I received this ‘phishing’ scam in my inbox this morning. It’s supposed to be from Paypal, and the ‘hook’ is that my account has been limited or suspended. When I looked at the email more closely, however, I noticed that:
- the sender was NOT from Paypal
- the email did NOT address me by name
- and the whole email was funneling me towards the big, blue link you can see below
Seems pretty obvious, right?
Actually, despite having seens hundreds of these scam emails in my time, I still felt a moment of fright when I read this one. Why? Because I use Paypal for most of my online purchases, so the threat of having that service removed hit me where I live.
Unfortunately, that moment of fright is exactly what makes phishing email scams work. The scammers send out millions of these emails at random in the hope that a few will reach people who actually use the service [like me]. Then there is a chance that some of those people will be fooled into clicking the link in the email.
But what happens next?
I haven’t done this personally, but from my research it appears that the link takes you to a website that is made to look exactly like the real thing. Once on the website, you are asked to login with your account ID and password. The fake login will fail, of course, but by then the scammers will have exactly what they want – the account information of another victim.
So never EVER follow a link from an email to a financial account, even if the email looks 100% genuine. Always navigate to the website manually – i.e. by typing in the address in the address bar of your browser or by clicking a ‘Favorite’ that you have set up for yourself. Do not give in to the kneejerk reaction triggered by fright.
I know I harp on about these email scams like a cracked gramophone record [anyone remember them?]
but there are new people coming online every day, and they are at risk from these scammers. Please spread the word when you can.
cheers
Meeks
June 28th, 2016 at 9:31 am
Thank you very much for this information. In short time we will see the scam also for german users. ;-/
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June 28th, 2016 at 9:55 am
Yes…it’s a global problem. 😦
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June 28th, 2016 at 9:30 am
Reblogged this on Die Erste Eslarner Zeitung – Aus und über Eslarn, sowie die bayerisch-tschechische Region!.
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June 28th, 2016 at 2:02 am
Reblogged this on Mysticalwriter and commented:
For those that use Pay pal! be very careful, here is an example of what could happen!!
Reblog
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June 26th, 2016 at 7:05 pm
Reblogged this on barclaydave and commented:
So true, a lot of newbies coming online are elderly, young and have not had access to these scams before. If we can prevent anyone from falling victim then our knowledge is shared and we can slow down the scammers. They won’t stop unless no one falls for their ruse.
Please leave comments against the original post, thank you.
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June 26th, 2016 at 9:08 pm
Very grateful, Dave and as you say, there are a lot of newbies coming along all the time who haven’t got a clue. 😦
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June 27th, 2016 at 3:29 pm
We have to reach out to them 😕
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June 27th, 2016 at 7:31 pm
We do. 🙂
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June 26th, 2016 at 7:00 am
Also… forward all scam emails from ‘Paypal’ to
spoof@paypal.com
so they can investigate, Paypal’s website tells you to so they can keep up to date with all paypal email scams. I always do 🙂
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June 26th, 2016 at 9:13 am
Good point Lisa. Unfortunately I deleted mine as soon as I’d taken the screenshot. I try and remember next time.
Just on that topic, I wish there were some central agency that handled all scams so we could send them to a one-stop-shop. Maybe one day. 🙂
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June 27th, 2016 at 3:32 am
I agree, a one-stop-shop would be much easier!
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June 27th, 2016 at 8:40 am
lol – we live in hope.
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June 26th, 2016 at 6:36 am
Reblogged this on Between the Beats and commented:
Scams are a huge problem. I imagine PayPal is one of the most popular pay sites online. Please read this and be wary of any e-mail that looks suspicious.
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June 26th, 2016 at 9:17 am
Thanks, Lizzi. Let’s hope no one gets caught. 😦
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June 26th, 2016 at 3:25 am
Thanks for the heads-up – I’ve shared it on Twitter. These scams are a pain, aren’t they? I get loads of them in my inbox and I always report them to Yahoo but I don’t think they take any notice. 😦
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June 26th, 2016 at 9:19 am
Hi Annabelle. I think life on the Wild Wild Webs is still very much buyer beware. Thanks for sharing this one as Paypal is used by so many people.
