Down under or Thai? Aussie mum trades Oz for Land of Smiles

[LaoPo]

W A R N I N G !!

Beware for Fake Pay Pal website

This morning my wife received an email message from PayPal asking her to verify various details in her account since some info was missing and untill she replied, her account was "limited"; the mail was sent to the regular email address she's using for her international business on a daily basis.

The email message was in German since she also sells to German speaking countries and has several eBay accounts in Germany. The used German was (almost) PERFECT!

Maybe you noticed the difference already between the normal writing of the name PayPal and the name I wrote it: Pay Pal; that made me suspicious.

The email looked extremely convincing and had a line to click whereby it was steered towards the "normal" PayPal website which was ABSOLUTELY VERY CONVINCING THE SAME as the normal PayPal website account which you see before you log-in EXCEPT the little lock on the right hand bottom side; that was missing.

Apart from their very smart link, requiring the password for access to your PayPal (Pay Pal) account, it contained a convincing form to supply them with all necessary info about names, dates, bank accounts etc. in order to enable them to restore access to your account -again-

Very smart and tricky email and link.

The problem with this kind of email is that PayPal has asked before to update information, especially if you work from different countries and continents and people who work with/in the business and have to have access to the account; in her case 3 people; herself, me and the accountant.

Even if someone from a total different location would try to transfer money (away) from her account it would NOT be possible since the security is extremely tight with PayPal and will recognize that the request to transfer money is from an unknown location/computer, but still....

In the meantime she has varyfied the official PayPal staff (she phoned them in Asia) and it was confirmed that the website is fake; they asked for a copy of the mail.

Beware if you receive such an email in whatever language!

LaoPo

[craigt3365]

Unfortunately, the same can be said for most banks. I get these all the time...as well as for paypal.

One way I have gotten around this is to use an entirely different email address for paypal, my bank, etc. So if an email comes to my "normal" address, I know it is bogus. Since I only use my other email for 4-5 financial institutions, I pretty much never get spam.

[whybother]

Any email from a bank (or money related entity) that asks you to click here to confirm your details is a scam.

No real bank asks you to do that.

And, NO, you didn't win a million pounds in the UK lottery.

[gosompoi]

10 Ways To Recognize Fake (spoof) Emails

1. Generic greetings. Many spoof emails begin with a general greeting, such as: "Dear PayPal member." If you do not see your first and last name, be suspicious and do not click on any links or button. Paypal always uses your full name.
2. A fake sender's address. A spoof email may include a forged email address in the "From" field. This field is easily altered.
3. A false sense of urgency. Many spoof emails try to deceive you with the threat that your account is in jeopardy if you don't update it ASAP. They may also state that an unauthorized transaction has recently occurred on your account, or claim PayPal is updating its accounts and needs information fast.
4. Fake links. 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. A fraudulent link is dangerous. If you click on one, it could:
   • Direct you to a spoof website that tries to collect your personal data.
   • Install spyware on your system. Spyware is an application that can enable a hacker to monitor your actions and steal any passwords or credit card numbers you type online.
   • Cause you to download a virus that could disable your computer.

Emails that appear to be websites. Some emails will look like a website in order to get you to enter personal information. PayPal never asks for personal information in an email.<li>Deceptive URLs. Only enter your PayPal password on PayPal pages. These begin with https://www.paypal.com/

• If you see an @ sign in the middle of a URL, there's a good chance this is a spoof. Legitimate companies use a domain name (e.g. https://www.company.com).
• Even if a URL contains the word "PayPal," it may not be a PayPal site. Examples of deceptive URLs include: www.paypalsecure.com, www.paypa1.com, www.secure-paypal.com, and www.paypalnet.com.
• Always log in to PayPal by opening a new web browser and typing in the following: https://www.paypal.com/
• Never log in to PayPal from a link in an email

<li>Misspellings and bad grammar. Spoof emails often contain misspellings, incorrect grammar, missing words, and gaps in logic. Mistakes also help fraudsters avoid spam filters.<li>Unsafe sites. The term "https" should always precede any website address where you enter personal information. The "s" stands for secure. If you don't see "https," you're not in a secure web session, and you should not enter data.<li>Pop-up boxes. PayPal will never use a pop-up box in an email as pop-ups are not secure.<li>Attachments. Like fake links, attachments are frequently used in spoof emails and are dangerous. Never click on an attachment. It could cause you to download spyware or a virus. PayPal will never email you an attachment or a software update to install on your computer.

