Fair enough. I’m not a huge fan of PayPal, especially how hostile their fee structure is towards small transactions (last I checked), but in this case I consider it the least worst option that’s commonly available.
I do not like giving out my real debit or credit card numbers (I would never give out a bank debit). The traditional credit card system is archaic and stupid. We know how to design secure payment systems, yet the U.S. only moved to chip cards a few years ago and even those cards:
1. Have no PIN protection (EU does, so Americans are apparently too lazy and stupid to use a PIN).
2. Have no actual security, since a skimmer can simply send an “approved” signal to the reader (even a PIN is pointless in this case).
3. Still send the actual credit card number over the wire… …in 2019.
Most API-based, escrow-like payment systems are not universally available. Apple Pay, Google Pay, etc are all unavailable for international sites like AliExpress, while PayPal is more common.
Payment systems avoid having to give out your card numbers to sellers; that’s their primary security. While it’s unfortunate that PayPal has not helped you with fraud, it remains the case that some members of this forum have been refunded thanks to PayPal claims. I have not made a claim through PayPal and thus have no experience with that, though I have had numerous small cases of fraud.
I guess my question is, what do you use instead of PayPal?