Where To Send PayPal Scams
When you receive an e-mail supposedly from Paypal like this, send it to spoof@paypal.com. This is a pretty good one as they included the PayPal logo and even have some links that might go to PayPal. Note that the "Unlock Your Account" link does not go to PayPal:
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8:19 AM (7 hours ago)
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You account has been temporarily Iimited if you want unlock it please check it from here Unlock Your Account
PayPal | |
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Please do not reply to this email
because we are not monitoring this inbox. To get in touch with us, log
in to your account and click
"Contact Us" at the bottom of any page. Copyright © 2012 PayPal Inc. All rights reserved. Consumer advisory: PayPal Pte Ltd, the Holder of the PayPal™ payment service stored value facility, does not require the approval of the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Consumers (users) are advised to read the terms and conditions carefully. |
You should end up receiving an e-mail back like this telling you that it was, indeed, a phishing e-mail. I've only had one come back saying it was a real PayPal e-mail:
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10:41 AM (4 hours ago)
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Thanks for forwarding that suspicious-looking email. You're right - it
was a phishing attempt, and we're working on stopping the fraud. By
reporting the problem, you've made a difference!
Identity thieves try to trick you into revealing your password or other
personal information through phishing emails and fake websites. To learn
more about online safety, click "Security Center" on any PayPal webpage.
Every email counts. When you forward suspicious-looking emails to
spoof@paypal.com, you help keep yourself and others safe from identity
theft.
Your account security is very important to us, so we appreciate your
extra effort.
Thanks,
PayPal
This email is sent to you by the contracting entity to your User
Agreement, either PayPal Ince, PayPal Pte. Ltd or PayPal (Europe) S.à
r.l. & Cie, S.C.A. Société en Commandite par Actions, Registered Office:
5th Floor 22-24 Boulevard Royal L-2449, Luxembourg RCS Luxembourg B 118
349.
posted by Fred Mangels @ 3:36 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
It's funny because PayPal is notorious for locking peoples' accounts when it suspects suspicious behavior. They locked my nonprofit's account shortly after I created it... even though I had called them and told them what I was going to be doing and they said fine -- no problem -- but then locked it anyway a day later. And so I e-mailed them certain legal documents and they unlocked it, then a few weeks later they locked it again, and quite disturbingly, all online record of my past interaction with them was lost, so I e-mailed my prior correspondence to them and they unlocked it again.
So, it's funny that someone has devised a scam specifically targeting people who have experienced a lockout.
You can bet the scammers have just about every angle covered. I don't know if they had prior knowledge of a victim I know about, but they got her good:
A gal on one of the sweepstakes web sites I'm a member of posted a "win" on the site's Winner's List forum where people announce sweepstakes wins. She wrote she'd received an e-mail advising her she'd won a drawing for some incense and that shipping for the prize cost $8.50 that had been charged to her PayPal account.
If she didn't want to pay shipping- and thus forfeit the prize- she simply had to contact PayPal with the link they provided, and cancel the charge.
Anybody see anything wrong with that? Nobody can just charge stuff to your PayPal account unless you've made arrangements to do so. Even then, they can only Request Payment. Also, you never pay shipping on prizes. It's just not done that way. If you win a prize, they pay shipping.
She got scammed. The link they provided was to a spoof site set up to look like PayPal. Once she entered her username and password, they had it, could access her PayPal account and send her money wherever they wanted to.
I immediately replied that she'd been scammed and should try and reset her PayPal password immediately. A day or so later another guy replied and said it was a phishing e-mail and she should reset her password.
Never heard from her again, and she used to post stuff in the forums regularly. I'm assuming she did get hit for some money and gave up with sweepstakes as a result.
No real way of knowing if the scammers had prior info on her, or they just throw out e-mails like that and hope to get lucky.
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