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Tips for Buying and Receiving Online Payments with PayPal

ByDave Stopher

Aug 5, 2019 #Payments

PayPal is one of the most popular methods in the world to send and receive payments online. For this reason and due to various attempts of fraud in the past, many people wonder if PayPal is secure and how it protects its users’ data and money. We can tell you right away that PayPal is very secure. The top PayPal casinos in the UK utilise its advanced security features and the particularly favourable policy for players. In this article, we will see why PayPal is secure, what is PayPal’s purchase protection and some simple tips to use PayPal safely to make purchases or receive payments online.

PayPal Security Tools

PayPal is a very large company and owes its reputation to the seriousness with which it manages payment security and user protection. From this point of view, in regard to both the senders and the recipients of payments, PayPal has implemented three advanced security solutions:

  • Site and purchase encryption
  • Purchase Protection System
  • Anti-fraud protection system

PayPal Encryption

PayPal uses advanced HTTPS and TLS security protocols, so all personal data entered on the site and transmitted during transactions is encrypted to prevent hackers from intercepting them.

PayPal Purchase Protection

If you purchase a product with a PayPal account and this does not correspond to the description of the seller or you are a victim of a scam, you can request the cancellation of the transaction and the refund of the purchase. With this system, PayPal is openly on the buyer’s side. In fact, this point is somewhat controversial because some online retailers complain about PayPal’s permissiveness and the fact that many customers abuse it. In any case, we advise you to read the terms and conditions of PayPal to understand exactly what the Purchase Protection covers.

PayPal Anti-fraud Protection

PayPal declares to continuously monitor the activity on its site and on the browsers of the users’ terminals to prevent cases of computer fraud. When we talk about fraud and PayPal, we refer mainly to phishing cases that occurred in the past. Unfortunately, when a platform is used by millions of people, it is immediately targeted by hackers, and this is certainly not the fault of the company. PayPal checks, reports and blocks fraud attempts, but the final responsibility falls on the user.

Just How Secure is PayPal?

We have seen what PayPal does actively to protect its users, but in general, what you probably want to know is how safe it is to use PayPal to pay over the Internet. The answer is also positive in this case: PayPal, if used following our advice, is a reliable and safer online payment method than using ATMs, cheques or wire transfers. Here are the main reasons why paying with PayPal is safer and increasingly popular:

  • Paying with PayPal does not communicate your current account number or your credit/debit card details.
  • If you link a credit card to the PayPal account, in the event of a breach of the account the hacker will not have access to your current account and unauthorised money transfers will be reimbursed to you by your banking entity.
  • With PayPal, you can request a prepaid card: it is not the most comfortable solution, but it guarantees you to choose up to what point you can trust the service. The prepaid card is a kind of online wallet: if it were to be violated by a cybercriminal, you would lose only the money deposited up to that point (and not the entire balance of your account).
  • PayPal uses the same security protocols as the most reliable e-commerce websites. As an example, when you buy a book on Amazon, the platform for online transactions and payment encryption of these sites are the same as those used by PayPal.

 

To sum up, paying and receiving money with PayPal is safe and convenient, but to be 100% protected, follow these seven safety tips for online payments:

  1. Link your PayPal account to your credit card instead of the ATM or current account.
  2. Don’t click on the PayPal email links, because they could be phishing messages. For greater security, personally enter the PayPal site address in the browser.
  3. Access PayPal only from your devices, NEVER from public computers or shared with other people, such as those in libraries or airports.
  4. Do not log in to PayPal when using a public or open Wi-Fi connection. If you move around often and need to access your accounts online even when using Wi-Fi in the bar or gym, connect to a VPN.
  5. Buy only from verified sellers, with a good reputation and on reliable sites.
  6. Use a unique username and password for PayPal. Create an effective password!
  7. Use the PayPal account as if it were your bank account: periodically check the transactions and do not disclose the data.

 

As we have seen, paying and receiving payments online is safe, especially with PayPal, and if you comply with the basic information security standards. The important thing is to keep your eyes open and not to trust emails, connections and suspicious sellers!