The start of a new week. Like that’s not rubbish enough, as it is. Oh no. Log on to emails. Find my PayPal account has been hacked and someone has tried to take 107 quid from me. Spiffing.

So now I have to spend time trying to work out how to notify Nat West not to pay this when the request comes in, because they have a website that says the only way to report fraud is by telephone. Stupid asses. Seriously? What year is this again?!

I was able to dispute the payment before I got kicked out of my PayPal account, so hopefully it will never get that far, but it’s very frustrating having to wait until other people bother to do their jobs properly. I even tried Nat West’s Live Chat but, of course, no one answered at 2am, despite their assurance that it is a 24 hour service. *sigh*

I have no idea why I have been kicked out of my PayPal account – it may be the hacker has tried to change my password, or it may be that that is their standard procedure when they get a fraud alert. I have no idea. No one tells you anything. I suspect it is the hacker, because PayPal also say you have to be logged in to message them, which now I obviously cannot be. All I can do now is wait. And swear.

Interestingly, they committed this act at about 2am UK time. They were probably hoping that it wouldn’t be spotted for about eight hours, giving them time to pocket the funds and get away. The trouble for them was, that, because of the time difference, I logged on less than fifteen minutes later, and was able to spot it instantly. In fact, I think I may have been logged into PayPal at the same time as they were, because I was halfway through changing my security details when I suddenly found myself kicked to the kerb. So they must have changed things faster than I was doing it. if I’d known it was a race, I’d have typed quicker!

The stupid thing is that, even from the one notification email I received, it was OBVIOUS to me that this was not a genuine payment. For a start, the product description was blank. Does ANYONE do their job properly any more? Does anyone take any pride in a job well done? Or is the entire planet just now populated by 7 billion people who don’t give a damn, just go through the motions, take the pay, go home? It’s depressing.

On the plus side, my ‘holiday’ credit card is not linked to my PayPal account, so it should not affect me on a day to day basis, for now, at least. But it’s SO annoying.

UPDATE: PayPal have now let me back into my account. Well, it’s a start.

UPDATE 2: Sore throat has now progressed to sneezing fits and bunged up head. Today just gets better and better. On the plus side, having spent the whole night coughing, that seems to have now finished. Not sure I’m going to be up to doing much in Manila tomorrow though – I’m feeling very weak and weary and wobbly. Maybe an early night will help. and we get an extra hour as the clocks go back – to GMT +8.