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Website access, from which country?

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sram

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Hello folks.

Little intro first: (you can skip to the question below)

I'm a frequent ebay.com user and you know they use paypal.com as a payment method. It is actually the best way to pay. Anyways I was travelling some time ago and tried to access my paypal to pay for something. Paypal detected that I'm accessing my account from a different country and asked me to verify myself and I did and was able to use the account. I travel often, and yesterday I found my paypal account limited(I can' pay) because they noted that I accessed from a foreign country. They asked me to verify myself and one of the steps was to answer an automated call from paypal website to my home phone registered with them. I couldn't do this as i'm outside the US, and I really needed to pay for an ebay item so I called them. I talked to them and they said you can only use paypal in approved countries. I told them that I understand this and all am trying to do is to access the account and pay! The account is US based, and I just trying to use it while outside the US.....I mean that's the whole idea behind the internet.....it is international. The guy on the phone said: NO, you should only use it and access the website from an approved country !!!!! I told him that I have done it before while I was travelling.......!What is the problem now! He kept on saying you can only use paypal in an approved country..........Please wait tell you come back to the US !!

This is annoying ! I mean you should be able to use your services while anywhere..........It is just like one'e email, what is the point if you access it in one country!


>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

The question is how do I access the paypal website and make it appear to them as if i'm in the US ? is this possible? Maybe if I use these anonymous services? or maybe if I connect my laptop to the dial up service I use in the US?

Maybe there is an easier way?

Please help. I buy alot from ebay, and I travel alot. What should I do?
 
You were in an unapproved country so PayPal didn't work- period. No ifs, ands, or buts. It worked every other time you did it because you were in an approved country. It's for your protection. Sure the internet is international, but would you like something like being able to anonymously withdraw money from your bank account be international? What you can do, criminals can too.

Circumventing this by spoofing yourself to appear as if you were in an approved country when you are not is breaking terms of agreement. It's like breaking into the bank because you wanted to withdraw from your bank account after hours.

Next time, don't bid on something in Ebay if you are planning to travel to an unapproved country.
 
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Paypal is great for Ebay purchases.
I have used it a lot too, but only from New Zealand to the USA, Germany, France and Italy.
Also bear in mind that Paypal NEVER asks or sent you emails to check your account details.
If these appear these are spoof and someone tries to get hold of your details.
You initiate the communications to ebay or paypal.

As already said you may have tried to access it from a non approved country.
 
dknguyen said:
You were in an unapproved country so PayPal didn't work- period. No ifs, ands, or buts. It worked every other time you did it because you were in an approved country. It's for your protection. Sure the internet is international, but would you like something like being able to anonymously withdraw money from your bank account be international? What you can do, criminals can too.

Circumventing this by spoofing yourself to appear as if you were in an approved country when you are not is breaking terms of agreement. It's like breaking into the bank because you wanted to withdraw from your bank account after hours.

Next time, don't bid on something in Ebay if you are planning to travel to an unapproved country.


You didn't get my point! You said yourself: It worked every other time you did it because you were in an approved country

NO NO NO


Actually it worked many times in countries which are not approved!! What is different is that paypal ask me to verify myself before I can access the account. That's all. They might also after few days ask whether I verified account access from xxxx country......I say yes and all is ok.


((((Circumventing this by spoofing yourself to appear as if you were in an approved country when you are not is breaking terms of agreement))))

Not true! It is not in the agreement ! If it is in the agreement, they simply won't allow me to it ........Meaning: they will allow me to log in with limited access to account features every time I log in from an unapproved country. I just think the guy who talked to me in the phone just made this up.

Do you know what they mean by un approved country? Define this for me!

I'm an old paypal user, and this is what I understand: you can't link your bank account/address to a paypal account and use it to pay online if you are in unapproved country.





(((Next time, don't bid on something in Ebay if you are planning to travel to an unapproved country)))

Next time don't tell people to send you emails if you are planning to travel to an unapproved country!!

Your statement is just like saying this! Plus I did it because I did it many times before and paypal didn't complain!



I want to access my account from anywhere. If it is ganna be me accessing the account, so why not? They can ask me to create 1 zillion passowrds and ask me 1 zillion security questions and I will be ready to answer! I don't see how I'm protected by not allowing me to access my account in other countries!!!

If somebody can steal my account in this unapproved country, somebody can also steal it in my home/approved country.....same story!


