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I ordered a 150 watt hps floralux light system used off some guy on ebay and payed using paypal. Well ten minutes later I read the artice about paypal being narks to the police. Am I gonna get raided or something? Is it really that tight of security? I didn't think it would be that big of a deal seeing that he was a personal seller. I'm kind of freakin out. Should I be worried?
doubtful; there are way too many transactions to be concerned about. if you're doing it on a regular basis, or there is additional suspicious activity, paypal is likely to take a closely look at your account.
in the future, though, i would personally avoid using paypal to buy growing goods. at this point, though, don't worry and good luck!
dude, the last thing anybody is interested in is a single 150watt hps light. as for paypal being narcs, thats bs. the one thing that would kill ebay and paypals business is if people did not trust the service they provide. leo has way to many problems chasing meth labs and cocaine dealers to worry about a very small grow. i've ordered all kinds of stuff off ebay, try not to send the stuff to where you are growing. :rasta:
Ebay / PayPal (and also AOL) actively works with law enforcement; go out of their way to report people.
With that said, Ebay / PayPal (it's the same company) likely is not even going to notice the sale of one or even 10 lights, but definitely avoid using them in the future whenever possible - sometimes one has to chance it, but best to minimize transactions through them.
Ron
Mr. Bennett how do you know this? Please share the info you have, if able. I was wondering what the guidelines they use to report or is it that their just turning over records. I know that AOL has been letting the FBI into their records but was not aware that Paypal/Ebay was also doing it. It was my understanding that the FBI's carnivore program was no longer being used.
See this news link below...
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20030707/engle
In that article is the following paragraph ...
In the fall of 2001 a Stanford-educated Pakistani scientist, a permanent resident of the United States, was visited at his home in the Bay Area by the FBI, who asked about several books he'd recently purchased on eBay. The man's lawyer said the FBI agent reported having been alerted by eBay. eBay denied having provided the information to the FBI, and the bureau refused to comment.
Note that according to that account, Ebay alerted the FBI not the other way around. In essance Ebay is acting as a quasi-law enforcement agency, as the above article explains.
I wasn't able to find them, but I recall seeing some press releases by Ebay / PayPal in which they tout how they go out of their way to assist law enforcement.
If still not convinced ... read Ebay's privacy policy, terms of use, etc ... just the length alone should make one cringe ... last I read, their agreements all together is something of upwards of 40,000 words! Note the various links in their agreement pointing to other agreements ... clicking all around is an oddssey in and of itself ... set aside a decent part of a day to read through all it.
Often the longer a terms of use / privacy policy is, the more tilted it is towards the company; less rights / less privacy for the user.
Ron
I have believed that Ebay/Paypal were helping law enforcement for awhile. I was just wanted to to see something in writing. The thing with the Pakistani sounds like the FBI's carnivore program, which was have to ended last year, but I doubt that. I agree with your thoughts about Ebay policies, I have gotten the run around from Ebay/Paypal officials, they will not answer your questions. So I tend to stay away from doing business there.
After reading The Nation link, I think I will stop all activity with Ebay/Paypal. Welcome to 1984.
OH ****! I ordered some BZP off of paypal (to the U.S., which is illegal) will I get caught?
Bump....