Fergie's Tech Blog

Skype Ignoring PayPal-Siphoning Hijack Scheme?

Dan Goodin writes on The Register:

One day last month, when Klaus Zimmerman tried to log into his Skype account, he got an error message indicating his username and password didn't match. Concerned something was awry, Zimmerman, a computer repairman living in Wexford County, Ireland, phoned his brother and asked him to check his online status.

"I saw you on earlier, but your picture was gone," the brother reported. "You're now listed as living in Germany." On top of that, the person logged in was no longer answering the brother's queries.

Forum threads [...] and Google searches [...] suggest Zimmerman's experience is by no means unusual. The Register has contacted many victims, and a common pattern has emerged. Around the same time the victims are locked out of their accounts, they receive emails indicating their PayPal accounts are being charged for funds that are credited to the purloined Skype accounts. Frantic emails reporting the problem remain unanswered for weeks or months by Skype and PayPal representatives.

posted by Fergie @ 9/02/2008 03:10:00 PM