Scam messages from Pay Pal?
 

I know a lot of people here use Pay Pal. Have any of you received messages seemingly from them (very official with the Pay Pal logo and trademark) asking you to click onto their website and double check your personal file or your account will be suspended? I did and thought if was a fraud, but when I got a second one, I forwarded it to [email protected] and they responded that YES it is a fraud! I've had others from other places and they usually don't even look real -- but this one looks quite authentic.

Thanks for the heads-up. I got that message too and even clicked on the link but it went nowhere. I thought it was real because it looks very official.

I got a couple of those notices a few months ago and just ignored them.

Anyone can copy a graphic like a logo. Never, EVER click on a link in an e-mail.

I got two messages from Pay Pal, and deleted both. I would caution anyone on any site that asks for pin numbers, acct numbers, etc. over the web.

There was a recent scam concerning Navy Federal Credit Union asking for similar information. The site was a clone and a fraud of the authentic site.

<b>Never give your pin number, password, or account number over the internet when someone asks for it to be provided direct. Authentic sites will never ask you to provide this information.<b> ((b))

</b></b>

I answered your post over on teh Europe board.

I get those all the time and would NEVER open one.

It just doesn't make any sense for PayPal to ask for an update via e-mail. If there was a problem w/ your account it would show up when you were actually using them and then you would access your profile from w/i their transaction screens.

Just never occured to me to even open an unsolicited e-mail from PayPal.

I get quite a few of these bogus messages from &quot;pay pal&quot; as well as &quot;ebay&quot;--two this week alone. Depending on the &quot;origination&quot; I send every one of them to either [email protected] or [email protected] and we've always received confirmation that they are indeed bogus.

Actually, we received an e-mail from PayPal saying the following:

&quot;Protect yourself from fraudulent emails and fake websites. This type of fraud is commonly referred to as &quot;spoof&quot; or &quot;phishing.&quot;

Thanks for the heads-up, Patrick.

I've gotten these fake messages in the past, as well. Forwarded them to [email protected] and received the acknowledgement that they were fake.

However, about a week ago, I received one that looked pretty bad. Bad grammar and punctuation, and they wanted me to update some credit-card info. I forwarded it to spoof@PP, and got an answer back that it was a legitimate message. That I should to to PP, log in, and check the info. I did, there was an expiring CC, and I took care of it.

I didn't log in through the email message, nor would I. However, even if the message looks ignorant, it may be, indeed, a valid communication from PayPal.

If you have ever called pay pay and have been on hold they will tell you that they never ever send you e mails asking you for this info....it is called phishing (pronounced fishing). It happens all the time, most don't bite but some do hence the word..

Don't even open them just delete it.

I just recently began using Paypal about 4 months ago - and in the last couple of months I have been receiving about 3 of these spoof emails each week. The subject line either says that a new email has been added to my account, or that I requested a password change.

Being relatively unfamiliar with Paypal procedure, the first email I received I clicked on the link (and it looked authentic), but pretty quickly became aware it was a spoof when it asked for my cc# information.

So now I just delete them.

I think one of the reasons I started to question this one was that I have only used PayPal once -- over a year ago. I get similar emails (often bad spelling and my favorite comment &quot;in a systematical checking of our records. . .&quot; from credit card companies, Earthlink (my internet provider), banks, etc., I'm not sure why this one seemed more likely to be a possible real one -- maybe the fact that it introduced itself by mentioning the rampant used of credit card fraud and that in an effort to protect from that fraud. . .&quot; Yea, right. Never fear, I didn't open it.

And meanwhile that idea that someone clicked on the link and nothing happened, I once read that when that happens you have possibly opened your computer to them -- it just seems as if nothing has happened. Not sure about that one though.

I got one just minutes after I officially signed up for PayPal. It wanted to verify all of my financial information. It was a fake. Asking for my PIN was the giveaway.

The eBay fakes are the most believable looking of all. I have received over 100 of them which I verified at [email protected].

I am an active user of PayPal and eBay, and I get these &quot;spoof&quot; and &quot;phishing&quot; messages all the time. But I get just as many at my e-mail addresses that are NOT linked to eBay or PP as those that are!

My husband just got one at his email address, although we are registered for PayPal at my email address - never his. It looked so official that he at first assumed that somehow my brother, a frequent ebay user, was involved.

I will show him these posts and maybe he will reconsider being mad at my brother this time.

Well, if it IS your brother who's doing this, then we're ALL mad at him! ;-)

Anon- you had me laughing into my AM coffee with that one.

I've always thought that we are supposed to report these phishing emails so that the company being spoofed has the opportunity to build a fraud case against the phisher.

Am I mistaken?

Jimmyk: If you get a phishing email here and there, then, yes, forward it to [email protected]. I did that for the first 3 or so. Then I was getting 10 a day, so it's pointless to forward them all to Paypal. They don't need all of them to build a case, nor would they possibly go through all of that. So don't waste too much of your time on forwarding them, unless you really feel compelled.

If they are trying to prosecute the phishers, they likely can make their case without everyone forwarding every phished email. They seize computers and servers in those actions, so they have pretty good information - they don't solely rely on the cases that individual users report.

Thanks for your response, kgh. I've always thought the emails from Gabon offering me the opportunity to share in a multi-millions dollar payout were amusing; but getting email from phishers that correctly identifies my relationship with a specific bank or store or on-line merchant REALLY bothers me.