The other day I received a new Pay Pal debit card in the mail and was surprised, as my old card was not set to expire for another 2 years. I got an e-mail this morning reminding me to activate it and since I no longer use links in e-mails to respond to situations like this (even though it appeared to be "official" from Pay Pal) I called them and was told that yes, they are sending out new cards. She asked me to verify the last 4 numbers on the card and verified it was sent from them. The new cards have a micro chip for extra security and the account number is on the back of the card "so it's easier to shield from prying eyes". The card also has a new account number.
So, it seems this is Pay Pal's way of trying to deal with some of the fraudulent transactions taking place. The lady I spoke to asked me several security questions and activated the card for me so I wouldn't have to do it online. I mentioned fraud was a big topic of discussion on the site forums but that I hadn't seen any mention of new cards being issued. She told me that everyone who presently has a card will get a new one, but that they can only send out so many at one time.
I'm happy to see that they are taking some kind of action to protect us