Skype fraud/security problem; this affects everybody with a Skype account
By pjdscott
I've been the victim of fraud through no fault of my own - it could happen to anybody with an e mail account
Following a totally unexpected problem with my Skype account as a result of fraud, my account was blocked by Skype. I have not received a resulution of the problem which was caused by a major problem with Skype's business account protocol, rather than any lapse of security on my part.
Skype is an internet telephone system or VOIP (Voice over internet protocol). It is possible to talk through Skype to another person with similar software installed at no cost. It is also possible to telephone landlines and cell phones in most world countries by buying credit (known as "Skypeout"). This has become popular in Europe where phone calls tend not to be as cheap as other places.
Chargeback alert
I have had a Skype account for over two years, and it has been very useful. They have improved line quality, and the annoying line echo is becoming a thing of the past. However, I had a shock on 21 January 2008 when I received an e mail from Skype to say that my account had been blocked, due to PayPal "chargeback", in other words, a problem payment.
Initially, I thought that a recent PayPal payment to Skype had been problematic, but checked and it was fine. Following a web search, I posted a message on Skype's forum board. I got a swift response from one of their moderators, a Mr Musgrave, who could not have been more helpful. His colleague Paraveterinary was also extremely supportive and promised to nudge Skype's Customer Services (CS) to contact me.
Skype summary
It's completely fake - and no relation to any business named Yonex
Meet the fraudsters
Skype CS finally admit to a major security problem
Credit remaining on 6 February 2008
Skype fraud section finally manage to block the fraudsters
- Skype account page
This is the secure way to access your Skype account, or you can log in through the next link. If a fraudulent business account has been established, you will see it listed once you log in.
How to use Skype
Wireless security - how to prevent being hacked in the open
Online safety - passwords
How the fraud took place without my knowledge
Eventually, someone from CS mailed me, providing a lot of suggestions for security practices which I already did. The possibility that it was not my problem, but that of Skype's then began to occur and I mailed them requesting details of the fraud dates and, crucially, whether it was necessary for the administrator of a business account to receive a confirmation e mail. Another message from CS informed me that they would not refund money as a result of fraud, since "every user has to take care of his/her security systems on private computers". An ironic statement as it would later transpire.
Account eventually unblocked by Skype
Although I received no answer to my requests, my account was unblocked by 24 January and I was able to change my password and access the business account to check details (see pictures). To my great surprise I discovered that I was now the "administrator" of a business account under the name of "Yonex Co. Uk". This was a shock and even more of a surprise to discover that three names had been "assigned" to the account - a "james board" (but using my Skype id), a "nicky1982nl" and "vandehiu". Even worse, these people had managed to extract €250 euro and begun to use it before the payment was stopped by Skype. The money, as I soon discovered, did not come from my PayPal account (I will explain why later).
Fraudsters' fictitious company details
There were UK VAT and company numbers provided; a quick web check proved they were fictitious. My first reaction was that someone had hacked into my Skype account and somehow accessed my password. Worse still, I used the same password for various accounts such as my e mail account and then took the next five hours to change all my passwords. However, there was no sign that any of my other mail accounts had been opened and, crucially, I use a different e mail address for my PayPal account. I am very careful with passwords; they are a combination of non-English words and numbers. Furthermore, I use three firewalls - one on the modem-router, another on my Airport Extreme wireless service (closed, password-protected network) and a third on my desktop and laptop, and rarely use public machines. I'm not suggesting that I am immune from hackers; my account ticks all the boxes in this respect. Since I use Apple Macintosh's OS X, I can't load malicious .exe files and trojan horses.
Account blocked again by Skype
I condensed all the fraudsters' details and mailed it to Customer Services on 25 January and, again, requested details concerning the confirmation e mail for business accounts. I also stated that the fraudsters' accounts were presumably blocked by this stage. By the Monday of the next week I had received no response to the confirmation e mail issue but, to my great annoyance, my Skype account was blocked again for the same reason - "chargeback". This time I also received a message concerning the payment - it was the same fraudulent attempt from 21 January. I am still mystified as to why I was blocked twice, when they knew I had not attempted fraud.