Please understand the question before being harsh in the answer.
 
It comes down to liability. If someone does manage to get your account information, and spend your money, who get's burned for the bill? The Ebay seller or other retailer should return the money and loose the merchantdise? Paypal should refund your money and take the lose. Obviously you would be happy find somebody draining your bank account or max'ing out your plastic.

Get this, its not fraud protection for you!!! It's to protect PAYPAL. If they can verify at your home, its you or an inside job, easy cheap fix (you pay). Employees interpret policies, both change frequently. If you get away with something once, doesn't guarantee you will forever. Perhaps the Paypal employee that told you NO, was wrong (not likely).
 
I frequently get spoof e-mails "from?" E-Bay and Pay-Pal for me to verify my registration details. They look exactly like the real websites but are just a copy and they originate in Russia.
There is no way that I will give my registration details to an e-mail request because I don't know where it is going.

It is simillar to the Nigerian scams: "Send us your bank account details and we'll send you a lot of money" Yeah, sure.
 
I never mentioned spoof emails. I don't see how they are related here. I'll give some numbers. I used it more than 70 times in unapproved country! The guy is wrong i'm sure

You guys might need to visit this website:

**broken link removed**

and read their forums!!

I'm trying to get help here, not discuss paypal service.
 
sram said:
I never mentioned spoof emails. I don't see how they are related here. I'll give some numbers. I used it more than 70 times in unapproved country! The guy is wrong i'm sure

You guys might need to visit this website:

**broken link removed**

and read their forums!!

I'm trying to get help here, not discuss paypal service.


70 times away from home? Does this seem like an unusually high number? Maybe this is why they got a little suspicious and shut you down. Most people use plastic when traveling. Paypal just hasn't caught up to the traveler technology. Doesn't just burn you up, you can't control and dominate every little thing in your life. You want help with PayPal, CALL PAYPAL, Jesus... Is this dense or what?
 
High number? Why? You go do business in -I don't know- say egypt, and you stay there for one month. And you use paypal to pay for ebay items twice a week! That's 8 times! Say you travel three times a year. That's 24 times in only one year! And I said I'm an old paypal user! With this example, it only takes 3 years to reach 70!!

And you know that you can purchase many many items from ebay and pay for them with paypal in one day and see them in your mailbox after few days.

I don't know but I sound like the only one familiar with paypal and ebay here!
 
sram said:
Please understand the question before being harsh in the answer.
I do understand the question to the best that you told me. What you didn't say in your original post was that you were able to pay before in unapproved countries. All you said is that you were unable to pay because PayPal said the country you were in was unapproved.

sram said:
I'm an old paypal user, and this is what I understand: you can't link your bank account/address to a paypal account and use it to pay online if you are in unapproved country.
So if you know this, what exactly is suprising about it? What should have been suprising you is that you were able to access your PayPal account.

sram said:
Do you know what they mean by un approved country? Define this for me!
It's an arbitrary list made up by PayPal where they have some reason to now put it on the list. The internet is international, but they just don't feel like allowing access from particular countries that are not of the account's origin (completely subject to their choosing and terms at anytime).

sram said:
If somebody can steal my account in this unapproved country, somebody can also steal it in my home/approved country.....same story!
It's even harder to chase someone down in another country...so even though it may be pretty much the same for you, it makes PayPal look even worse if it happens. They may just be covering their ass.

I have also gotten several spoof emails from PayPal, and Ebay for that matter. You have probably just been lucky. Actually one time, I was pretty sure it was a spoof email, but I was dumb enough to click on "the link" to Ebay. It led me to a login page that looked exactly the same WITH THE SAME WEB ADDRESS. THe only thing that was different was that if you looked really carefully on the link on the e-mail, it originated in some Russia. But after you clicked on it, everything looked exactly like the real Ebay webpage...down to the web address.

I am curious about something, how exactly did you go about proving that you were you over the phone or internet with PayPal? You didn't just call and say you were you and provided some information that anyone determined enough could get access to...did you?

sram said:
I did it (paid in an unapproved country)many times before and paypal didn't complain!
It seems most likely that they have updated their security protocals since last you used PayPal in a non-approved country since ID theft is becoming a problem. THis is the first time it has happened right? Have you tried it since this happened in a country where it has worked before?

sram said:
It is just like one'e email, what is the point if you access it in one country!
Uhhh. the point is that I don't have to go through regular snail mail.
 
