Spam from paypal email address.

[zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz]

I have been having problems with sellers sending spam to the email address I use for paypal.

Why does paypal give out my email address to sellers? The transaction details are sufficient for them to ID the transaction.

They have no reason to need my email address.

Paypal please fix this.

[PayPal_paula]

Hi there zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz,

When a payment is sent via PayPal your seller is provided with your email address and your shipping information. Providing your seller with your email address allows your seller to contact you if there are any issues with your purchase.

Please understand that not all payments are made via eBay, so not all of our buyers and seller will have the option to contact via eBay. Therefore we feel it necessary for your email address to be provided to the seller.

Thanks

Paula

[zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz]

Thanks for the reply PayPal_paula, sounds reasonable.

Perhaps at some time paypal could be improved so it checks and if the payment is via ebay with-hold the email address.

I have had so many ebay sales sites spaming me that I have had to cancel the email address and change the email I use for paypal.  Naturally they don't use their ebay address so I don't know who they are.

[eclipseaviation]

  "had to cancel my email address" -

Yes, I have the same experience.  It seems that I have about 8 spamgourmet addresses that I abandoned due to spam from  ebay sellers using ebay and and paypal-supplied addresses

It is not necessary for payees to have the email address to communicate with buyers or others making payments.   Communications can be made directly through ebay or paypal.  I don't understand why users are not offered a choice on distribution of email addresses.

[IKenny]

I have the same issue - lots of spam through an account I only use for PayPal

Why can't PayPal do what eBay/Facebook does and force people to login to respond via the website to email? - That way there would be no requirement to give out addresses. It also puts control back with the user, since they can decide to pass on their own email address if they wish.

[Kasabugu]

I have had a similar problem with getting spam from companies I placed orders with and paid through my PayPal account. I now get several marketing mails from them each week. The products are not through eBay but directly bought through their web pages, in my latest case I was immediately contacted with details of further products they offered. I contacted PayPal cust support and was initially told that PayPal does not pass out customer email addresses and that I must have given it to them on my orders.

I assured them this was not the case and was then told that PayPal needed to give the company my email for the payment to take place and that I should put the companies on my blocked spam list, this is a non goer with all the different email accounts/pcs work/home/ smartphones etc

I have alternate addresses used to prevent spam being sent to my 'puka' addresses and had put one of these into my PayPal  account in the hope I would be offered a choice of address to pass to the company but alas no. I was told to change my primary PP email address to the 'spam' address, place the order and then change it back again to get the emails from PayPal to my 'clean' email account.

I think it is easier to click on the credit card payment button and stear clear of the 'New faster payment with PayPal" button.

[veekamb]

Paypal/eBay duo is missing the point. I've almost stopped buying on eBay and will soon forget about this marketplace. Almost every purchase brings a new wave of spam. By not anonymizing email addresses Paypal & eBay make shopping less appealing.

BTW: The spell checker doesn't recognize "Paypal" and offers "Papal" instead. Paypal is not that holy.

[ted_o0o]

Sorry 'Paypal_Paula' but I disagree.  

It isn't necessary to give out your user's email addresses.

Paypal should have an on-site messaging system (like Ebay) for trading messages. This could be redirected to the account email (as with Ebay who, after all, own Paypal).

There is no reasonable reason for people you send or receive payments to and from to have access to your email address.

We receive tuns of SPAM to our Paypal address from (often Oriental) sellers we bought from years ago who are ignorant and refuse to unsubscribe us.

Live help Ebay reps either are (or pretend to be) unable to even understand the issue.

Paypal proudly boast that our sensative financial details are not shared while letting anyone and everyone see our email addresses when this does not need to be so.

Please at least consider changing the Paypal system to one of Username accessed accounts  exactly like the one Ebay uses i.e. buyers and sellers communicating on site as on Ebay keeping registered email address private and only known to Paypal who should be the only entity sending mail to them.

Then both SPAM and off-site trading will be stamped out over night.

In not doing this Paypal are exhibiting that they they don't care about the security and best interests of their users.

They have already done so repeatedly by ignoring this issue and fending off approaches from unhappy users with no good reason. If you could see our inbox and the level of spam 98% of which is received by our Paypal registered email address you'd understand why so many Paypal members are so very p'd off as it can, could have been, and should have been avoided by Paypal management...

The fact that Paypal continue on in ignorance speaks volumes about their prioraties. - Even in the face of people here claimimg to be doing less Paypal business as a result...

Paypal_Paula. Please feel free to tell us all why I am wrong...

[PayPal_paula]

Hi ted_o0o, 

Thank you for your detailed response. I do like your idea of having a PayPal messaging option(like eBay) do. Also, the user name is a good idea but wouldn't be possible for PayPal. PayPal locate accounts using email addresses and payments are sent to a particular email address. For this reason the email address is shown to show where the payment is coming from or was sent to. 

I have noted your feedback and ideas and I will pass it on, on your behalf. 

Thanks for posting 

Paula 

[ted_o0o]

Yes. And what I am trying to make Paypal understand is that accounts should be located by name not email like Ebay.

We all know that is how Paypal works at the moment and it is causing untold amounts of spam and loosing you business.