On 30 January 2008 CS mailed to admit the crucial detail - and I quote - "It does not require a confirmation email, when setting up a Skype business account, but the system uses notification emails, when orders are placed." For a company who takes security "very seriously" and places the onus on their users, it is an incredible failure to allow any user to nominate someone else's e mail address as the administrator without requiring any type of verification. On the same day they unblocked my account for a second time.
Two weeks later and Skype had not yet blocked the fraudsters
Since I was fast loosing confidence in Skype's Fraud and CS sections, I checked the accounts of the two fraudsters on 6 February (I should note that I can't access their personal details or transactions, since they are password protected). To my astonishment, the initial amounts of €200 and €50 euro had dwindled to €19.47 and €50.80 suggesting that their accounts had not been yet blocked and they had been allowed to use €179.73 since I reported the fraud. I mailed Paravetinary asking her to instruct Fraud to at least block the fraudsters account on 6 February and this was eventually done by 9 February. To date nobody from Skype's Fraud section has contacted me.
To repeat my main issue, at present anybody's e mail address can be used to set up a Skype business account without confirmation, a recipe for fraud and abuse.
- Skype home page
Home page for Skype, offering various VOIP services including free computer-to-computer calls. You can also establish a new account, buy Skype credit and download the Skype application. They also sell related hardware such as the Skype phone and head
- Skype Support
This is the official start point for help. Provide as much detail as possible, use full English (ie., don't use txt language), provide details of your operating system is relevant. You will receive a 'ticket' reference when you post your request.
- Skype's forum board
I'm not sure whether the moderators are voluntary or professional, but they are extremely helpful. Always remain polite and objective - they are not responsible for Skype policy and can only advise or forward your complaints or criticism to Skype CS.
- PayPal
You can use PayPal for a variety of web purchases, particularly eBay and Skype. Always ensure you use different e mails and passwords to your other crucial accounts.
- Some easy-to-adopt security tips for computing and banking
As the title suggested, these are my tips for better internet and (physical) banking protocol. At least you should periodically review your security - and try and adopt something from these tips.
What can you do?
To repeat my main issue, at present anybody's e mail address can be used to set up a Skype business account without confirmation, a recipe for fraud and abuse.
I suggest the following:
- add a business account yourself. It is a free service and allows you more control.
- monitor your Skype account via the web for suspicious activity [link below]
- ensure you use different e mail addresses for Skype and linked accounts (ie., PayPal)
- ensure you use different passwords for these accounts
- If you feel strongly about this, you could mail Skype CS to express your concern that a business account may be established with a verification e mail from its administrator [csl2@skype.net]
For more tips please check my "Easy security tips" hub.
CSO - Security information and risk management
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Yes! Even if your account is unhacked, it's a good idea unless you're a very heavy Skype user. Auto recharge is an excuse for Skype to make even more money out of users.
how do i deal withe my skype units be staulen from somebody els. do i stopthe automatic recharge
???????????
You need to contact Skype support asap. Good luck!
Somebody just hacked to my Skype account and I could no longer log in. A couple of friends had called me as the fellow was now using my account to solicit for money from my Skype contacts.
Kindly advice me what to do immediately. Thanks.
My email is oaalake@ gmail.com
sobi - sorry to hear that. Have you been in touchwith Skype support yet? You should try that first - good luck!
my account is showing some one else's profile with my name what do i do
Hello Neal Kapoor and many thanks for your most useful points. I agree with Skype's lack of security protocol, particularly about the ability to setup a business account on an existing customer account without any email notification. It does not instil any confidence in their ability to store confidential records; in fact I am surprised that they have not had a major hacking incident.
Skype seem oblivious to any criticism and certainly reluctant to change their current operating practices, despite the glaring breaches of security.
I faced a similar situation today. There is no way skype can hide behind templated responses , especially when they take the responsibility of storing sensitive credit card info.
Few questions.
This is not the first incidence of such fraud
- Why were there no alerts when some one from another country created a skype manager account?
-No alerts when Euro 100 is charged.
