What is Paypal
Paypal is one of the most widely used online payment processors, allowing you to send, receive and manage money safely. Millions rely on it for shopping, subscriptions and business transactions.
I’ve been using them for years, and while their fees are kinda high, and their support not so great, they are necessary if you’re doing business online.
Some other great payment platforms that I’ve been using for a long time without issue are Payoneer and Wise.
Getting Locked Out of My Account
At one point, I got locked out of PayPal because I couldn’t receive the SMS code needed to log in. My mobile provider apparently doesn’t allow these verification texts, which left me stuck outside my account.
I did call my mobile number provider, and they jerked me around. Then I had to choose whether to escalate the situation with them, so that they send my problem to the technical department or whatever, or if I should just call Paypal and see if they can change the phone number in my Paypal account. Calling Paypal seemed like the faster way to resolve the situation, so that’s what I did…
Accessing My Account Again
To fix this, I called PayPal support. They helped me update my account with a different phone number. Once I did that, I was able to receive the SMS code and finally log back in.
But I couldn’t log back in immediately, as I had previously tried logging in too many times, and the Paypal security system locked me out. Even their support couldn’t undo it. So I had to wait about 72 hours before I could actually log back in.
Lucky for me that I have a few extra SIM cards laying around, and they’re not all registered with the same phone company. The other number I gave worked! 🥳
Setting Up Authenticator
This experience showed me how risky it is to depend only on SMS verification. To avoid future lockouts, I decided to set up Google Authenticator for PayPal. This way, I don’t have to rely on my mobile provider/number every time I log in.
How to Set Up Authenticator
- Log in to your PayPal account
- Go to Settings (gear icon in the top right)
- Click Security
- Under 2-step verification, choose Set Up
- Select Authenticator App and follow the on-screen steps
- Scan the QR code with Google Authenticator and confirm the 6-digit code
That’s it, your PayPal account is now linked to Google Authenticator.
Here is a video I made talking about this:
Summary
Getting locked out of PayPal taught me the importance of having a reliable login method. By enabling Google Authenticator, I’ve added an extra layer of security and freed myself from relying only on SMS codes. If you use PayPal often, setting this up is a smart move.