How to correctly post a payment proof

I must admit that I've been very deeply involved into GPT sites lately, trying them, studying them, exploring them and, of course gaining some money from them. And I saw a lot of payment proofs posted of dedicated forums and personal blogs.

Posting payment proofs is very normal considering the fact that many people, before they sign up, want and need to be sure what they get into, and if they loose their time for nothing or they do get something from those PTC or GPT sites.

But while publishing a screenshot from your Paypal account can be a good way convince your close friends or strangers from the large public to join that GPT site and thus become your refs, this can be also a risky thing if you post too much information. A bad guy could use the sensible information to do you harm.

This were my thoughts while I was exploring those sites. My gut and the logic were telling me that there should be a way to prevent any security problem without altering the message.

So I did some digging and I have found out that, for security reasons, any payment proof should not show the following data:

- Transaction ID
- Your Paypal email (or the email you use with you payment processor)
- Any other specific code (is not Paypal's case, but it can be related to other payment processors)

As an example, I give bellow a screenshot with my first payment received from DonkeyMails.com. It is a screenshot from my Paypal account.

When posting a payment proof, make sure that you hide the transaction ID and your email address

In order to obtain a payment proof, just log into your Paypal account, use a printscreen tool (or press PrtSc key) and then edit it with an image editor. In Zorin OS, I use Screenshot app and Gimp.

Additionally, for a plus of credibility, you can add a screenshot from your email account (the one you use it in connection with Paypal, to receive your money). Again, you have to make sure you erase all the sensible data.

When posting a capture from your Paypal email, erase your transaction ID

In short, I think the rule would sound like this: when you are not sure if strange eyes should see that information, it's better to be cautious and erase it.

Can I create a new Paypal account if I have completely no access to the old one?

 The text below is a copy/paste from my question I have posted on Superuser website. I choose co copy it here, despite the well-known Google allergy to doubled texts, because I find it easier than to write again from the scratch the entire story.

Till the time I write this post, I still don't have no good answer, but there is still time.

***

I need an advice in a very serious matter which seems without solution. In short, many years ago I have created a Paypal account by using an email address with @activist.cc domain.

According to a fellow user here of Superuser, the @activist.cc domain used to be owned by www.CommunityMail.net, an ecologist wannabe email provider. But, seems to me that this free email service was disconnected and CommunityMail.net just vanished in the air along with my precious mail. So, I cannot gain access to my PayPal account because, if I choose the "Password forgotten" link, they send a new password to my @activist.cc email address.

On the other hand, in 2011, after traversing a very long and difficult time, I have also lost my old phone number due to my inability to pay it at that time. Now I have a new phone number, but, obviously, it is useless for me in recuperating my Paypal account, because, they will try to verify my account trough my old and now invalid phone number.

So, as you can see, I am stuck in a vicious circle. My sole solution would be, maybe, to try to contact Paypal customer service and to try to verify my account trough my physical address and snail mail which did not changed since the moment of the creation of my Paypal account. Even so, I remember that the postal codes are changed now and they are different from the postal code it was used at the time when I have created the Paypal account.

But, this last solution could last too long and they might consider it unsure from the security point of view. In that case, could I create a whole new Paypal account using my current data?

I know that Paypal doesn't allow this and that is why I have delayed taking any measure in this direction till now. But now I cannot delay this no more. I wont to restart my activity as freelancer and I desperately need an active Paypal account in order to be payed by my partners and employers. And I cannot present in front of them with such lousy excuses as this one related to Paypal. After all, I pretend to be a good PC user. If I cannot solve my Paypal account problem I might look unprofessional although I am just the victim of certain unfortunate circumstances.

But, beyond my pride is my need. I just need a Paypal account, and I am willing to create a new one if I can, but I must know if this is a safe thing to do and I will not have any bad surprises in the future.

Thank you in advance for your help!

***

Let's hope that I will find a way to solve the dilemma.