I wonder about the online purchase you were making. A lot of phishing scams are dependent on you clicking a link you've received in an email. I've had friends who were phished because they received an email claiming there was an issue with their PayPal accounts or Yahoo email account; they clicked the link IN THE EMAIL which then directed them to a website that looked like PayPal or Yahoo, but wasn't. They signed in and at that point the bad guys have your name and password.

Never ever click a link in an email. If you are concerned about something, open a new window in your browser and manually type in the web address.

I NEVER CLICK OPEN any emails...I dump them...learned the hard way years ago.

I was shopping online at a site called The Green Fairy and the same thing happened to me. Since we live overseas, that is about the only way I can shop. I had two "purchases" from other countries (one Korea and another I have forgotten), but the Green Fairy company would not believe their site had anything to do with it.

When I went to pay for my order everything came up automagicly! I do not have a PayPal account, so how could they possibly have had my credit card information, my mailing address and other such personal things? The credit card company forced me to cancel my card and get a new number. That was unfortunate because that card had a low credit balance and a low interest rate too. My thinking was to have a low balance so if someone stole it, I would not be charged so much--maybe less than $300.

I always use a card with very low balance just for online shopping, they won't get far with mine

I also think it is best to have a separate credit card to use with you paypal account or online purchases. Only keep a small amount in there and top it up when you are about to make a purchase. That way, the thieves don't get very much if they manage to compromise your account.

In the last two weeks I've had two cards taken over. The police officer that took my report told me that with the internet people search and smart ID thieves it was easy to find out private info about anyone. Enough info to call a credit card company and take over the account. My mother's maiden name was changed and my address was changed over the phone by one of these low lifes! I bought a pre paid credit card for future online purchases and will be using checks for local buys.

agree, I requested a low balance card and the company thought I was nuts. I went thru our credit union and got one with only 500 on it. That way the company and I are safer. It is the only one I use for my internet shopping. :)

I learned this as well. When you make a E-bay payment thru Paypal you end up with a E-bay screen. However, if you go to Paypal, your account is still open & you have to log out there as well.

I had a similar experience a while ago with Paypal. Not sure how it happened, but someone in another state charged a bunch of computer equipment and had it sent to their address just tacking my last name onto it! Also about $1500. The only way I discovered it was that a vendor that I make regular purchases from told me that she charged me something by mistake. So I went to look through the account and was shocked to see these charges. Paypal was dragging their feet until I pressed them to tell me who made the charge, for what and where it was shipped. I then called the local police department to file charges. When I got back to Paypal and told them I had filed a police report, they released the funds immediately. Sad to say, once I told that to the police, they didn't press charges against the person.

I have used Paypal and ebay for selling and buying for over 9 years. Paypal is my primary payment receiving option.
Paypal times out on me on a regular basis when I am getting items pulled, boxed up for shipment as it takes too long to get back with the package weight and to print out the shipping label.
So, I would say there is an issue with the website where you are shopping because I am always having to re-sign in due to the very, very short time out that Paypal has preset.
When done with my transactions, I always sign out of Paypal. Have not had one problem in 9 years!

But never, never use debit cards on the internet to pay for anything!