Wednesday, October 25, 2006

I got spammed by 'PayPal'

Well, not the real PayPal of course. Just some godforsaken freaks with nothing better to do than waste people's time and money! Thankfully I didn't do anything stupid. Just to illustrate what happened here's a copy of the e-mail that I was sent and to be honest it looks legit:
However, I've visited the PayPal Security Centre and here is what to look out for where you suspect fraudulent e-mail is concerned:

1) Generic greetings - Many spoof emails begin with a general greeting, such as: "Dear PayPal member."

2) A false sense of urgency - Most spoof emails try to deceive you with the threat that your account is in jeopardy if you don't update it ASAP.

3) Fake links - The text in a link may attempt to look valid, then send you to a spoof address. Always check where a link is going before you click. Move your mouse over it and look at the URL in your browser or email status bar. If the link looks suspicious, don't click on it. And be aware that a fake link may even have the word "PayPal" in it. eg:

This is the link as it appeared in my e-mail -
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_login-run

This is the URL that showed up in the e-mail status bar when I put my mouse over it -
http://www.paypal.org.sc/us/cgi-bin/webscrcmd%3d_login-
run/index.htm?%3d/server1datateca/updates/prill10/
2049382084243098/id2330987234/qoeiru13249/
dedicatedserver/3209487afdslkj/updates1234091324019348/
13241324123/securityid2093481034.asp',1


If you want to report fraudulent mail to PayPal you can either forward the e-mail you received to spoof@paypal.com or alternatively, visit the security centre and fill in the online contact form.

3 comments:

Lyndsey-Jane said...

My mum got one of those a while back and I got spammed by Worldpay a couple of months ago, and to make it worse I recieved the e-mail whilst I was undetaking some on-line retail therapy with sites who use worldpay - luckily I was astute enough to visit the Eorldpay website where they had a warning message. You have to be sooo careful these days, its easy to see how people get caught out. Thanks for heads up that paypal pranksters are still about!

Stephanie said...

This type of spam email makes me mental --- I'd like to get my hands on the scammers that send these messages!

Piglottie said...

I got one too Bernie - deleted it straight away without even opening it. Hopefully no one will get caught out by it, and well done you for alerting people.