Spoof Paypal E-mail Scam

[marvel]

Hi everyone, I thought I''d just share an experience I had this week to hopefully prevent someone else from being scammed.

I received and e-mail from Paypal saying that my account had limited access and to click on the resolution center link to enable my access. Everything was very official/PAYPAL looking. I followed the link, and could have swore I was in PAYPAL, even though I had a gut feeling that something was odd. The next day my bank called and said I was a victim of identity theft

. Someone had been making charges with my debt card in Bocaraton. Luckily, the bank caught it and called me!

I''ve heard of these scams before...I''m very computer savy...I work in IT and I still got scammed!

I just wanted to bring this to your attention so you don''t do what I did. If you get any e-mails from PAYPAL, call them to verify. Or, send the e-mail directly to [email protected]. They will tell you if it is legitimate, or not.

 

[sevens one]

OMG that''s awful.

I got the same thing and didn''t do anything. I wasn''t sure what it was.
I told hubby about the email and he said "DON''T OPEN IT"
thank goodness he was right.

Thanks for sharing your experience.
Good thing the bank caught it. Geez darn scam artists.

 

[FireGoddess]

YES - FYI, I get a lot of spoof emails claiming to be ebay and paypal. Don''t open these!!!!!!!! They are all hackers trying to get access to your accounts.

Paypal and Ebay will never contact you directing you to log in to your account!

 

[mrssalvo]

Date: 1/6/2006 5:24:40 PM
Author: FireGoddess
YES - FYI, I get a lot of spoof emails claiming to be ebay and paypal. Don''t open these!!!!!!!! They are all hackers trying to get access to your accounts.


Paypal and Ebay will never contact you directing you to log in to your account!

very true. both will email you to open a new window and log in if need be but never to click on a link in an email. I get them all the time too and just forward to the spoof guys. my dad had his paypal account broken into and it turned out to be a real mess. his back refunded all the stolen money but he''s since changed his system and keeps a low balance credit card attached to paypal with no attachments to his real banking. I told him that another good reason to have a macintoch

 

[VegasAngel]

Sorry to hear about that

Those get sent out all the time. Just delete them right away! If you get an email from a company you deal with wanting you to confirm/update your information NEVER click on the link, always go to the website directly.

 

[flopkins]

I get those ALL the time. I just delete delete delete. Sometimes I fwd them to spoof@paypal or [email protected]

If you're ever suspicious, login directly from www.paypal.com or whatever the company's website is, not from a link, and check if you account has any messages. Ebay and Paypal both have systems now where any announcements they have will be duplicated on your account mail when you login, so you should double check that first.


ETA: I would call one of the credit report agencies and have them put an 'alert' on your credit report. It means that CC companies can't automatically approve you for any new CC for up to a year, I think. I forget the details but I did this before.

 

[Patty]

I got one from eBay and I opened it. I DID click on the link and entered my name and password. When it asked for "verification" of my credit card info, I deleted it. I then went to the real eBay (used the link in my favorites) and changed my password. So far I have not had a problem.

 

[Blue824]

I actually this past week had one from Amazon.com. It looked totally official and my spam filter gets all of the paypal & ebay things and I had recently had issues with an Amazon order so I opened it and clicked on everything and as soon as it asked me to fill in my password...an AOL window popped up informing me that it was a "phishing" email and a total scam.

I was sort of taken aback too because I am usually so wise to all of the junk email but they almost got me that time! Seriousy, if AOL hadn''t stopped me they probably would''ve and that would''ve been a horrible way to start off the new year!

 

[aljdewey]

Date: 1/6/2006 6:37:39 PM
Author: Patty
I got one from eBay and I opened it. I DID click on the link and entered my name and password. When it asked for ''verification'' of my credit card info, I deleted it. I then went to the real eBay (used the link in my favorites) and changed my password. So far I have not had a problem.

This happened EXACTLY to my coworker today, too. She clicked the link, and entered her name/password. They she realized it was hokey, and she changed her password on PayPal.

Hope that works.

 

[princessv]

I get them all the time too. Usually if you click on the link and it opens a new window, look at the web address at the top and it''ll say http://www.(scamcompany''sname).com:www.ebay.com/index.html or something fishy like that. Hope this helps too!

 

[stretch4]

FYI: With Paypal, any real email communications will say "Dear First Name Last Name." That is the first BIG clue that something is real/fake.

I believe on the Paypal website there is information on how to determine if an email is fake also. Best bet is to never click on the link and go to paypal.com yourself and log in.

 

[elepri]

I''ve gotten the same email twice! But there was a hotmail message in my message that hotmail message that the address did not appear to be legit. I also knew that paypal would address you by your name and never ask you for account info. I reported it as spam and never heard from them again. Glad your bank caught it quickly!