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dknguyen said:
I do understand the question to the best that you told me. What you didn't say in your original post was that you were able to pay before in unapproved countries. All you said is that you were unable to pay because PayPal said the country you were in was unapproved.

So if you know this, what exactly is suprising about it? What should have been suprising you is that you were able to access your PayPal account.


It's an arbitrary list made up by PayPal where they have some reason to now put it on the list. The internet is international, but they just don't feel like allowing access from particular countries that are not of the account's origin (completely subject to their choosing and terms at anytime).


It's even harder to chase someone down in another country...so even though it may be pretty much the same for you, it makes PayPal look even worse if it happens. They may just be covering their ass.

I have also gotten several spoof emails from PayPal, and Ebay for that matter. You have probably just been lucky. Actually one time, I was pretty sure it was a spoof email, but I was dumb enough to click on "the link" to Ebay. It led me to a login page that looked exactly the same WITH THE SAME WEB ADDRESS. THe only thing that was different was that if you looked really carefully on the link on the e-mail, it originated in some Russia. But after you clicked on it, everything looked exactly like the real Ebay webpage...down to the web address.

I am curious about something, how exactly did you go about proving that you were you over the phone or internet with PayPal? You didn't just call and say you were you and provided some information that anyone determined enough could get access to...did you?


It seems most likely that they have updated their security protocals since last you used PayPal in a non-approved country since ID theft is becoming a problem. THis is the first time it has happened right? Have you tried it since this happened in a country where it has worked before?


Uhhh. the point is that I don't have to go through regular snail mail.


1- !!!>!?!?!>? Mind to read my original post carefully? Read the eighth line that starts with the word international !!

2-I think you are just talking and you have no idea what paypal is and you never used it before! I'm surprised YES. I'll explain this one more time: If you are in unapproved country, you will not be able to create paypal account and use it. Paypal only accept bank account and home addresses from an approved country..............UNDERSTAND?????????????????? Say you are a kuwaiti guy living in kuwait. You decided to use paypal, will you be able to link your address(in Kuwait) and your kuwaiti bank account to your paypal ? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

What does accessing the account through the paypal website from an unapproved country have to do with this?

5- I have no idea what spoof email has to do with this topic.
6-They ask you some verification questions.
7-They might have changed their policies....What do you mean by saying have you tried it? My account is limited and I need to go back and verify that i'm at the registered address to get it back to normal.
8-Okaay, but make sure to tell your friends that you won't be able to check your email untill you return.
 
I don't understand. Do you mean that you need a seperste PayPal account, residence, and bank account for every country you wish to make a payment from?

Your travels and frequent use of their services isn't normal for PayPal, that is why you have troubles. If you want to resolve this, the only way is to get in touch with PayPal, ask to speak to someone with some authority regarding policy and procedure, and try to work something out. Your frequent use of their service from various locations and countries weakens their security. They have liability in fraud, their bond/insurance company doesn't like to pay.

Say your home address and bank you used to set up your PayPal account is in the USA. You take a trip to Japan, you want to pay for something on Ebay or elswhere on the web. They call your home in the USA, but you aren't home (obviously). So. you call PayPal from Japan, and tell them it's 'OKAY', I'm traveling in Japan. Other than what you tell them over the phone, what can they use to verify that everything is fine? They are only trying minimumize the risk of fraud. It's not your personal accountant!
 
sram said:
They might have changed their policies....What do you mean by saying have you tried it? My account is limited and I need to go back and verify that i'm at the registered address to get it back to normal.
I'm asking if you have been able to check if PayPal still works from an unapproved country where it has worked for you before.

sram said:
- !!!>!?!?!>? Mind to read my original post carefully? Read the eighth line that starts with the word international !!
I know that I am not able to do everything on the internet anywhere in the world. So saying something the internet is international doesn't really say that you have been able to pay from unapproved countries before. The keyword here is "unapproved". PayPal policy overrides the internet's internationalism.

Just because the internet is international, doesn't mean you can do anything from anywhere. You already know that you can't create a PayPal account from any country. It seems fairly straightforward that if PayPal doesn't let you create accounts in some countries, they might not let any account be usable in that country either. I'm not sure about you, but to me, that seems fairly obvious. If the internet is international, why can you not even access certain websites from certain countries?

