Ed Earns

Well actually, she bought the laptop herself due to the hassles of shipping overseas and other complications that arise in sending out a device to the Philippines. But that’s beside the point already; she got a laptop as a bonus for the services she’s been doing for an employer of hers.

I haven’t been very successful with odesk (when you compare my credentials with hers) because my freelance jobs are more blog-related and I’m not as active as I thought I would be.

Anyhow, her employer whom she met at odesk seemed satisfied in hiring her as a VA (Virtual Assistant) that he (employer) decided to give her a laptop as a bonus. Now why am I the one blogging the information out for her as if I’m the one received the laptop? Simply because I’m just so happy for her, who wouldn’t be right?

Well, because I was the one who sent the money to her. She doesn’t have paypal account and had to use mine in order to transact the cash. After all the currency conversions and waiting for them to reflect at the bank, I sent the money happily and proud that somebody was able to get her bonus early this year.

Had another Paypal Cashout Transaction. This was a hurried cashout since I needed the money to pay off some school debts for my brother as well as some pending loans I needed to settle. So much for the withdrawal.

I will most likely work on my yearly accounting report to show how much I’ve earned this year. Will be posting it soon.

Got another paypal cashout! I forgot to blog about this, probably because I was busy? –> Nah, such a lame excuse already.

Somehow I never get to reach beyond $500. Oh well, I’m not saying $496 is bad. ;p

I’m just really happy to get the fruits of my labor because I never thought I’d reach this amount even before. I guess I’m lucky.

I need more money to come in!

You have to do better than that you Paypal scammers!

This is the second time that I received an email from somebody who was claiming that they’re from PAYPAL, telling me to update my records to protect my account. I checked my Yahoo email one morning and got this message below telling me that my account will be suspended on September 20 in case I don’t update my records.

I am more vigilant in detecting these Paypal Scams but there are still a lot who are not aware to distinguish the fake ones from the real ones. That’s why I took the time to create this blog entry to help out and spread the news on How to detect Paypal Email Scams. I’ve had issues before because somebody hacked my Paypal account but when it was resolved, I was really glad.

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Notice the “To” and “From” fields, it didn’t even put my actual email and their email address is completely a hoax! tp-verify@accouts.net??? Is it even an email at all? I wouldn’t want to use ‘accouts.net’ as an email. Sheesh.

This Paypal scam update told me to update my information by clicking on the link that was written down. They even used a Paypal link to direct it to the page. When I opened the page up, it had a different link altogether! Haha, another trick in the bag that got busted!

I tried to type in some details on the page provided just for the heck of it. You have to give it to them though, it was a fair attempt to imitate the actual feel of the Paypal homepage. They even included some common links that we usually see when we sign in to Paypal as well as a picture of the paypal advertisement.

Upon closer inspection though, I found out that the links for the “Home”, “Personal”, “Business” etc. as well as the footer links were not click-able! My mouse would just treat those links as actual pictures! Except for the Account log-in section, all the other information are illegitimate!

So I typed in a dummy (with a curse) account and password to see where it would lead me to.

When I clicked on “Log In”, it gave me another fake Paypal page that told me to write some more pertinent information. Wow, so many details that they need. Even if they did not ask for my credit card number, enough was already needed to steal my identity and access my Paypal account.

I typed in some more fake information and hit “Enter” to see where the Paypal scam would lead me to.

Alas, filling out all the information, it now directed me to one of the legit Paypal sites! Hmmm. Very funny indeed. I could tell the distinction because of the link which now had an “https” and the domain is from Paypal.com itself.

I could now click on the actual links (Home, Personal, Business etc.) and all seemed normal already. The only problem is that those Paypal scammers/losers have already gotten your information and you would be saying goodbye to your account sooner than later.

I hate these Paypal scammers. People like me are trying to make some decent income and are very thankful for services like Paypal to easily transact business with different people but there are just those scams and fakes that really get into my nerve.

We are glad that we can easily transact with other people using these legitimate platforms but it’s really sad that there are people who don’t have anything better to do but steal your identity and crack you up.

I better report this to the proper people first before an innocent victim falls prey to these losers.

I cashed out some funds from SocialSpark! I withdrew 201 dollars from my account which is the amount accumulated ever since I became active in looking for opportunities some time last June 2009. Now I can put them in my paypal account so I could just accumulate the money to pay off old debts. I’m glad, really really glad of SocialSpark as it’s the only big money-making opportunity that I’ve been getting these months (can’t stress this as much as I can). At least there’s a somewhat steady stream of tasks that I get to write for my blogs and the amounts are big (least is $5 per post and would reach $25). Even if all my sites’ Page Ranks are 0, I still got to be competitive because of RealRank. Thanks SocialSpark!

I still have some Pending Payouts but we’ll save them for later.

The other day, I received an email from an email address that claimed that they were from PayPal but it went to my SPAM. It was telling me that there was an unauthorized credit card usage on my account. It went like this, I’m copying the message below
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Dear PayPal user,

As part of our security measures, we regularly screen activity in the PayPal system. We recently contacted you after noticing an issue on your account.

We requested information from you for the following reason:

We recently received a report of unauthorized credit card use associated with this account. As a precaution, we have limited access to your PayPal account in order to protect against future unauthorized transactions.

Case ID Number: PP-859-350

This is a reminder to restore your account as soon as possible.

Please download the form attached to this email and open it in a web browser. Once opened, you will be provided with steps to restore your account access. We appreciate your understanding as we work to ensure account safety.

In accordance with PayPal’s User Agreement, your account access will remain limited until the issue has been resolved. Unfortunately, if access to your account remains limited for an extended period of time, it may result in further limitations or eventual account closure. We encourage you to restore your PayPal account as soon as possible to help avoid this. We thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. Please understand that this is a security measure intended to help protect you and your account. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Sincerely,
PayPal Account Review Department

PayPal Email ID PP859350

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I went to Paypal.com to check my account if this was true or not. Definitely, this is a SCAM. Good thing I didn’t follow the instructions and went through the paypal website to check how to detect Scams.