 

[pearcrazy]

We were phished by the same phony emails from Ebay and Paypal. I forwarded it to [email protected] or [email protected] The two most important pieces of advice the ebay gave me is that they will NEVER address you as "Dear Ebay Member" and second, any communication of that nature will also be in your mailbox on Ebay. Go to Ebay first and check your mailbox to see if you have the same email in it. If you do then you can reply directly from that mailbox.

 

[MiniMouse]

I''ve also had problems with Paypal and e-bay, but now delete the messages from my e-mail and just check out for messages in my Paypal and eBay account.

One really serious problem I had was when I was on vacation in the States in July. Fortunately during the trip I managed to check my e-mail and noticed copies of about 15 messages in a 3 day period sent to unsuccessful bidders, supposedly sent from me, under my eBay ID, from within eBay. The e-mails had gone to unsuccessful bidders, announcing that due to an unsuccessful winning bid, the item had become available again and it was basically their lucky day if they wanted to buy it! The messages were requesting the bidder to reply to a different e-mail address and not mine, if they were still interested in purchasing the item (which was always a high value item such as a snowmobile or jetski).

Thankfully, when you send a message to a bidder from within eBay, it sends a copy to the sender''s e-mail, which in effect was mine, so this alerted me to the misuse of my account. I forwarded all these messages to eBay immediately at [email protected] and asked them to urgently look into the situation (they didn''t reply). I then had a legitimate e-mail from eBay saying they were freezing my account. I eventually got hold of a rep from eBay via a live chat link in eBay and he reinstated my account after changing my password again, but he couldn''t tell me about the investigation that was being carried out. I seriously to this day do not know how that person managed to access my account, since I have never acknowledged or replied to any spoof e-mails from eBay, let alone entered any ID or passwords. I delete them straight away.

If anyone notices weird activity on their eBay or Paypal account, they should change their password first and then contact eBay or Paypal. It''s a horrible experience.

 

[perry]

I have so far managed to avoid problems - but there are many such spoofs out there.

One thing though that bothers me about paypal - is their desire for you to link your account to your checking account to "Verify" your account (to provide "More Security, and Safer Transactions" . If someone did get in - they could drain you dry with such a link (and often checking accounts are linked to savings accounts for overdraft protection). If someone just got your checking number - and figured out where you bank they might be able to directly access your account via other means (especially if you have electronic banking set up). Of course paypal claims that they will "protect" your financial information - yet someday I am sure they will be hacked: Then what...

I do not see the "advantage" at all of such linkage (or "Verification"). Unfortunately, it is not obvious at all for many when they sign onto paypal on how to close the "link" screan and get to there account.

As long as paypal is only linked to my credit card - I am not liable for any fraud charges.

As long as paypal does not have my checking account - I don''t have to worry about them "protecting" it at all. How is it possible to increase your security by providing another party such information? Real security is based on restriting information so fewer people (or organizations) can''t "make a mistake."

So think twice about such a linkage - and perhaps you might want to remove it if you have done so.

Perry

 

[mrssalvo]

Perry,
that is exactly what happened to my dad. Fortuately he had a seperate bank account set up to his paypal than his real checking and savings info. I used to have my paypal linked to my checking and hubby had his linked to our savings. After my dad''s fiasco I went to a different bank, opening a small savings account and linked it to my paypal I move all $ out of those accounts quickly so the balance is always very low. if someone did break in they couldn''t get lunch at McDonalds

 

[perry]

So why link paypal to your bank account at all?

I am not going to say that I buy a lot that uses paypall. But I seem to be able to get what I want when I want it.

You can recieve up to $500 a month withoug linkage.

You can spend $10,000 withoug linkage (that apperently is a lifetime limit).

If I was running a business that needed it - I would have a separate business account.

Most things that I buy I charge directly to a credit card.

So what is the need to link paypal to your checking?

Paypal''s claim that the bank has to "verify" who you are more than the credit card companies is bogos. I can open a bank account anywhere I want to quite easily. The banks have never requested any information - what they want is cash and a SS number. That is essentially what the credit companies also want (although they will do a credit check on who you claim to be). I am sure I could easily set up another identiy rather quickly (legally called an "Alias"); and could use it for all kind of things that would be totally legal.

Perry

 

[mrssalvo]

I always thought, which may be incorrect, that the "verification" was to gain confidence from buyers. That it was important from a sellers perspective. I signed up years ago and just did what hubby told me to do. I didn''t pay a ton of attention to whether or not it was important.