I don't know why you are comparing e-mail to PayPal. You can't lose money with e-mail, so it has more freedom and less security. It seems that you think something should be done one way because is is what makes things most convenient for you. For this convenience, you are willing to sacrifice some of your security. But then, you get crazy mad because the company policy favours everyone else who is not willing to sacrifice security for convenience. By doing this, PayPal is satisfying the vast majority of their customers. If they did what you expect them to do for you, 95% of their customers would probably leave them. I'm glad PayPal does this, because if they didn't how would I know my PayPal account was safe from an ID thief in an unapproved country? THe country is probably unapproved for a reason.

sram said:
They ask you some verification questions.
Sure, they ask verification questions...but could I have answered those verification questions if I had stolen your identity? Do you remember when you first applied for your PayPal account and registered your credit card or bank account? THEY PHONED YOU. They have your security in mind. They aren't about to just allow access to your account because some guy from another country phoned them and said that he was the owner of the account and wanted to pay for something from that country. This is someone's bank account or credit card that is at stake- PayPal isn't about to give it up so easily. You should be glad about that.

Look at this from PayPal's persective- the chances that someone travelled the another country and wants to pay for something online with PayPal from that country is pretty low. THen you phone them and expect to answer a few questions (which can be answered by anyone who has stolen your personal information) and expect them to allow you to use your account from that country. Then when they you are rejected, you go and try to find out how to spoof your point of origin. To PayPal, this is exactly what someone attempting fraud would do. You are going to have to find a much better way to prove to them that you are who you say you are. Probably at least half of the requests PayPal gets for something like this are people trying to commit fraud.

If you are really so confident in your security and really need to pay for that Ebay item so badly, why don't you just pay with wire transfer or something (that is, if your bank is dumb enough to actually believe someone calling from another country)?
 
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If I hadn't check his posting history, I think I'd be getting a little suspicious myself... The only way to get them to except higher risk, is to ask them for it, or hire an accountant to care of your domestic affairs while you travel.

Here, suppose somebody buys a new laptop, transfers all his files over. Deletes everthing on the old drive, and sells it on Ebay. Surprisingly simple to revive the directory, and your files... The new owner finds all your Paypal information, credit card numbers, passwords. He hits the jackpot, also notices that you travel frequently. Could ripping you off get any easier? You are one of thousands of careless people, PayPal works, by keeping the risk to a minimal. You are lucky they don't just cancel your account, and make you start over.
 
Ok, I see your point guys. But i'm me, what should I do?

Some ebay seller won't accept anything other than paypal.

ID theft can happen even if I don't leave my apartment.
 
Call PayPal Customer service from your home phone (caller ID), and ask to speak with somebody who can work with you on this. The person who answers the phone will only quote policy. You most likely aren't the only one with this problem. But you are asking them for a loophole, so if they do have some special program, they won't make it easy to get.

Hire an accountant. They aren't that expensive, they are more trustworthy than lawyers. But you will still need to make arrangements with PayPal.

Personally, this all seems so extreme for what I've seen on Ebay. Do you really save so much money, that it's worth the hassles? The item price + shipping usually comes out to close to retail. Unique and hard to find, it's a gamble as to what you get in the mail. I'm sure there are psychological elements that make Ebay so attractive, just like the lottery, racetracks and casinos. Definitely a thrill-factor adds to the attraction.

I recently started roasting coffee at home, after finding that my old hot-air popcorn popper (haven't used it in 15 or more years) was perfect for the task. Out of curiosity, I check to see what this out of production model was going for, $50-$75. Not bad for an old appliance. The cheapest coffee roasters are around $80, and none to impressive, kind of delicate looking, and not meant to do more than a few ounces/hour.
 
Are you sure? I usually(always?) find ebay deals to be much cheaper. I'll give you an example and see if you can find this same item with the same price or less:

I bought this laptop:
**broken link removed**

Can you find this somewhere else with the same price?

See this here(not exactly the same but good to compare):
**broken link removed**.

Plus you can end up buying something very cheap if you are a good bidder.

Other than this, ebay has everything you need. There is no need to register in a new website eveytime you find something cheap on it.
 
It has been three weeks now since paypal said it will send me a letter containing a code that I need to enter in their website to remove my limitation...!They said it will take days, but isn't this too much?
 
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