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June 26th, 2016 at 1:14 am
I’ve received a couple of these from PayPal and notified PayPal of the scam. They actually take action on these things. Also, another one to be wary of – Amazon with an “Order pending” or some other dubious pitch. Again, Amazon will notify you – your real name – and tell you what this issue is and not with some obscure “click here for more info.” I almost panicked and clicked then realized, I had no idea what order Amazon was discussing. The last time I received an issue from Amazon (late shipment), they showed me the item in question – this email scam did not. You’re right – always be wary and never click on an email link. Go directly to the site via a new browser window. Good article.
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June 26th, 2016 at 9:23 am
Hi Bob and thanks for commenting. That moment of panic you mentioned is exactly what I felt, /despite/ knowing better. That’s one reason I post about these scams – to reach those who don’t know and do panic.
Unfortunately, the scammers are becoming so professional they’re not as easy to pick as they used to be.
Fingers crossed we got through to at least a few people.:)
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June 25th, 2016 at 11:36 pm
Thanks for sharing.
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June 25th, 2016 at 11:42 pm
very welcome 🙂
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June 25th, 2016 at 10:54 pm
[…] Source: Paypal email #scam […]
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June 25th, 2016 at 10:52 pm
Reblogged this on Michaelphelps1's Blog and commented:
i HAVE RECEIVED THE SAME . . . OVER & OVER! AS WITH PayPal,
I ALWAYS CALL (REMEMBER THE OLD FASHIONED TELEPHONE WHERE PEOPLE ACTUALLY TALK TO EACH OTHER (NOT TEXTING). MY BANKERS KNOW ME & I CAN ALWAYS REACH MY BANKERS PERSONALLY BY PHONE). PayPal HAS A WAY TO INVESTIGATE (& HOPEFULLY STOP) THESE SCAMMERS. JUST FORWARD THE SUSPECT E-MAIL TO:
http://www.spoof@PayPal.com, THEN DELETE IT (BY PASSSING “tRASH”).
THANKS FOR POSTING, MEEKS.
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June 25th, 2016 at 11:30 pm
Yes, great points Michael. Safety is just a bit of commonsense away. Thanks for spreading the warning.
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June 25th, 2016 at 10:51 pm
Thanks for the Alerts. I Live in New York City so I subscribe to FTC (Federal Trade Commission) alerts and also get alerts from AARP (American Association of Retired Persons). Internet scams are worldwide problems.
Yes I do remember gramophones or rather my parents talking about them. My mother used to call record players Victrolas! Talk about showing my age!!
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June 25th, 2016 at 11:32 pm
-grin- I still have a couple of the breakable 78’s [?] under the house in a box. I expect an archeologist to dig them up one day. 😀
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June 25th, 2016 at 6:01 pm
Reblogged this on KATE JACK'S BLOG.
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June 25th, 2016 at 7:44 pm
Much appreciated!
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June 25th, 2016 at 5:10 pm
[…] Source: Paypal email #scam […]
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June 25th, 2016 at 4:38 pm
Reblogged this on Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog and commented:
Never EVER follow a link from an email to a financial account, even if the email looks 100% genuine…
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June 25th, 2016 at 7:45 pm
Thanks Chris, every person we can reach is one victim less.
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June 25th, 2016 at 7:49 pm
I hope so Meeks…
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June 25th, 2016 at 10:38 am
Yet another scam! Between the ROBO calls claiming to be from the Treasury Department, telling me that if I ignore the call I will be in violation of tax laws, the phishing expeditions in my email in-box and politics, I’m maxed out on scams and scammers!
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June 25th, 2016 at 3:40 pm
Ugh…you get phone scams as well? I haven’t had any of those yet. Major sympathy. 😦
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June 25th, 2016 at 8:37 am
These happen a LOT. Beware.
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June 25th, 2016 at 8:44 am
I’ve often wondered if the new[ish] mobile technology has the same scams. Hope not. 😦
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