-The fraudster has not even made calls. Loaded his account and transferred the money / credits to other accounts. This was promptly reported at chat (less than 20 minutes) of receiving text alert from my issuing bank
- Why allow this policy of transferring money/credits? if "skype manager" so prone to fraud (a basic google query will show the scale of this fraud) Why is skype not making it robust, or because they have a no refund policy and as long as they get the fraudster buying the credits they don't care.
- We do not have access to skype server logs. possibly there is a huge security breach in their systems and database.
We need to highlight this, get skype to take corrective action and ensure others do not suffer.
Regards
This happened to me January 25 2012. Someone set up a Skype manager account and paid themselves £30 using my credit card. I had noticed some unusual activity recenty with skype. I received several massages from unkown persons wanting to be my friend. These I blocked. This all happened a few days after I enabled skype on my new Nokia N9 phone, but I have no way of knowing if this is all connected. Actually, Skype were very good about it. They blocked my account until I could change my password and cancelled the payment to my credit card. However, the transaction hadn't been processed by my bank, so it may have been a different story getting a refund from Skype if it had gone through. I'll be more careful with email addresses and paswords for Skype from now on.
htodd - yes thanks - but not without a lot of stress. The message is clear and loud; Skype need to do far more to protect users' accounts (hope my punctuation is correct!).
That's really great ,you got your account back
This same thing happend to me today.....3years later and Skype still give out the same crap about not their fault !
David - I'm sorry to hear the Skype saga continues - hope PayPal can be more positive than Skype.
Very poor security by Skype and recommend to all that they delete their accounts. Never been hacked on any account before, using personal PC only! but someone created a skype manager account today and tried to take 2 x £100, the second one being refunded. Contacted Skype and they were fairly blase about it...seems to be common...Account now cancelled and they have asked me to contact Paypal
Henrique - as you say it is incredible that this scam is continuing after 3 years. The main reason I wrote this blog was to warn others, and to aid Skype in clamping down on what seems to be an easy scam.
If I were you I would chase them to refund your money. Good luck, and thanks for your comment.
Well, today 24 September 2011, I felt victim of the same scam.
Someone hijacked my Skype account, created that Skype Manager account, associated with several fake skype accounts and started funding everyone with my credit card. There was a total of 150 euros charged on my credit card on skype credits. The only thing I got was an email telling me about the purchase I haven't done.
Unfortunately Skype had my credit card data stored from my last purchase.
I have no idea how someone got into my account, I did not click on any phishing website or left my Skype account logged on any public computer.
So apparently nothing has changed since 2008!! Three years and Skype have done absolutely nothing to improve their safety. The same scam keeps happening and from the comments in here they are very common.
I got in contact with skype support via chat and they blocked my account and passed the situation to their fraud investigation department or whatever.
I'm very upset with all of these.
I'm on chat with them right now and the answer I got is "Unfortunately, we are not able to refund any money that may have been lost due to this incident."
Very bad way to conduct your business Skype...
Uninvited Writer... classic! Thanks for the laugh!
no satisfaction? :)
You can't get what?
i cant get
Hello buckjones and I'm really sorry to hear that you're having the exact same problems I did. Since my episode over two years ago, Skype promised that the user had to receive a confirmation email when a business account was established in his/her name, but this is clearly not happening.
At least you discovered it in time and they didn't get funds from your PayPal. It's a good reminder for anybody who is going to try Skype to ensure you don't give the same email address as your PayPal account.
You will find the details for Skype Customer Services above - don't forget to bookmark this page and tell us what Skype did.
I had my skype account hacked yesterday. I took had a complex password and was sure that no one had accessed my Mac OS X laptop.
It turns out that they had added an entity under "Skype Manager" in my account.
They added $10USD, 57.50euros, and 115euros, but there was no money in my paypal acccount, so those were being funded by my bank account, and that process takes 3 or 4 days, so no money had transferred yet.
I really wonder how in the world they were able to access my account in the first place.
I also want to complain about a skype business being setup without me being notified about it in skype manager.
Many individuals have fallen prey to financial scams that mimic web companies like Skype and iTunes. These often have the result of leaving people in the red with banks. Consulting debt counselors, like those from DebtGuru, often allow individuals to eliminate- or at least reduce- such debt.
