We have been receiving a ton of PayPal fraudulent sign ups the past few weeks; the odd thing is that this never was a problem before at all.
Anyone else effected by this?
Basically, the "customer" will sign up, create an account and then even proceed to pay via PayPal method. Once the payment is processed, the order is processed and his/her account is active. This is when PayPal holds the funds and thats where the story ends; the buyer never follows up with the dispute and PayPal will mark the transaction as fraudulent and request us to cancel his/her package.
Now, I know this is likely common issue with PayPal, I guess I am curious to know if this type behavior is on a rise currently as well as any tips on avoiding these occurrences?
Thanks,
Mike

This is very strange you should mention this...
I rarely get fraud signups, today I logged in and WHMCS was reporting 8 fraud signups! All different names, different accounts!
Very strange if you ask me.

Extremely; it is almost like the individuals involved with this type of practice are exercising a new technique. I used to not mind the fake sign-ups, but now they are actually purchasing and putting forth aliases that seem fairly clever.
Mike

Extremely; it is almost like the individuals involved with this type of practice are exercising a new technique. I used to not mind the fake sign-ups, but now they are actually purchasing and putting forth aliases that seem fairly clever.
Mike
It seems another technique is to put in a fake domain name in the "I'll update my nameservers" box in WHMCS. That way, they don't have to expose any details about themselves. They can just login using the details emailed to them.
I read somewhere about The Planet servers being DDOS attacked recently, I get a strange feeling this activity is somehow related.
I recommend to everyone to check your clients accounts activity regulary and to cross-reference contact details, a fraud module is handy too. Maybe we should monitor everything really closely for a while.

That is a very good call.

Paypal phishing scams are launched everyday, sometimes 20 at a time. This is quite usual for a long time now, no need to be more concerned than before.

well its better avoid this kind of things.. anyway where can i download fraud modules :D sorry im newbie..

I wonder if Paypal has changed their behavior with regard to potentially-fraudulent transactions.
-mike

* Moved to Running a Web Hosting Business....
Sirius

I haven't noticed much fraud recently. Are you currently using WHMCS? If so, I believe you could get a free copy of MaxMind MimiFraud. It's not 100% fraud proof but it definitely helps to see whether the client is entering legit information. Plus, I believe they offer automated phone verification.

well its better avoid this kind of things.. anyway where can i download fraud modules :D sorry im newbie..
Its included within your billing software most of the time. I am assuming your using one of the popular brands.
Paypal phishing scams are launched everyday, sometimes 20 at a time. This is quite usual for a long time now, no need to be more concerned than before.
Its run as a professional business, lol. 24/7 they are jacking off someone or the other. You just have to wait in line to be hit.
I haven't noticed much fraud recently. Are you currently using WHMCS? If so, I believe you could get a free copy of MaxMind MimiFraud. It's not 100% fraud proof but it definitely helps to see whether the client is entering legit information. Plus, I believe they offer automated phone verification.Without their phone verification system, I guess minFraud is useless. Both put together its just amazing!
I wonder if Paypal has changed their behavior with regard to potentially-fraudulent transactions.
-mike
Oh, come on! Its PayPal, you should never ask such questions.

It's best to refund the sale when you suspect fraud, the more chargebacks you get, the more paypal stays on your back.. in my case, they were trying to get instant affiliate payouts.

Yes this paypal security holding customer's payment's or by them trying to be more secure for the buyer is actually causing more fraud its funny how fraud never stop's Pretty interesting hearing story's/ like this.

We also receieved two fraud signups - for yearly plans, paid in full - two days later we got the fraud notice from paypal.

the problem with paypal is you cannot do a fraud check in advance and even if something comes back as fraud you have no say and no info in the process just money taken back with no explanation or further action and that sux