Hackers Want PayPal Users to Close Accounts

Anonymous tries a boycott instead of a hack this time
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 27, 2011 5:11 PM CDT
Hackers Want PayPal Users to Close Accounts
An exterior view of eBay/PayPal offices in San Jose, Calif.   (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

The group Anonymous is going after PayPal again, but this time in the form of a legal boycott instead of an illegal hack, reports MSNBC. "We encourage anyone using PayPal to immediately close their accounts and consider an alternative," says a missive from Anonymous and LulzSec. The move is in retaliation for the recent arrests of several Anonymous members in connection with last year's cyberhit of PayPal.

The company "continues to withhold funds from WikiLeaks, a beacon of truth in these dark times," reads the message. A PayPal spokesperson says the company has seen nothing unusual in the number of accounts being opened or closed today, but Anonymous tweeted that 35,000 people have bailed since morning. All this comes on the same day that police in London say they apprehended a key member of LulzSec, the hacker known as Topiary. (More PayPal stories.)

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