Hello Taueret - thanks for your comments and I'm sorry to hear about your suspicious activity. It all sounds very dodgy - proceed with caution. The key thing (which youve done) is to have different email accounts for Skype and payment/PayPal. Likewise, no harm to change your passwords for both types of account as you've done. Check your credit card online transactions, just in case something goes through without your permission - you can then contact your credit card company immediately and get them to cancel/track the fraud. Best Peter
hi, I just found this post by googling "skype chargeback fraud"- this evening I received emails from Skype (and they did seem to really be from Skype, not pfishing in the usual sense). One said that there was a problem with my credit card (!?), the next said that $16.00 skype credit had successfully been added to my account, and the third said that it had been charged back- whatever that means, refunded I guess, as it was a fraudulent transaction!
I changed my skype email from the one that it was to a yahoo account I use for spam catching and little more, and checked my paypal account, there had been no activity, no charge, no chargeback. VERY strange. I've also reset my gmail password and now I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. Any other suggestions?
Hi Gloria,
This is serious - I would contact my bank/credit card company first and tell them you did not authorise the payment (and that you don't have a Skype account). Sounds as if someone has cloned your card, or got your card details somehow. Good luck!
My problem is I don't have an account with
Skype.com and I am being charged to my credit
card. How do I notify Skype.com to put a stop
to it?
It sounds to me as though using Skype for paid calls is a bad idea, I only use Skype for the free PC to PC calls and thankfully so far have not had any problems. From what I have read as long as I stick to this policy and don't purchase credit via Paypal or some other medium I should be OK. Hopefully I haven't missed anything in making this statement, let me know if I have.
The hi-jacking of numbers thing in the browser happened to me as well but I think it is done through the addons for the browser. If you go to tools then add-ons you should get a list of add-ons and you will probably find Skype there. You should be able to disable or remove it. They take the liberty of adding it when you load their software.
Hello Gelderlander,
Many thanks for your detailed comments. As you can imagine, the main reason I wrote such a detailed and personal blog was to warn others of the perils of Skype/PayPal and to possibly avoid repeats of my experience. That was two years ago as you observe – it is incredible that nothing seems to have changed.
Judging by the amount of comments from others similarly affected, these are not isolated occurences. Clearly, Skype’s security protocols need a severe shakeup or, as you suggest, more prominent exposure than blogs such as mine.
When it happened to me, I felt I had been violated, a similar feeling to when we were burgled. I don’t believe Skype are doing enough to prevent this happening to others – surely it is time for more concerted and direct action by Skype users?
The reason I read this blog is that this has happened to me too now, though a Business Account I have no knowledge of. Two years on from your blog, pjdscott, nothing has changed!
Skype, when contacted, see no fraudulent behaviour in me phoning 1 Taiwanese number once every minute for hours on end, but put a block on my account (Pre-paid Personal) because Paypal payments have not been forthcoming immediately. Here, it seems my own Paypal account is linked, but I cannot access Skype well enough to check. Thankfully, for some reason, Paypal have sofar been unable to obtain funds from my bank account and I hope that remains the case. The loss, at this moment, is purely in credits for me - but Skype have lost €110 it seems. Paypal 'investigated' as well and sees nothing wrong, but asks me to write to a PO Box in the US for their findings. As a UK customer officially doing business with Paypal Luxembourg, that really isn't acceptible either. Nor can I find phone numbers or e-mail addresses - webforms only both at Skype and Paypal. Both the security and customer services are atrocious at both companies.
As a multilingual call centre company director, erstwhile technical support agent, politician and journalist I have plenty of options to perform a bit of damage if Skype demand funds. Should funds be demanded from me, for losses they incurred through their negligence, I'll do just that. For the moment, I would advise anyone to stop doing any sort of business with Ebay, Paypal and Skype.
Robert - when you have Skype client installed on your PC it recognises telephone numbers as such in Internet Explorer, so you seek Skype call icons. It's not any kind of breach. Try Opera instead of Internet Explorer and because Skype can't add to Opera, nothing of the sort happens.
