paypal and fraudulent e-mail warnings - a reminder!

[Rick Doyle]

hi,

i know a lot of woodworkers also have paypal accounts for purchasing online so i just thought i'd pass along this reminder to beware of fraudulent emails purporting to be from paypal - they may not be!

earlier today, i received an email complete with Paypal headings and everything telling me that unusual activity had been noticed on my account and i should verify it. there was a hyperlink there and without thinking much about it(i do know better!) i clicked it and it took me to another paypal looking site where they asked for my visa number etc., i entered it and then saw they wanted my atm pin number - what???

at this point i knew something was wrong so i cancelled everything and signed into paypal normally and changed my password. just in case, i called my bank and also had my visa card changed immediately - so, no damage done.

i called paypal and they confirmed it was a scam. they reminded me not to respond to anything from paypal unless it contains your actual name. even then, sign-in to paypal normally and get the required information.

apparently, there are a lot of these 'phishing' expeditions going around right now.

[Tim Morton]

I got the same email a couple weeks ago, so I logged into payal(rather than clicking on the link) and saw that I had no unussual activity, but I changed my password anyway. I also got a call from Patal last weekend just after I used my paypal acount for a purchase...seemed odd. But the number checked out to actually be paypal.

[Rick Doyle]

I got the same email a couple weeks ago, so I logged into payal(rather than clicking on the link) and saw that I had no unussual activity, but I changed my password anyway. ....

hi tim,

i wish i had been as aware as you were and not clicked on the link - it would have saved me some unnecessary hassle. i hadn't received anything like that for quite a while and just didn't pay enough attention to it - i was in kind of a hurry while doing something else. i'm glad they actually asked for my atm pin number though - that was like getting hit across the head by a 2 x 4 - that got my attention right away.

anyway, no harm done. my accounts are all o.k. and i'm getting a new visa card sent to me. when i get that, i'm also going to cancel my existing paypal account and setup a new one just to be competely safe.

[Larry James]

Ditto - Payal scam. This one reads like English is 2nd language. PayPal confirmed it is a scam, or phishing (fishing) - falsely claiming to be an legitimate request in an attempt to scam the user into giving private information that will be used for identity theft

I found the Email in my junk mail, I haven't used PayPal in over 3 years. Makes you wonder How they get mailing lists. I quit PayPal because of security risks and other problems.

More info at PayPal site:
http://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=p/gen/fraud-prevention-outside
I made the attachment a JPG image, no danger. Click to enlarge.
37718

[Andy Hoyt]

I got the same email a couple weeks ago, so I logged into payal(rather than clicking on the link) and saw that I had no unussual activity, but I changed my password anyway. I also got a call from Patal last weekend just after I used my paypal acount for a purchase...seemed odd. But the number checked out to actually be paypal.

Tim - PayPal will call anytime the see usage outside your account's normal activity pattern. Even when the money is coming to you.

[Dave Carey]

I was getting so many of these scam messages (two or three a day) that I cancelled my Paypal account. Messages stopped immediately. My purchasing hasn't slowed - just use personal checks or credit cards depending on who the vender is and haven't had a problem. My efforts to contact Paypal to discuss their security went unanswered. I think they're hiding and hoping the problem goes away.

[Steve Clardy]

Paypal scam emails prrety well quit coming after I changed my email address about three months ago. No junk emails, etc.
Then last week I got the usual paypal scam letter.
How they retreive the accounts, addresses, I would like to know.
I always send them to spoof@paypal.com

[Art Mulder]

hi,
without thinking much about it(i do know better!) i clicked it and it took me to another paypal looking site

I'm a real "old-school" computer user. I use a "plain text" email client. Every now and then I think about switching to a more modern/visual client, due to all the HTML email flying around. Then I see stuff like this and I'm glad that I don't.

Of course, it helps that I don't deal with Paypal, so I just delete all such email that slinks past my ISP's filters. Chase Manhatten Bank seems to be another current name being used by these fraudsters. Not to mention the other old standbyes (like misspelling "viagra". Sheesh.)

But a bit of advice for you folks... if you receive an email and aren't sure... find and click the "view source" button, wherever it is in your mail client. Now go find that "paypal link" in the body of the email and check it out, and odds are that it goes to somewher that is NOT ...something.paypal.com

[Dennis Peacock]

I just don't pay any attention to any of those types of emails. Delete and don't care to read them. If there's problems with my account? I'm sure that I will know about it. I have been a victim of ID theft and had to fight my way through to prove I wasn't Russian and that I hadn't recently visited Russia.

Does this here boy "sound" like he's frum Russia? ;)

[Rick Doyle]

Does this here boy "sound" like he's frum Russia? ;)

i don't know dennis, 'peacocks' do have a bit of red in their feathers!:D

[Steve Clardy]

I just don't pay any attention to any of those types of emails. Delete and don't care to read them. If there's problems with my account? I'm sure that I will know about it. I have been a victim of ID theft and had to fight my way through to prove I wasn't Russian and that I hadn't recently visited Russia.

Does this here boy "sound" like he's frum Russia? ;)



A Russian Arkie:eek: :confused: :confused: :D

[Jack Ferrell]

I got one a few days ago which had my name in the email. Paypal's fraud alert page states that these emails don't usually have your name just something like 'Dear Paypal Member' etc. I hovered my mouse over the link in the email (without clicking it) and the addy that showed for the link was similar to Paypal but didn't have the https, just had http. Sent it to Paypal and it was a scam.

[Frank Fusco]

Don't blame Pay Pal for the scams of others. If you need to see anything regarding your PP account,or their latest new, just go to the site and enter your password protected account.
If I get an e-mail from any entity like PP (eBay, my bank, anything really) I delete without opening. Some contain cookies or other bad computer vermin and by opening you have confirmed to the sender that your e-mail address is valid. He then adds your address to a list he sells to other scammer/spammers. If in doubt - delete.

[Dave Fifield]

If you receive a "new" spoof email from a scammer - one where the links are still alive - PayPal appreciate it if you forward the email (intact) to spoof@paypal.com. You will receive an automated email reply reminding you of the dangers of phishing expeditions etc. - read and delete, and then relax in the sure knowledge that PayPal's legal/technical whizz kids will have that scammer shut down real fast.

Ditto for scammy eBay emails - forward live ones to spoof@ebay.com

Cheers,
Dave Fifield

[Bill Lewis]

Awhile back I got one and forwarded it to spoof@paypal.com and I got an actual reply from them. I got the initial automated reply, then later another email comfirming that it was a phishing scam. Since changing isp's I no longer get the paypal scams. About the only spam that slips through is the Canadian Pharmacy stuff. I forward all that gets by to the "missed-spam@" address for my isp.

[andy Needles]

I get about two to three of these requests a day. They come from paypal, banks, credit unions. Yikes. I usually delete them without ceremony, but if I go to my account, I ALWAYS go to their website on my own, and open up a new browser window whenever I want to contact them.