Q: How can I protect myself from PayPal fraud or scams?

A: PayPal is dedicated to fighting fraud and scams. You can help protect your account against PayPal scams by being cautious in giving out your own personal information such as first name, last name, business name, email address, password, financial information (credit card, bank account number, PIN), social security number, and driver’s license number.

Tips to stay safe from PayPal fraud or scams:
Log in safely: To log in to your PayPal account or access the PayPal website, open a new web browser (e.g., Internet Explorer or Netscape) and type in the following: https://www.paypal.com/

Check the email greeting: Emails from PayPal will always address you by your first and last name or the business name associated with your PayPal account. A PayPal scam email may include the salutation “Dear PayPal User” or “Dear PayPal Member”

Look out for attachments: PayPal emails will never ask you to download an attachment or a software program. An attachment found in a PayPal scam email will often contain a virus that can harm your computer or compromise your PayPal account

Never give out personal information: If we require information from you, we will notify you in an email and request that you enter the information only after you have safely and securely logged in to your PayPal account.

Often, PayPal scams will request details such as your full name, account password, credit card number, bank account, PIN number, Social Security Number, or mother’s maiden name.

To learn more about protecting your PayPal account and spotting PayPal fraud or scams, please review our Security Tips.

If you believe that someone may be using your account without your permission, please contact us immediately.

I have yet to send an email to Paypal to alert them about this bogus message. That’s why we need to be careful to ensure that our confidential information doesn’t get released without much thought.

I withdrew 247 dollars from my Paypal account.

I needed the money again, I’ll be leaving for a trip to Davao by Thursday and I don’t have any cash left. I was planning to make it reach about 500 bucks first but since I needed some dough badly, I guess I’ll have to save again.

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Anyway, no worries for me as I’m starting to earn in oDesk and I’m doing some sideline work already. Plus some cashouts from Google Adsense as well as those other opportunities such as in SocialSpark and PayPerPost, I know I’ll be able to replenish the account again.

School will be over and I’m planning to study some short term course so that the school can provide me some much-needed adobe and dreamweaver lessons. I hope everything turns out right. I’ll be getting that sought-after 8-hour sleep but I just need to finish the end of the month first.

I had to cash out. I needed the money to pay off certain debt so I wouldn’t have to worry about monthly expenses that’s why  I cashed out the moolah that I earned for the past 3 months. I withdrew  around 475 bucks. I wanted to wait for it to reach 500 but since I was a little desperate, I had to get it ASAP.

But I’m very much glad. I won’t have to worry about anything else since this is extra money for me and knowing that I’m able to spend it to something useful is good enough already.

It still amazes me at times when I’d see that I’m really able to earn extra out of this hobby. But what I’m planning to focus more now is how to build my profile in order to establish a better network. Odesk doesn’t seem so far from my mind. Thanks to Faith for the encouragement, I need to get my ass working if ever I want to earn fast.

So many issues have been going on with my Paypal account. Grrrr… And I’m also pretty busy with my full time job that I can’t seem to update this site. But somehow, I’m glad that these issues are popping up, they help me have a topic to write about in this blog. I just don’t like it that everything is coming to my direction in bulk.

I suddenly pressed the Upgrade Button and now I changed my paypal account to a Premier one. Supposedly, it should have been alright. But when I checked my account twice, it showed that for every transaction I receive for being paid, they will take a certain amount from me.

I have to read through the guidelines and rules again the difference between a premier and a personal account. Since I don’t use this account for business

I wish they have a toll free number to call so I can just contact them through skype or something. But it seems that I just have to email them regarding my concern to downgrade my premier to a personal account.

Upon checking out some forums online, here’s a tip one can make in order to request the paypal people to downgrade your account.

1. Log in to your account.
2. Click the Help link.
3. Click the Contact Us link.
4. Under Help by Email click the Contact Customer Service link.
5. Select My Account Profile topic.
6. Select Downgrade Account in the subtopic box.
7. Enter your request for an account-type change.
8. Click Continue.

We’ll see what happens.

Paypal responded to my dispute!

I logged on to my personal email account and was glad to see a reply from Paypal. Last week, I sent a dispute request for an unauthorized claim that I sent money to a certain person when I didn’t.

I received a reply from PayPal. Here’s the response that I got from them.

Dear Edcel ****,

PayPal is processing your unauthorized activity claim regarding the following transaction(s):

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Details of Disputed Transaction
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Seller’s Name: ****************
Seller’s Email: ************
Seller’s Transaction ID: ********

Transaction Date: Sep 29, 2008
Transaction Amount: -$76.00 USD
Your Transaction ID: ***********
Case Number: ************

Buyer’s Transaction ID: ***************

While we investigate this claim, funds equal to the disputed amount have been returned to your PayPal account. Once our investigation is complete, any portion of this transaction that now forms part of your balance and that was originally funded by your debit card, credit card or bank account may be automatically transferred from your PayPal account to that card or bank account. Please note that it might take up to 30 days for the refund to be credited to your card depending on the relevant card issuer.

For additional information or to track the status of your claim, log in to your PayPal account at https://www.paypal.com/ and go to the Resolution Center.

Sincerely,
PayPal

Upon checking twice, I found out that I got my 76 bucks back! I’m relieved that after about a week’s time, I got the 76 dollars that was sent to a certain email.
However, as they say, this is somewhat temporary only as they’re still investigating the claim regarding the money that was sent. Hopefully everything will be okay.

But I know that I have a lot of issues surrounding this account. Will be updating you on what happened.