PAYPAL PHISHING SCAM

[BarbaraC Profile Private messageWebsite]

Given that a lot of people here have PayPal accounts, you should be alerted to the possibility of receiving an email that claims there's been suspicious activity in your account. Do NOT click any of the links in it!

The mail looks totally legitimate. The key, however, is that you aren't addressed with your first and last name, which PayPal always does.

I contacted PayPal, and they got back to me right away, asking me to forward the mail to them. If you receive something suspicious like I did, forward it to spoof@paypal.com because the more of these they see, the more likely they'll be able to drill down through it to find the criminal.

Barbara

[cherub Profile Private messageWebsite]

I have already received two such emails about half a year ago.
It seems that it's a rather old scam, and if you google it, you'll find all the answers.

The only recent email that I've received from PayPal was, unfortunately, quite genuine.
They were informing me of new and higher exchange rates
I don't know if you also received such an email or if it's something reserved only for international vendors.

And, speaking of phishing scams:
Yesterday I received an email that seemed to have been sent by a customer of mine, who is also a member of this forum. I really hope that she is reading these lines.
This email asked me to download a certain document that she has supposedly uploaded to "the google cloud drive".
The link that was provided, led to a page that had nothing to do with Google Drive, and asked to log in using my password. That page provided log-in links for all the major email clients: gmail, yahoo mail, aol mail and so on.
I've tried to contact the person, using her other email address that I have, but she never answered me.
So, if this lady is also a customer of yours, don't follow that link, and don't be tempted into trying to get that document.

[im42n8 Profile Private messageWebsite]

Yeah, I've received a couple of these too a few months ago. The links are NOT paypal links ... they look quite bit different underneath than what they appear to be on-screen. Needless to say, they went into the trash immediately. I don't remember exactly what the content was of these emails but, I also didn't pay them much mind either. Just verified what the links were and sent them where they belonged... irritating, that's for sure.

Dale

[BarbaraC Profile Private messageWebsite]

Yes, I know it's been around for a bit, but it's apparently still being sent out. It's my first for this particular one, though there have been others much less well composed. This one raised my hackles because of how, on the surface, it looks truly legitimate, which means it could very easily fool newcomers to PayPal.

I receive bad email every once in a while from customers whose computers have been compromised, one rather recently, as a matter of fact, but so far they've been lucky in that I was able to get hold of them. If I couldn't, I'd suspect they ended up so compromised that everything crashed. It kind of solves the problem, but in a very unfortunate way.

Barbara

[im42n8 Profile Private messageWebsite]

Heck, I keep finding out that my bank account has been frozen ... at a bank I've never heard of or or at a bank I have no account with. I think that's what this PayPal thing was: my account had been limited or frozen ... or I needed to re-verify information. The fact that one of them asked for my paypal password, my mom's maiden name, and my credit card number was another clue.

Yes, it's been around for awhile but, it's just a variation on a theme. I don't need someone shanghaiing my computer or emptying my bank account, or running a huge tab up on my credit card ... among other things.

Dale

[BarbaraC Profile Private messageWebsite]

The good thing is that all banking institutions, including credit card companies, are very careful to never, not ever, ask for any information whatsoever unless a client is sitting face-to-face with them in a room. It's the one rule everyone should be aware of, but unfortunately, not everyone is, and that's what keeps the crooks happy and busy. Knowing how to keep myself safe doesn't help the next person, though, and this is why my own rule is to, whenever possible, alert the targeted company to scamming/phishing emails I get. It means they can, at the very least, alert their customers (some do, some don't), and it also means that, if they've had quite enough of all of it, they might actively go after the bad guys. My take on it with PayPal is that they're likely to do so. The credit card companies focus right in on stolen account numbers. Over the years, I've had it happen twice, and though I never got the full details, in both instances, the thieves were arrested and prosecuted.

