web thief.

Someone picked my PayPal pocket last week. How annoying.

I'm not that mad, nor am I surprised. I had a massive viral infection on my laptop last month, and so the fact that someone ended up breaking into one of my accounts is almost expected. It's a weird sort of world where someone can steal $400 from me and I think it's my fault. Seems like my sister has someone using her credit card every year to buy tickets to Singapore, so it was really about time for it to be my turn.

PayPal emailed me to tell me that something was fishy about a recent transaction. I'd like to know how they decided it was fishy. Did someone sign on to my account from Mongolia? Did the guy have a webcam on at the time and look really shifty? Did he put "Stolen" in the comments of the transaction? In any case, kudos to PayPal for recognizing something was amiss.

They immediately put restrictions on my account, forcing me to change my passwords and security questions. I submitted up a "Fraudulent Transaction" report to tell them that I had not sent $400 to that dude, so gimme it back. They promised to look into the situation. They updated the status of the case, where I could check every day to see what was going on. It wasn't very exciting. I was hoping it would be like an episode of COPS. They would post a video of the PayPal police (who kind of look like the Geek Squad) busting into someone's trailer, where a brand new $400 lawn mower was parked out front. There might be a chase involving the lawn mower later, which would end in its being flipped into the ditch. Not only did they have to pay up my $400, but they can't even take the lawn mower back! Take that, web thief!

But not, the status report was just a little chart that said PayPal had sent emails to me and the other dude. They sent one that day, and then again three days later. Finally, a week after this whole thing started, they sent me an email saying that I could have my money back.

And that was that. The thing is, I wasn't even all that worried. PayPal seems to be a company that has its ducks in a row. Their job is not easy, because they have to deal with both malicious intent and pure idiocy. They have to protect their users from other users and also from themselves.

Good job, PayPal. I'm sorry that I let the virus on my computer and left myself so vulnerable. Thank you for saving me from the web thief and his lawn mower dreams.