Hello Robert,
I can't, but perhaps someone else can? It sounds like Skype are up to their old tricks again - they really need a new head of web security to shake up that department, I believe.
Can someone explain how skype can turn private phone numbers [landline as well as cellphone] into skype numbers on a private website.
In other words: they somehow changed the HTML code of my privately owned and hosted webpages without my or my webhost permission !
Hello Penny,
I'm very sorry to hear this, especially since it appears it is no fault of yours. I suggest (if you haven't already done so) to post a message on the Skype's forum board (third link on the links section) and explain what happened.
I also suggest you contact PayPal's support/security people - they may be able to explain how someone hacked into your account and, if it wasn't your fault, might be able to refund your money.
All the very best,
PJD
I have been using skype and paypal without problems until dec 23 when many payments were taken out of my bank account so far up to about $200 and my back charged me $390 in overdraft fees. This has been awful for me. I live on only $600 a month and raise a son. We have no food, cant pay bills thanks to skype. I am so sad. Cant get them to even help through emails, and they shut off my phone and I have no other phone.
Hello ekkerlekkerl- I'm shocked to hear that Skype is still allowing this to happen. From what you describe, it is identical to my situation, ie., my email account was not hacked, yet persons unknown managed to establish a business account using my Skype details which I did not pass on.
It sounds like Skype do not send a confirmation email when a business account is established, and your message suggests that there are still major problems with Skype's own security protocols.
Hope you get this sorted out -
Best,
PJD.
Happened to me today. Reported to live chat, where the operator informed me that somehow they must have been able to log in to my account. I find this dubious. However, I have asked the operator if anyone can make me a business group administrator just by knowing my email address and her answer was no. I checked on their site and it seemed to me that indeed it was required now to log in with your password to set up a business account. Could you please tell me if it is still possible to set a business account with just an email?
LJEH - I'm sorry to hear that. So many people have been done by Skype - I cannot emphasize enough that people should always use a different e mail account and passwords to that registered with their Skype account.
At least there are alternatives to Skype these days, and IM has vastly improved.
happened to me as well this week.. can't believe after all this time they let this stuff still happen. Skype is not worth it anymore.
I am fairly sure Skype does use cookies on its web interface, but don't change that if you have access! I'm not sure how to delete the Skype prefs for the Skype app under Vista - there must be some way of deleting the prefs and getting Vista to write new files, which might help your access problem.
I must try Chrome, but I'm hooked on Firefox!
Good luck Nate.
WOW quick response. My skype account is activated. I can log in from other computers. Does skype use cookies (I use google chrome as my primary browser due to it's multi process architecture)?
I can log into skype from my computer via the skype web interface, just not via the skype installed client interface.
Thanks
Nate
Hi Nate,
If it's any consolation it seems as if it is not your fault, as it was not mine and others who have posted here. I have suspected a breach at Skype's end myself - there seems to be so many hacked accounts as your credit card company suggested.
I don't know what to suggest about your re-activation problem. You might find the Skype cookie and delete it, in case that is fouling things. In IE and Firefox try your preferences to access cookies.
Sorry not to be of more help - at least you paid by credit card, making the card company liable (unless they can prove a security breach at your end - highly unlikely, by the sound of things).
pjdscott,
I had the same basic thign happen to me. On Monday Feb 23 I returned home to find that my contacts were all gone and phone numbers I did not know had replaced them. I went out to skype.com and found several charges against my account, so I tried to find a skype support number (no such thing exists) so I sent asupport request via email, the boilerplate response (24-48 hour response) did not provide a good feeling. So I called my credit card. They had seen many charges from Skype and makred them as fraud. They told me "we see a lot of this with skype". I had to cancel my card and get a new one and submit a fraud claim. If I had not done this thousands (I repeat 1000s) of dollars would be my problem now, even though my account has a USD100 limit per month. Skype is not being very responsible.
Anyway, I have recieved one response form Skype to over 10 submitted support queries. They have unblocked my account and I can get in from other computers (my wife's for instance) but my computer allows for no login form any users (not even my wife). I have uninstalled and then reinstalled, uninstalled rebooted and then reinstalled, still all logins fail.