 

[perry]

I''ve never had a problem using paypal even though I am not "Verified." I just bought two things from ebay in the last week. No problems. The guy got his money (and the shipping papers he sent indicated that paypal had paid him).

So now I get to pay off the credit card bill when it hits. No problem with that either.


Perry

 

[Mara]

I always get those emails, never click on them. Go directly into your Amazon or eBay or PayPal account and log in from the main page that you type in....esp when it is asking for password or ANY sensitive information.

Also another way to spot them typically is they always have spelling issues or template problems OR if all of that matches, you can just roll your mouse over any of the links and typically they have number urls like http://205.503.028.30 etc and a link from there...and typically those kinds of companies would not be sending an email from a different home url...unless they paid a third party company to do it for them like a mailing house, but even then the string would be more recognizable.

If you suspect the email is fake, but aren''t sure, email it to [email protected] or [email protected] (or even spam@ works for me) and they will typically respond within 30 minutes to say yes or no. I have NEVER had one sent back to me saying ''oh this is legit''..they are always fake.

I only ever click on ''advertisement'' emails where I go shopping on the site or something similar...and even then I watch the urls and everything pretty closely. But for the most part nothing is safer than typing in the url esp when it comes to an account or password etc.

Sorry to hear about what happened Marvel!

 

[fire&ice]

Date: 1/7/2006 11:07:48 AM
Author: mrssalvo
Perry,
that is exactly what happened to my dad. Fortuately he had a seperate bank account set up to his paypal than his real checking and savings info. I used to have my paypal linked to my checking and hubby had his linked to our savings. After my dad''s fiasco I went to a different bank, opening a small savings account and linked it to my paypal I move all $ out of those accounts quickly so the balance is always very low. if someone did break in they couldn''t get lunch at McDonalds

This is precisely what I did. And, when I pay, I always use the "alternative" payment & pay w/ my credit card. This account isn''t linked with ANY of my others.

If you trade a lot on paypal, you have to become "verified" with a bank account #. I resisted until finally I reached my limit (2k) and caved in the most careful way possible.

People are correct. BOTH ebay and paypal (paypal is a subsid of ebay) will use your full first and last name in their communications. Also, they will send a duplicate message to your "my ebay". And, they will never ask for your password.

I get tons of these & report them as "spam" - it filters quite a bit of them out.

Also, the sphish can come from something that looks like your credit card company. I was receiving a few from Citibank.

If it look suspicious - some are downright funny with TONS of mis-spellings & grammer problems - then it probably is.

 

[marvel]

Date: 1/7/2006 11:24:24 AM
Author: perry
So why link paypal to your bank account at all?

I am not going to say that I buy a lot that uses paypall. But I seem to be able to get what I want when I want it.

You can recieve up to $500 a month withoug linkage.

You can spend $10,000 withoug linkage (that apperently is a lifetime limit).

If I was running a business that needed it - I would have a separate business account.

Most things that I buy I charge directly to a credit card.

So what is the need to link paypal to your checking?

Paypal's claim that the bank has to 'verify' who you are more than the credit card companies is bogos. I can open a bank account anywhere I want to quite easily. The banks have never requested any information - what they want is cash and a SS number. That is essentially what the credit companies also want (although they will do a credit check on who you claim to be). I am sure I could easily set up another identiy rather quickly (legally called an 'Alias'); and could use it for all kind of things that would be totally legal.

Perry

It was my debt card. When they used my debt card number, the withdrawals came out of my bank account. My debt card also has a limit on the daily amount that can be used, so they weren't going to spend much in one day. I think more damage could have been done if they had a credit card number, rather then a debt card number.

Live and learn. The amount they used before they were caught wasn't much ($164), and the bank didn't charge me for it. I'm just going to consider myself "lucky" this time and be more cautious in the future.

 

[marvel]

Date: 1/7/2006 10:56:06 AM
Author: perry

So think twice about such a linkage - and perhaps you might want to remove it if you have done so.

Perry

I have removed ALL my information from paypal and contacted all the credit agency, so no one can open any cards with my ID. Obviously, my debit card was froze immediately. Hopefully, I''ve covered all my bases. If I''ve missed anything, please let me know.

 

[perry]

marvel:

Debit cards have their own benifits and problems.

The benifit is that if you don''t qualify for credit, or you shop in stores that do not accept credit cards (and we have some of those here) - then you need a debit card to do a certain amount of business. They also do not accumulate interest as what you buy gets subtracted from you checking account.

The disadvantages are that you must know how much you have in checking, and if someone gets ahold of the number and other information they can drain your checking account direct. The bank may or may not reimburse you for that.

Credit cards are easier to dispute charges with and get things corrected (been there a couple of times).

In the case of a debit card - you may need to have the link to paypal.

