Unfortunately it turns out Paypal doesn't allow donation buttons to be used with a lottery drawing, and the thing that got them wise to my website was a donation by a man who apparently didn't read the donation info, and sent a message with his donation saying "I can't wait for the lottery to begin!". Nobody was supposed to donate just to be in the lottery, so right when I saw that message I had a very bad feeling about it. And sure enough, in about a quarter billion Paypal accounts all over the world, mine was targeted because of that message left by that man.
It couldn't have happened at a worse time, because it's the very same day I'm opening the store, and now I have to unfreeze my account and deal with this nonsense. A part of me feels like it was all a set up because the timing is so perfect.
I've received lots of emails from people running Phishing scam websites, trying to get my paypal password since I was foolish enough to let everyone know all my online payments are done through paypal. And this just seems like another way to attack me.
But anyway, it's my fault for not thinking about the fact I used the word lottery in the donation explanation, when I might have been able to get away with "gift". Lottery laws are very strict, and it didn't even cross my mind until they sent me the notification about it, just a day after the guy sent his donation with the word "lottery" right in it.
Subject: Lottery cancled 
Tue Jun 29, 2010 2:43 pm