Do you have any idea what is going on? I have Windows Vista with an AMD64 chip, but I think there is something either on Skypes server end that is blocking my computer or something on my computer keeping the login from happening. I believe it is on their server though.
Any help is appreciated.
Nate
I'm very sorry to hear about your experiences Neil, but they are not unusual in the world of Skype users. It does appear that a lot of responsibility lies with Skype themselves; like yourself, I am also cautious with my passwords, security and protocols.
I hope you get sorted out eventually - it would be worth posting on the Skype forum for assistance.
Same problem as many of the above people. I am a personal not a business user. I am also an infrequent user but someone hacked into my Skype account, used all my credit on calls to Taiwan. Skype eventually blocked my account but refused to refund my money. The security breach wasn't at my end. I run a fire wall and several types of security software. I wish I had read this site before signing up for Skype. I will now look elsewhere for a VOIP provider. How can Skype be so poor with their customer care and attitude to money lost by their customers because of their poor security systems?
Neil.
Dear Yousaf,
I am extremely sorry to hear about your problems but this page is nothing to do with Skype - it simply records my own personal problems with my Skype fraud. Go to this page:
http://support.skype.com/en_US/support_request
Complete as much detail as possible and see if they will assist. If that does not result in prompt action, then goto the Forum here:
http://forum.skype.com/index.php?act=idx
and see if others have had similar problems. You can then post details of your own situation but I strongly suspect you will find many people have already had similar experiences to you.
Don't forget to bookmark this page and update evereyone on your experiences. I wish you all the best,
Peter
Sir my account malikandmaliks36 is blocked i dont know why.plz unblocked it.i am very thankful to you
Sorry to hear about your problems. I suggest you goto my second link above, entitled "Skype Support" where you can log your problem and they will eventually answer you. I suspect they have a lot of similar complaints, so be patient and polite, and you might get some results and advice.
Good luck!
i was also hacked i wanted the $3 a month service when i put in my card information it kept denying me i kept redoing everything but kept getting denied so i called my card to hear my balance and the $3 dollars was taken out but i dont have any service does anyone know how i can get that back thanks
I would have to agree - I don't think Skype are very secure-minded or efficient. It leaves a bad taste in your mouth - I feel I was violated, through no fault of my own. The only consolation is that good people such as yourself, Hagel, were also got.
By this time they got back to me with ~"we understand that your account was hacked, but we are not responsible for any demage..."
Poor, very poor reply. I asked for disconnection alltogether.
Hi Hagal,
That's really interesting to hear I'm not the only one. I think the scammers take money and use it in different accounts to prevent early detection - it would be far easier to track if you were deadling with the same Skype and PayPal account.
I found Skype more supportive than you, but they took a long time to react initially. By this time the damage was done, and somebody's PayPal account was missing a lot of Euros.
Hi,
Exactly the same happened to me. I googled into your Hubpage and read through. In my case (and as I was able to judge - in yours as well), money was actually put into a my account. I checked my paypal accnt and they did not withdraw anything. So what is the catch here? How do those thiefs plan to further withdraw?
As for Skype - I cried out loud on their web forms twice THEFT, but aside from automatic replies, noone got back to me. They simply sucks.
Thanks for your comments Rita and NathanJ. More and more I hear similar comments to yours - and I again emphasize that you should *never never never* use the same e mail account for Skype as you do for PayPal. This should also go for passwordsd - never use the same password for two such accounts but at least modify it somehow. If you need inspiration, I have written a short article about this.
I've had £100 taken from my bank after my account was hijacked. There is no fraud department in Skype to deal with this, they don't seem to care less. They carried on taking payment from PayPal even after I changed the paypal password. I wouldn't touch them again after this. I've had no response after nearly a week.
They don't even have the most basic security measure of emailing the original email address when the primary is changed. Every other company does this. Appaling customer service & no regard whatsoever for securing your details / money.
Hi,
I have a personal Skype account where somebody hacked in, used up my credit for calls to the wide variety of countries.. then two unauthorized auto charge had happend on my paypal what was refunded later..