I do not have personal experience with them as I do not have one.

I also no longer have a TYME (cash withdrawl card - the TYME system in Wisconsin) either, and have not had one for perhaps 10 years. This has nothing to do with my bank ballance or my ability to properly use it. It has to do with how the cash cards developed and my exiting the system at a point. Originally, cash cards were seen as a huge benifit for banks and all transactions were free. This was because the banks could reduce the number of tellers required to service their customers (and they did - dramatically: Modern banks only have about 1/2 the number of tellers per customers). Then the banks realized that they could start charging fees in additon to saving money on teller saleries. There was a stage where every bank in my area charged fees for all cash card withdrawls (even at their own lobby machine). At that point I turned in the cards and went to generally weekly cash withdrawls for my routine spending money (I almost never carry my checkbook arround town - I just pay cash for routine stuff). After a year or so the banks then adopted the current system where you could get so many "free" withdrawls per month; but, I had already learned that I didn''t need a TYME card and could get along just fine without it. One less card (or cards) for me to carry. About every other year I seem to have something unusual come up where I need for extra cash when on the road (usually out of state) and do a cash advance on a credit card (either via CAsh machine or at a bank teller window).

Basically, for most local purchases I use cash (and I think nothing of carrying $500 into a store for a purchase). For distance purchases, or unexpected major items I use credit cards. For utilities and credit cards I pay by check (and normally pay off me current charges every month).

Of course, I am still paying off one major credit card debt on a steady basis (I''ve got about $11,000 left from my intial debt of about $45,000).

Perry

 

[pearcrazy]

"Basically, for most local purchases I use cash (and I think nothing of carrying $500 into a store for a purchase"

To me that is much more dangerous than having a debit card!! If it's lost or stolen you're out $500 bucks. This is a fairly anonymous forum , but I know personally I've seen your picture here on PS and you've given information about where you live. Now you've put it out on the web that you carry large amounts of cash around. I would be very careful if I were you.

As far as ATM cards go, most banks have now dropped the fees that used to be imposed for using them at a home bank. If yours hasn't then it's time to switch banks. Now---if you use the card at a different bank they'll be fees, but to me it offers more peace of mind to pay $1.50 per transaction to have the security of not having to carry around large amounts of cash when I travel.

 

[perry]

I do not normally have that kind of money. typically I have less than $100 (and by certain part of the week - usually much less than that). My point is that if I am planning to buy something - I normally get cash for things I plan on buying.

I have never been mugged - and do not worry about it (that would be caving into something that you really cannot control). Should I ever be - I will give them all the cash I have (it is what they want) - and know that it is a cheap price for escaping injury free.

From a money managment standpoint - their are huge advantages with the concept that you don''t buy anything that you can''t afford to pay for now. You should try it. I''ll bet it changes your shopping "habbits." I really am amazed at people charging a couple dollar item (and then paying interest on it for years).

As far as ATM cards. I guess I have learned to live without them - and don''t see the point in carrying them.


Perry

 

[Sunni79]

Hey! This just happened to me with Ebay!!! I was emailed saying that my bank account info needed to be updated. I clicked on the link and signed into "Ebay". Filled out info but didn''t hit submit because I got a funny feeling about it. It turned out to be a scam.

Even though I didn''t send bank numbers, I think the keystokes could have been recorded, I did open the page and put my password in. I had to call the bank and freeze my account (and open a new checking account to transfer the money to), change my Ebay, paypal and email passwords. What a headache!!! Thank God! I realized before it was too late and found that my bank account had been emptied! I can''t believe that nerve of some people! Why do people steal?

Why would someone try to steal what others work hard for?

I just don''t understand! I feel nervous about buying on Ebay now.

Sunny

 

[pearcrazy]

"From a money managment standpoint - their are huge advantages with the concept that you don't buy anything that you can't afford to pay for now. You should try it. I'll bet it changes your shopping "habbits." I really am amazed at people charging a couple dollar item (and then paying interest on it for years)"


I DON'T buy anything I can't pay for thank you very much and hauling around a pocket full of cash won't change my spending habits one bit! My credit cards are now and always have been paid in full every month. Other than a 15 year mortgage that is in year 8, and a loan on my husband's car that we will pay on for the next 18 months we pay no interest on outstanding debts. Thanks for the unsolicited advice on my credit cards, but I've never gotten myself into trouble over them and use them as "charge" rather than "credit" cards. I use my card everywhere, pay the bill in full at the end of the month, and accumulate airline miles that got me a free ticket to Hawaii last year. Larger purchases like my diamond upgrade last year get saved up for first, charged and then the bill paid at the end of the month. I think we're managing our money just fine, thanks.



.