So, my eBay account has been hacked. I found out while I am on holidays in Germany when I received a couple emails from both eBay and PayPal saying I have 1) bid on, 2) won and 3) paid for an iPad 2 from 2 different sellers.
Each transaction went through my eBay account as if I had made the deal. The funds have been taken from my PayPal account which is linked to my bank account. Before any bids where placed, I received an email from PayPal saying that a credit card number I have on file has been removed from my PayPal account, which I never did.
For each transaction, the hacker (posing as me) emailed the seller and asked NOT to send to the Calgary address which is my confirmed/registered PayPal address but rather some address in Chicago. The first seller refused to send to an alternate address and that iPad is on its way to Calgary as per the tracking number. The second seller has not as smart and sent it to the Chicago address.
I have opened up a dispute for each case with PayPal providing as much info as I could.
Since my PayPal is linked to a bank account I never use, the following happened. The first transaction bounced, resulting in the amount not actually coming out of my account, but causing an NSF fee of $42. The second transaction, despite there being insufficient funds, has been taken out, leaving a several hundred dollar negative balance in my account.
So, if I was to guess what may happen, it would be that the first iPad that was shipped to Calgary, but not actually paid for, will arrive, and I should be able to return it to the seller for a refund, or keep it (which I have no use for). The second iPad which was sent to Chicago is all on the seller. I should receive my money back from PayPal since the product was sent to a non-verified address (as verified by the tracking number) and the seller is SOL (not that I care too much, but it sucks for him).
Should I contact the seller's at all and explain what happened, or leave it all to PayPal and their dispute center?
All my passwords have since been changed - too little to late, but hopefully it helps in the future.
Anything else I can do in the meantime? Would the bank be able to help? Freeze funds leaving the account? I bank with TD. Anyone have any experience with this?
Thanks.