Then I was blocked out of the credit purchase option.. that was the time when I have discovered that something went terrible wrong with my skype account.
Since then skype does not give me any explanation or a will to refund me for my lost credit.. No one else has access to my computer and it is protected by a professional anti-virus/firewall program updated daily.. But somebody definitely hacked into my skype account to act on my behalf and enjoyed every cents of my credit for his/her calls what I had to pay for!
I have a gut feeling, that all those personal information and passwords may had been leaked from skype database itself..
I would advice everybody to be very careful to purchase credit and give paypal/credit card details to this company. SKYPE IS NOT A SAFE PLACE TO USE YOUR MONEY/PURCHASE CREDIT THAT CAN BE USED BY OTHERS THAN YOURSELF AND AUTOCHARGE CAN BE TAKEN FROM YOUR CREDIT CARD WITHOUT YOUR CONSENT! And do not dream of having any answers or explanation from skype and you can say good-bye for your lost credits.
cvaughn570 - many thanks for your comment.
Jack - thanks for these - we tend to forget there are alternatives. I think Skype were the market leaders but thankfully there is quality competition now.
If you're fed up with Skype customer support there are tonnes of other VoIP services you can try. They may not be as well known as Skype but pretty much all of them have better rates for calling landlines/mobiles.
I used to be happy with Skype in the pre-eBay days, but since they've been bought I've noticed a downward trend. I've started using AIM Call Out which has much better rates than skype, gives you a feature to set up calls between phones without having a headset and mic, and has SIP support. So far I'm pretty happy. Regardless if you're unhappy with your VoIP services, try another one, because there are a ton more out there!
I use skype once in a while and this is very useful information.
Thank you for sharing your experience, Carol
Ahh ok I understand now.
I did leave a message on the forums and got a reply back from Norman Musgrave, and just in the last couple of hours I got a response back from Customer Support (only 9 days) and I now have access to my account again. But calls to SkypeOut are blocked until I get a response back from their fraud team at csl2@skype.net.
At least I have progress though. Strangely enough I didn't loose any credit, and there is no business account associated with my account, so I am wondering why my account was hijacked in the first place.
Hi Joel,
Many thanks for your question and sorry to hear about your Skype problems. Had Skype enabled verification mails once a business account was established, I would have known immediately that my account was hacked. I only realized about two weeks later because Skype blocked the account. The credit used by the frausters was not from my PayPal account, so I presume someone reported their theft to PayPal who informed Skype.
The main point of this article was to encourage Skype to send a confirmation e mail once a major account change is made (such as setting up a business account). My e mail address is certainly not private and they also knew about my hidden-Dublin.com website, so I guess they targeted me.
Do ask if you have any more questions - did you ask Skype on their forum board about your problems? As long as you remain objective and polite, you will get a reponse there.
pjdscott, Can you explain why not having verification emails led to your account being locked?
I am presently locked out of my Skype account, it seems at least because my password has been changed and I cannot log into my account or recover my password.
You seem to suggest that they didn't get your password, because you mention that your details are password protected ("I should note that I can't access their personal details or transactions, since they are password protected").
Why does creating a business account without verfication cause your account to be locked?
Did the fraudsters just randomly pick your email address and then skype locked any skype accounts with the same email address?
Thanks,
-Joel
Thanks for informing us about this issue. I never have used Skype, but back in 2002 I accidentally fell an Scam via email on AOL. It looked like an official email, but I should have known better because AOL clearly they will never ask for your password. Good hub!
So much for the customer is always right eh? Thanks for this. I don't use Skype but am emailing this to a friend who does, regularly. Thanks for the heads up.
I must have missed this hub earlier...
I, too, have Skype and use it fairly regularly. Good stuff to keep a keen eye out for here, thanks!
Thanks for your comment. Until Skype sort out this problem with unverified businesss accounts, all Skype users need to be vigilant.
As soon as I hear that they have modified their business account protocol, and requested a verification e mail from any intended administrators, I will post here.
I was just getting ready to sign up for a skype account. Thank you for the insite.
anupam 7 days ago
why my account blocked realy i m not saticfied