paypal asked for SSN?

by AverageGuy

Posted: 14 years ago 19 replies

INTERNET MARKETING

I keep getting phone calls from paypal (yes, I checked the #, it is from paypal), different customer services agents, they asked me to provide SSN in my account. is this a new law for tax purpose?

I have been reporting tax as part time self employed, and reported it with my ssn in 1040. I have an EIN, but have not used it for a long time. should I start use the EIN again?

thanks

david

#asked #paypal #ssn

Dan C. Rinnert 14 years ago

Starting this year or next, PayPal has to report your transactions to the IRS. So, that's why they would be asking.

Just make sure to verify it is PayPal asking, and not some phishing scam.
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Kay King 14 years ago

New IRS regulations make it necessary for Paypal to have your SSN or EIN.

EDIT: But - I've never heard of paypal calling your for info and I would NOT give the info over the phone. Instead, I would log into my paypal account and add the numbers there.
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Jake Gray 14 years ago

Yeah, but make sure you aren't entering
anything into a phishing attempt. There sure
are a good amount of those going around
now.
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Thomas Michal 14 years ago

go get an ein #
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TEC 14 years ago

And get Lifelock to protect you too!
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- DRO 14 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by TEC
  
  And get Lifelock to protect you too!
  
  I wouldnt suggest that at all. The owner of Lifelock (for publicity) decided to post his SSN# along with his ads. Guess what? His identity was stolen over 13 times during that charade.
  
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  FredJones 14 years ago
  
  Look, I can share what happened in India.
  
  RBI - the finance authority here - asked Paypal to make sure anyone with a premier/business account enter their tax ID.
  
  BUT...
  
  They asked it over their portal and NOT a phone call. They made a page specifically for this purpose and used that.
  
  So I don't see a reason that they would not do it in the US, which is a far bigger market compared to India.
  
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pmbrent 14 years ago

I would be careful there are alot of Paypal scams going on right now, I got a phishing email the other day.
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Rob Actis 14 years ago

Just to be on the safe side. I would call PayPal and ask if they need your SS number. I would not give it to someone who called me. NO WAY!

If I was asked for it in an email...delete, delete, delete.
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Jack Duncan 14 years ago

David,
I would definitely suggest that you initiate the call with PayPal and provide the SSN if requested, and never give it in response to an incoming call.

This smells fishy.

Have you received any PayPal emails about the matter?

Or is there a message when you login to PayPal regarding the need for the SSN info.

Sounds to me that someone, realizing the new law is going into place, has come up with a clever way to try to get your SSN or PayPal account access, or both.

It doesn't sound like a very efficient way to do business...a few emails and a notice when you login to PayPal seems like the way they would tackle this for the millions of accounts they probably have to get this info on.

All the best,
Jack Duncan

Note: One more thing...it's very easy to fake a caller id number...there are even online services you can hire to do this for you. So don't trust the number that comes up on your caller id. Instead, call the number from the PayPal website or the back of your PayPal debit card.
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- Kay King 14 years ago
  
  There are many paypal scams right now - because of the changes that required some changes in paypal....people are inclined to believe it's the "real" thing contacting them.
  
  If paypal needs anything from you - you will see that message on your account when you log in.
  
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AverageGuy 14 years ago

thanks. I will not tell them on the phone. I'm just curious, nobody else got this kind of call?

I got > 5 times, each time is a different agent. and they all say the same thing, and they tell me I can update it in the account. Well, a scammer can do this too, I guess.

I thought it is payapl, but if only me got this call, then, too weird, isn't it?
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Trivum 14 years ago

I would say, "OK, if it's the law, then give me a place INSIDE of my account where I can provide that for you."

Then make sure you're inside of the secure version of PayPal (httpS://...)
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Mary D 14 years ago

Hi,
Search the internet for: paypal 1099-k IRS report. I believe that this is something they start doing this year in the US. I've been reading about this on the intenet since 2010. I think it has to do with it.

I have two people I know who used Paypal for looong years, and they receive a looooooot of payments through Paypal, and both got phone calls too. So I guess if you have a high volume......

In any case, I would not trust income calls or income emails asking for the number....but the best thing is to phone Paypal directly and talk to them.
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- Kay King 14 years ago
  
  I got > 5 times, each time is a different agent. and they all say the same thing, and they tell me I can update it in the account. Well, a scammer can do this too, I guess.
  
  Of course they say the same thing - they are reading the same script. Do you really think paypal would call again and again? No, they wouldn't.
  
  Paypal would simply freeze your account until you provided the info they required - and the request for info would appear in your account.
  
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Tony Dean 14 years ago

Another good reason to freeze your account by not having these numbers in there. I wonder if you have to notify Plimus Clickbank, Paydotcom, Click2sell and others?
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- webapex 14 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by Tony Dean
  
  I wonder if you have to notify Plimus Clickbank, Paydotcom, Click2sell and others?
  
  Standard contractor payments don't have to be reported until they reach an annual ($500?) threshold, I assume it's the same for affiliate programs
  
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  AverageGuy 14 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by webapex
  
  Standard contractor payments don't have to be reported until they reach an annual ($500?) threshold, I assume it's the same for affiliate programs
  
  it is $600 as I remember. but you need report it no matter how much it is. if it is below $600, the program (clickbank, ....) will not send u 1099. that's my understanding.
  
  Thanks
  
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barache 14 years ago

Here is a link to a great post about dealing with Paypal:

http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...-problems.html
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