Hack 4 Pay When You've Forgotten Your Password 
Use an extra credit card to pay when you
can't get into your account and
don't have time to recover a forgotten
password
If
you find you have forgotten your password,
PayPal can help. But if you need to make a payment now and
don't have time to recover your password (a process
that can take from a minute to over a week, depending on how much you
know about your own account and how current that information is),
there is a shortcut: use a credit card that is not already attached
to a PayPal account to make your purchase.
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You can't use a credit card already attached to an
existing PayPal account; the system won't allow it.
If you have only one credit card, you're out of luck
and will need to recover your password before you can make another
payment.
Note that if your debit card doubles as a credit card, you can use it
with PayPal, either for a one-time purchase or, more permanently, by
attaching it to your PayPal account.
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Here's how to do it:
Clear the cookies in your web browser. Click the appropriate button to make the payment, such as a Buy Now
button on a seller's web site or an eBay checkout
flow. Choose the option for paying with a credit card if you do not have a
PayPal account ("If you don't have
a PayPal account and want to pay with a credit
card..."). You will be prompted to complete your payment.
Now
that you have made your
purchase, don't forget to recover your password! You
have several choices at this point, depending on how much you know
about your account and how current your account information is:
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A forgotten password is a prime
example of how PayPal uses the security questions you set up when you
opened your PayPal account to protect you. Personal information
(stuff that only you would know), such as your city of birth, your
mother's maiden name, or the last four digits of
your Social Security number, is used by PayPal to make sure you are
who you say you are.
Make sure your security questions (and corresponding answers) are
current and sufficiently private. To review your security questions
or change your answers, open PayPal's
Profile
Summary page (My Account Profile) and click Password. Choose
the security questions from the list and click Edit.
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- Password reset by email
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If one of your
current email addresses is registered
with your PayPal account, start the process by clicking the
"Forget your password?" link in the
Member Log In box on the PayPal home page. Type in your email address
(one to which you currently have access), click Submit, and follow
the further instructions in the email message you'll
receive shortly. Click the link in the email to go to a page where
you can answer questions about the bank and credit card accounts
listed on your account or your personalized security questions (see
the "Security Questions and
Answers" sidebar). Once your identity has been
verified, you'll be given the opportunity to choose
a new password.
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If you don't receive the email message, you might
have an overly aggressive spam filter. Make sure to check your
incoming spam folder or temporarily disable your spam filter (or your
ISP's filter) and try again if you suspect that
PayPal's confirmation email was deleted.
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- Telephone password recovery process
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If you
no longer use any of the email addresses
registered with your PayPal account, but you do know the answer to
your security questions and still use a telephone number registered
with your account, you can use the telephone password recovery
process:
First, click the "Forget your
password?" link and enter your old email address as
though you were still using it. Next, click "I no longer have access to this email
address." The system then verifies your identity by
asking you to fill in some personal information. Provide this
information and then click Submit. On the Password Recovery by Phone page, select the telephone number
where you would like to be called and provide a current email
address. Click Continue. A PayPal Confirmation PIN will be shown. Next, PayPal places an automated telephone call to the phone number
associated with your account. Assuming you're able
to answer, you'll be asked to enter the PIN provided
by PayPal into the telephone keypad, followed by the pound key (#). Once you have done so, hang up and click Continue. You will be
prompted to enter (and reenter) a new password and select and answer
two security questions. Remember this password. Use it with the email
address you just added to log in to your PayPal account.
- If all else fails
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If neither of these solutions works, you can recover your password by
postal mail and other means. At this point, it's
best to contact PayPal directly and have customer service help you
recover your password.
Obviously, it's best to keep all your information
(email addresses, postal addresses, and phone numbers) current, so
that if you ever need to recover an inaccessible account, you can do
so in minutes rather than days.
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