PayPal phishing email

[Tamar]

I just received this email, and it almost looks authentic, so I just wanted to post here in case others got this too. If you don't look closely, you could miss the clues it's a phishing attempt. Here's the text:

Dear valued PayPal member:

You have been chosen by the PayPal online department to take part in our quick and easy 5 question survey. In return we will credit $20 to your account - Just for your time! Helping us better understand how our customers feel benefits everyone.

With the information collected we can decide to direct a number of changes to improve and expand our online service.

We kindly ask you to spare two minutes of your time in taking part with this unique offer!

SERVICE: PayPal Online® $20 Reward Survey


EXPIRATION: October - 30 - 2006


CONFIRM NOW

Thank You for using PayPal!


The PayPal Team

Confirm Now your $20 Reward Survey with PayPal Online® Reward services.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The information you provide us is all non-sensitive and anonymous No part of it is handed down to any third party groups. It will be stored in our secure database for maximum of 3 days while we process the results of this paypal survey.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please do not reply to this message. For any inquiries, contact Customer Service. Document Reference: (87051203).

PayPal Email ID PP359

 

[staceyfe]

What, specifically, tells you it's phishing?

I received an email from Paypal a few days ago that looked like this:

Dear xxxx,

As part of our security measures, we regularly screen activity in the PayPal system. During a recent screening, we noticed an issue regarding your account.

Case ID Number:

For your protection, we have limited access to your account until additional security measures can be completed. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

To review your account and some or all of the information that PayPal used to make its decision to limit your account access, please visit the Resolution Center. If, after reviewing your account information, you seek further clarification regarding your account access, please contact PayPal by visiting the Help Center and clicking "Contact Us".

We thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. Please understand that this is a security measure intended to help protect you and your account. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Sincerely,
PayPal Account Review Department


I received this email after I had added a second email address on paypal's website. So, I went and changed my pw just in case.

 

[KelNottAt]

I would say the OP is an example of phishing because it's addressed "Dear Valued Pay Pal Member." Pay Pal has always said their legitimate emails will be addressed to the member's first and last name.

I also received the same email as staceyfe. I deleted it because it was addressed to my email address (firstnamelastname@domain.com). If it was really from Pay Pal it would have said "Dear Kelley XXXXX" without any part of my email included.

 

[cnids00]

I've gotten several emails like posted above, they look authentic, yes, but for me who doesn't even have a Paypal account nor trade on Ebay at all, it's kind of scary!

Though I wouldn't give out any of my information and certainly not do it from those emails (that are linked to someone elses email and who is out to do harm), it's looking so authentic that I had to ask my husband to look at it even if I knew I didn't have an account with Paypal... Some ppl

 

[staceyfe]

I would say the OP is an example of phishing because it's addressed "Dear Valued Pay Pal Member." Pay Pal has always said their legitimate emails will be addressed to the member's first and last name.

I also received the same email as staceyfe. I deleted it because it was addressed to my email address (firstnamelastname@domain.com). If it was really from Pay Pal it would have said "Dear Kelley XXXXX" without any part of my email included.

Actually, the email I received did have my 1st and last name in the greeting. As far as I can tell, my paypal account is A-ok.

 

[Tamar]

Well, I think I did something I shouldn't have and posted the whole email I got. It's been edited and the shorter version seems less convincing. Hopefully there wasn't a live link in what I originally posted....I didn't mean for that to happen.

The things that tipped me off to the phishing is that there was a link to click on to go to the survey, and also I don't think PayPal would say "We kindly ask you to spare two minutes of your time in taking part with this unique offer!" Other than that it looked quite official with the PayPal logo, pictures of all the credit cards they accept, and a "from" address that was spoofed to read "PayPal" and come from paypal.com.

Oh, and I sent it to PayPal and they confirmed it was a scam.

Tamar

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Any mail from PayPal or eBay that is legitimate will (1) have your actual registed user name and (2) not have any link but tell you to log in normally through your browser.

About a year ago I had received a message from them that my credit card on file had expired and needed to be updated. The mail had my real name and also the last four digits of the card number. It did not have any links. I logged into PayPal using a bookmark and then followed the instructions of which tabs, etc., to follow and got to the place to update the credit card, which actually had expired the previous month.

 

[mytwotinks]

I get at least 5 scam emails from paypal and Ebay every day. It is very frustrating. I really wish that I could figure out how to stop getting them. I think that I am going to totally close the bank account that I have registered with pay pal and just forget the whole deal. I haven't used the account or purchased anything through ebay in a couple of years.

 

[rflorek]

I get at least 5 scam emails from paypal and Ebay every day. It is very frustrating. I really wish that I could figure out how to stop getting them. I think that I am going to totally close the bank account that I have registered with pay pal and just forget the whole deal. I haven't used the account or purchased anything through ebay in a couple of years.

My co-worker gets both Paypal & eBay emails a few times a week and has never used either company! She has never even registered with them or looked at their sites.

These phishing scams just go through lists of emails until they find legitimate ones to send the messages to. I get emails 3 times a week from SunTrust Bank and Washington Mutual Bank asking me to confirm things about my account, and I don't have dealings with either one of them (and never have in the past!)

 

[turnlisa]

staceyfe,

The email you received was a phishing email. A good way to tell is to put in some of the words from the email into google and see what comes up. I get quite a few of these also. I send each and everyone to spoof@paypal.com I would really watch your account if you clicked on the link.

Tamar,

Good catch! Yours is also listed out there if looking on google!