Online shopping with Paypal or Debit?

[Eden]

Agreed - there are some very, very good phising emails out there trying to get paypal accounts. I got one once about a phone that I supposedly bought and I was completely ready to get on paypal and dispute the charge, but something seemed off about it. Turns out the email had nothing at all to do with my paypal account and was a really sophisticated attempt to gain my info. It almost took me in and I consider myself pretty saavy about that kind of thing. They made me mad and that's what almost got me. I was ready to charge right in and dispute the purchase. I'm glad I spotted the scam before I did anything.
I can't really blame paypal though, they do all that they can to make their site secure and its up to us to be sure to watch for phishers.

[texascyclist]

I use Paypal and my debit card all the time for online purchases. I have never had a problem yet....knock on wood. One option is do what my DH and I did. We opened a seperate checking account that we use only for online purchases and nothing else. We keep a very mimimum amount in that account just in case our card or number is ever stolen. We transfer funds between accounts as needed. This way it gives us a little more sense of security knowing that if someone stole our number they wouldn't get much out of it. This has worked for us for over 5 years now.

[uforgot]

You can actually get a debit card through paypal that acts like a charge card. You can only "charge" what is in your paypal account, but you get back 1.5% or so. This you can use on any site or in any store that takes Master Card. I like it because I can put money in my paypal account, and then when I "charge", I'm using money that's already there, not borrowing someone else.