Paypal says,

Question : How do I know if an email is really from PayPal?

Answer : If you think you received a fake PayPal email or have come across a fake (spoof) PayPal website, please report it to us immediately.

How to identify fake emails:

• Emails from PayPal will always address you by your first and last names or by your business name. We never say things like "Dear user" or "Hello PayPal member."
• Our emails don't link directly to pages that ask you to enter sensitive information like your bank account, credit card, and national identification or Social Security numbers.

Edited February 7, 2011 by gosompoi

[Bakseedaa]

Surely , anyone with any sense knows these e-mails are fake and from fraudsters, its been going on as long as the internet is old. These e-mails should go straight into your SPAM folder, and be deleted without a second look. Anything which asks for private and confidential info, has to be fraud.. Why your wife even gave those e-mails a second look surprises me, but thanks for giving out this warning and hopefully it will prevent some unsuspecting person losing their hard earned savings... nothing is for nothing in life, and human greed begats human greed.....

[flying]

Fake links. 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.

In a nutshell this is it

It is all you need to know & is obvious when you see anything other than the official website listed.

But as others has also mentioned...legit companies never ask you to verify your info

[craigt3365]

you'd be amazed at how good some of these are. I had a phone call regarding some purchases I had made earlier. They know about them! Then started asking some probing questions that made me nervous. Sure enough, it was a fake call...they said these purchases had not been paid for and to avoid it going on my credit record, they would take a payment over the phone, with a 25$ service fee...just give them a credit card number...right. The purchases I had made were some books from Amazon...which I bet a majority of people in the US have done at one time or another. I almost fell for this one....

Another one that did get me was an email from USA Today regarding an email news blast that I had signed up for. It was a weekly news summary. The email looked official and asked me to click here to confirm my interest in the email. Took me 2 days to recover from that one.

[Pib]

I get a couple of these type emails per year and normally it relates to one of the financial companies/banks I have accounts with. I even got the PayPal fake email in the past. No shortage of scammers out there. Usually, I will never go to a weblink sent in an email unless I was expecting that email. Otherwise, I always use the links in my browser bookmarks or type in the web links. And when typing in weblinks you have to watch out as you can make a typo and go to a scammers website because these scammers have bought the web site names that they know can be the result of a common weblink typo.

[LaoPo]

Surely , anyone with any sense knows these e-mails are fake and from fraudsters, its been going on as long as the internet is old. These e-mails should go straight into your SPAM folder, and be deleted without a second look. Anything which asks for private and confidential info, has to be fraud.. Why your wife even gave those e-mails a second look surprises me, but thanks for giving out this warning and hopefully it will prevent some unsuspecting person losing their hard earned savings... nothing is for nothing in life, and human greed begats human greed.....

Oh of course but this one was different; if one is working on a daily basis and many hours/day your attention is getting lower also when one is tired. We discovered this one because of the missing small lock on the right hand bottom of financial institutions' websites and the like.

The website was perfect with even all details, colours, logos and even all links on the bottom of the page like on the normal PayPal website.

These fraudsters are getting better and better and even PP in Asia was worried and asked to send the email immediately. The fact that the email and website were in German language says something also.

I forgot to mention that the brutality in convincing innocent people was so clever that they even mentioned that in case of questions you could phone* a certain phonenumber of their clients service and even mentioned the costs if phoned by a landline or mobile !!

Just wanted to warn.

* Bei Fragen steht Ihnen unser Kundenservice von Mo.-Fr., 8.30 bis 19.00 Uhr, und Sa.-So., 9.00 bis 19.30 Uhr unter der Telefonnummer 0180 500 xxxx zur Verfügung (für Anrufe aus dem Festnetz fallen maximal 14 Cent/Min. an, aus Mobilfunknetzen sind es maximal 42 Cent/Min.).

LaoPo

[simon43]

And when typing in weblinks you have to watch out as you can make a typo and go to a scammers website because these scammers have bought the web site names that they know can be the result of a common weblink typo.

That's absolutely true. I made a typo error when typing in the web address 'www.sheepinwellingtonboots.com' and was forwarded to some rip-off scammers website selling inferior quality galoshes! What a scam

Simon