Making your PayPal account more secure
Did you know that PayPal has more than 8 million registered accounts in Canada and that Canadians purchase more than $2 billion online annually through PayPal?
If you are a regular PayPal user but are concerned about the integrity of your account, then you may want to consider an extra layer of protection by using something called the PayPal security key.
The PayPal Security Key (seen in the image above) creates random temporary security codes that help safeguard your PayPal account when you log in.
The security key token, which costs $5, is an electronic device – or “token” – designed to be carried on a key ring. It creates a security code for the user every 30 seconds. Paypal users with the security token must enter the temporary code along with their standard username and password in order to sign into their PayPal account.
Ordering and Set Up
We found the security set-up to be very simple. To order or setup your security key, users just log on to their PayPal account. Once logged in just click on “Edit Profile” to get to the “Account Information” screen. From their click on “Get the PayPal Security Key”.
Once you have your key, revisit the same screen but this time click on “Activate your PayPal or VIP (Verisign Identity Protection) token” to get to the following screen.
Follow the three steps shown below and click on activate. Once you’ve activated your security key, log out of Paypal.
The next time you log in to PayPal, you’ll need to enter your user name, password, and the security code generated by by pressing the button on your token.
This type of additional security is known as two-factor authentication and is used by leading financial institutions as an additional means to protect consumers and reduce losses from online fraud such as phishing attacks.
For $5, the Security key is the recommended way to give your PayPal account and extra level of security. The PayPal Security Key token is now available to customers in the U.S., Australia, Austria, Canada and Germany.
This Edit Profile info is nowhere on my Paypal page. Is it available only to Premium or Business accounts? When I log in all I see is:
* Add or Edit Email
* Add or Edit Bank Account
* Add or Edit Credit Card
* Add or Edit Street Address
Click the profile link. That brings up a much more detailed profile page.
I myself will be getting one of these very soon. Any extra protection is good protection when dealing with money on the web.
I set up the free mobile security key, olny cost is the price of a text message.