PayPal is one of the most popular online money transferring websites where you can send and receive money from friends, family members, clients, etc. It is an online financial service provider and trusted by millions of users around the world. You can link your bank account with your PayPal account and easily send and receive money to your bank account. There is no way your linked bank account can be hacked through PayPal. You only need the email address to make a transaction in PayPal.

What is PayPal?

PayPal is an American multinational company that is specialized in financial technology. Paypal offers online payment services in more than 200 countries around the world. PayPal supports 25 currencies including all the major currencies in the world. PayPal offers faster and safer money transferring options to its users. You will need a secure internet connection and a computer or mobile phone to access your PayPal account and transfer funds. PayPal was founded in December 1998 and currently, it has more than 360 million active users.

PayPal Working Process

The working process of PayPal is different from a financial institute. Basically, PayPal works as a link between you and your bank account. You can use your PayPal account by adding funds to the account. Or, you can link your bank account, credit card, or debit card and then use your PayPal account to make online payments or transfer funds. So, when you link your bank account to PayPal, all your transactions will be processed through PayPal. If you receive funds via your PayPal account then the funds will remain on your PayPal account. You can use the available funds for e-commerce, point of sale, etc. Or you can transfer the funds to your linked bank account. Usually, a balance transfer to the bank requires one or two days but you can also instantly transfer the funds but in that case, you have to pay additional fees.

List of Countries that Supports PayPal

Countries that don’t Support PayPal

Security Features of PayPal

PayPal is one of the most secured online money transfer platforms. Though all the online platforms are vulnerable to various hacking and cyber-attacks but cybersecurity risk management company UpGuard rated PayPal “A” for its security measurements. Below are the key security features of PayPal –

1. Security Key

Like any other platform, PayPal has the username and password feature but in addition, they introduced the security key feature. This feature increased the security of PayPal accounts. This feature is a part of two-factor authentication. So, when you log in to your PayPal account, you will receive a text message on your cell phone with a randomly generated PIN. You have to provide this PIN to log in to the account. So, if the hackers get your password, they won’t be able to log in to your account thanks to the security key.

2. Email Confirmation

When you purchase with your PayPal account, you will receive an email notification. So, if someone gets access to your PayPal account then you can easily find out about the account breach from the email notification. However, you should also keep in mind that email is also a very popular way for scammers to send spam links. Therefore, you have to handle PayPal email notifications carefully.

Other key security features of PayPal are –

• PayPal uses user-to-user data encryption to make sure the transactions are made securely without any data breach
• PayPal has a fraud monitoring feature and they monitor every PayPal account 24/7 for suspicious activities like fraud login attempts, unauthorized purchases from the PayPal account, etc.
• The purchase protection feature of PayPal ensures you can get a refund from PayPal if you make an online payment but didn’t get the product or receive damaged or used products.

Is it Possible to Hack a Bank account through PayPal?

It is totally impossible to hack a linked bank account using PayPal. This is because when you want to send or receive money via PayPal you only have to provide the email address that is associated with your PayPal account. So, there is no way the other party can know your bank details via PayPal. However, if the scammer can get access to your email address then he/she can hack your PayPal account and then get the bank details. This can result in identity theft for you. Therefore, you have to secure your PayPal email address with a strong password and two-step verification. If you can keep your email address protected then there is no way your linked bank account can be hacked through PayPal!

FAQs about Can my Bank Account be Hacked through PayPal

Can your information be stolen from PayPal?

It is highly unlikely that your financial information can be stolen from PayPal. This is because PayPal has some modern security features that prevent a data breach. Moreover, when you make a transaction, PayPal uses a data encryption feature to protect your Data from hackers.

Can I get scammed with PayPal?

Despite the security features of PayPal, it is possible that you can get scammed with PayPal. You can get spammed with PayPal via spam, phishing, and various kinds of fraudulent activity. Moreover, in most cases, PayPal users get scammed via email. So, if you receive any suspicious mail with links then you should avoid this type of mail.

Should I link my bank account or debit card to PayPal?

If you have a PayPal account then you can link your bank account or debit card to your PayPal account. However, you have to ensure that you have secured your PayPal account with a strong password because if your PayPal account is hacked then the hacker can withdraw funds from your Bank account. Therefore, you should enable two-step verification for your PayPal account.

Has PayPal ever been hacked?

No, PayPal has never been hacked but many PayPal accounts were hacked in the past. In most cases, PayPal accounts were hacked because of the fault of the account owners. The PayPal account owners shared their passwords or clicked on suspicious links and get scammed.

Last Updated on July 27, 2022 by Ana S. Sutterfield