Scam

[digger]

Got this in my e-mail today:

Dear PayPal customer # 00500524,

During our regularly scheduled account maintenance and verification procedures, we have detected a slight error in your billing information.

This might be due to either of the following reasons:

1. A recent change in your personal information ( i.e.change of address).
2. Submiting invalid information during the initial sign up process.
3. An inability to accurately verify your selected option of payment due to an internal error within our processors.

Please update and verify your information by clicking the link below:

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=p/ema/index-outside-SignIn?account+update-

If your account information is not updated within 48 hours then your account will be suspended.


Kenneth Pavet,

PayPal Account Services Dept .

I don't have a paypal account...
I would just like to remind everyone to be careful.
I know most of you are, but I can see people like my Mom and Dad getting sucked into this.
Really pisses me off.

 

[4u2nv]

should forward it to paypal. I think they have a report setup. Thanks for the headsup! My parents would so fall for it as well.

 

[SMaxxin]

Thanks for the heads up, might have saved someone a real heartache. A good tip is, never click links from emails, if there is a problem go directly to the site.

 

[jetmechG550]

Send the e-mail to [email protected]. They may not be able to do anything but they do try to track down the origin. Every little bit helps. Also people, remember that Paypal or eBay will always address you by name and never use a statement like "dear ___user" or customer.

 

[Candyman]

This comes up a lot and there are a few things to remember. Like jet said, if it's valid, they'll address you by name. Also, if you mouse over the URL, in most cases it will look nothing like the paypal URL. I get a lot, too. Most of the time they're from places I don't have accounts at. I laugh, but then I realize these guys send out millions of emails and if they hook just one or two people they've made a ton of cash.

 

[digger]

I sent it to Paypal. Thanks for the link.

That crap really ticks me off. We take it for granted that it is a scam. I could see someone putting all of their info out and getting in a bind because of it.

We need to watch out for our friends and family who might fall for something like this.

 

[NvNitro]

Send the e-mail to [email protected]. They may not be able to do anything but they do try to track down the origin. Every little bit helps. Also people, remember that Paypal or eBay will always address you by name and never use a statement like "dear ___user" or customer.

That is so correct Jet....You always have to look closely at how you are addressed, that is the key to weather it is from paypal or an unknown account. They get so many people like that. I was getting those all the time...finnaly I replied back saying " Nice try" and sent it to paypal, and have not gotten one back in a long time. If you are not sure...don't open it and send it to paypal for them to verify. They are pretty good in responce time. They will come back with a responce as to weather it is from them or an unknown sorce. They make it look so real..but look at how you get addressed. And if your not sure, send it to paypal before opening it. Save you a big headache down the road.

 

[jon2]

I got an email regarding people that got scammed. They aske you to update their system by wanting you to enter your log in info. Bunch of bastards. I never do that crap.Be careful people. Even if it looks legit report em to Paypal. If they are going to ask you to update it, do it when you log in to PAYPAL only. There should be no reason for you to do it any other way.

 

[Monkey Wrench]

I think the bigger tragedy to all of this is the loss in confidence in firms such as PayPal and eBay as a result of these phising attempts. Granted, eBay owns PayPal now, but my point is, people lose faith in these companies because some weasel outfit is using that company name to scam users. Even if news releases and web postings clearly indicate that someone USING the name "PayPal" for example is scamming, folks simply remember "PayPal" and figure it's not safe to transact business that way. These scammers play on people's ignorance or inability to understand a legitimate e-mail from a scammer. I mean, how many times have you heard, from friends, family, coworkers, TV news, radio, etc. that you should NEVER, EVER click the URL link in an e-mail that is asking for personal information, NEVER! Yet, it still happens and people still get pissed because they got scammed.