Barbara

[osharr Profile Private message]

I thought that I read a while ago that E-bay had purchased Paypal . Then E-bay security was compromised , if I remember right. Hope no cross compromising took place.

[BarbaraC Profile Private messageWebsite]

eBay bought PayPal back in 2002 (just checked), but they're slightly separated in business because what each does is rather different.

Barbara

[tdew Profile Private message]

The recommendation about a week or more ago when ebay ran into problems was to change not only your ebay password but also your paypal one. That was not a hoax.

[BarbaraC Profile Private messageWebsite]

The recommendation about a week or more ago when ebay ran into problems was to change not only your ebay password but also your paypal one. That was not a hoax.

You're right, and I totally forgot to do it!

[gpsmikey Profile Private message]

The one I get very tired of is the one where I keep getting the call from "Rachel" or another one telling me there is not currently a problem with my credit card account, but this is my last call and I need to talk to them. I REALLY wish one of these days is was their last call. On the other hand, I have played with them a bit a couple of times - I go ahead and punch the number to connect to their "representative" who then asks who they are talking to. I tell them that they already have that because they just called me and said there was no problem with my account, so the MUST know who they called right ? I have gone around that loop 4 or 5 times before before they get pissed and hang up on me

The other one I have been getting recently is an email that claims to be from someone I know on FaceBook (Shaz was the latest) with a link I am supposed to click. First clue - look at the from line in the email - it claims to be from one person, but has an return address of someone entirely different. Don't click the link !! (I was half asleep this morning and clicked the one from "Shaz" this morning and all the malware alerts went off. OK, now I'm awake !!

mikey

[BarbaraC Profile Private messageWebsite]

What we need is a coder way more clever who can create a responding email for us to use, one that vaporizes the ugly little trolls who live under the bridge--a very slow vaporization in which they're aware of every microsecond of the process. Such are the things that dreams are made of.

Barbara

[BarbaraC Profile Private messageWebsite]

Just got another one, and this is an incredibly dangerous one! It looks so legitimate that I fear people all over the place are going to fall for it.

It looks like the standard notification that you've made a purchase, only it's to a company or person you know you've bought nothing from. The usual transaction link is there to click to take a look at the transaction in your account. DON'T CLICK IT!

Besides the fact I never bought anything from "Sundaram Constructions Ltd", I noticed that "Resolution Center" at the bottom of the email was "Resolution Centre," which no one in the U.S. would see. I then right clicked the mail to look at properties and saw that the return path was nimeshop @ server.nimeshop.com (spaces to keep it from being clickable).

Please be very, very careful because the the major hack at eBay/PayPal has garnered the criminals a huge number of email addresses, and yours could very easily be one of them.

Barbara

[cherub Profile Private messageWebsite]

Just got another one, and this is an incredibly dangerous one! It looks so legitimate that I fear people all over the place are going to fall for it.Barbara

Barbara,
Please don't take this the wrong way, but such messages are usually blocked by spam filters.
If you use a web based mail, such as gmail or yahoo mail, the blocking is done automatically, and nobody even sees such messages.
If you use a personal email, given by your ISP, then you should consider adding a spam filter too.

Just on a side note, after your first post about the false message from the service of PayPal, I've also found a similar email, but this time, clever Google placed it in the spam/junk box of my gmail account.

[BarbaraC Profile Private messageWebsite]

Mona, I recognize such stuff and have never fallen for it, but my point here is to warn others. Spam filters have been known to give a false sense of security, and though I use one, I have it set to learn from me. Additionally, when I see dangerous stuff such as the two I've reported here, I can also forward it to the company so they can take it from there.

Once upon a time, I used a program called MailWasher, which I loved because it would go out to the server and pick up the sender and subject of mail sitting there, not downloading it until I approved. If there was obvious spam, I could mark it to be bounced, either for that single time or every time the sender showed up. I spent several months with it, and then eventually all spam stopped. The lack of spam lasted for several years. Bouncing mail gave such a wonderful feeling.

Barbara