine will be refunded in a couple of weeks.  Then to go back to eBay to get the GC numbers used there.  It's long.  It's inconvenient.  But if the money comes back in the end, I'll be okay with that.

 
Unreal. I had a $25/50 for a total of $75 (the $15 off $75 purchase) back in June. I had checked the balance of the $50 one when this thread was created, was fine. Then I checked a week or so ago, still fine. I just checked again and now the $50 one is empty. Time to call Paypal....

 
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I phoned Paypal.

The rep that you first get is there to give you the runaround.  They know of the situation, and they have Best Buy's phone number, ready to give to you.  Don't fall for it.  

You need to ask for the supervisor.  Supervisor's role is to get the job done (doesn't mean you will get a good outcome; there's just no BS runaround).  They just gets the facts and will investigate.  Have your info ready: 12-digit item# from eBay, value, GC #, etc.  They'll say you will be contacted in 48-72 hours.  This is where I am at right now.

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It's a Best Buy GC, so you are paying money which ends up going to BB.  So Paypal will argue the funds are from BB and will need to come from them, but the problem is that the GCs are issued from PPDG itself.  PPDG did not set it's robots.txt file correctly.  The robots.txt file prevents search engines from web-crawling it's pages, and hence -- obtaining the actual GC numbers and pins.  It's a loose end on Paypal's side, even though the funds are from Best Buy.  

It's their costly mistake, so they have to eat it.  Explain it to them and don't let them get off scotch-free.  

 
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