PayPal Scam--WARNING

[Mackey Mouse]

This morning I received an email from what appeared to be the security division of Paypal telling me that someone had tried to access my account with a foreign IP and I needed to log in and update my account..

I, after discussion with a friend, became quite suspicious. She did some searching and came up with information for me that this indeed was "phishing" trying to get me to log on and give them access to my information.. credit card, bank etc.

First I replied that I had not been out of the country as that is what they asked me on the email and that I had not used my account.. I never logged in.. The first email came to me addressed Dear Paypal User, when they answered my response to them they used my given name to address it and said it was an automated response and included the same links. I still did not log in..

I called Paypal and reported it, I reported it by email to their Spoof@paypal.com. and I tried to report it to the FBI, but their site would not allow me to report it as I did not have the person's phone number. I do not get that. Paypal on the phone did tell me they would look into but that I would not get a response on it.. I thought how reassuring and I am thinking about maybe cancelling the account..

Just a warning, I wanted to share my experience so that others will not fall for this scam and log in and give them the information they want to access your accounts.

 

[Hygiene99]

THANK U ....

 

[UncleKyle]

I've had those emails at least 3 or 4 times in the past 6 months. I always became suspicious immediately. I just forwarded them onto paypal and made sure that later on I changed my password.

 

[nativetxn]

Excellent and timely warning, Marsha. Thanks!

 

[Stepharoonie!]

Thanks!

 

[always quiet]

I just received that very same email the other day, only it told me that someone with a foreign IP was using my ebay account!! I forwarded the letter to ebay. The phoney email wanted all kinds of personal information - address, phone, social security number, bank accounts, pin numbers, passwords....................the sad thing about it that some poor person is going to fall for it!

 

[MelessaG]

I almost fell for it-it looked so 'official' for lack of a better word. Mine said I could no longer access my PayPal acct. until I contacted them and changed my info. Rather than hit their posted link, I tried to access my acct. and it worked just fine. So, I changed the password and deleted the email. That was at least three weeks ago and this is the first I've heard of it happening to someone else.

 

[Towncrier]

Never never never click on the links in those emails. Even though they look legitimate, they are not. You did the right thing contacting PayPal directly. Your best bet is to type in the web address directly and not rely on the links in emails or on websites.

Thanks for the heads up on this ever growing problem. I'm glad that you didn't get scammed.

 

[4greatboys]

This business with Paypal and e-bay has gotten so bad I delete every e-mail from either of them.

 

[mommytotwo]

Thank you.

 

[cubsfan]

Great heads-up! Thanks!

 

[Nancy]

I've also gotten the paypal e-mails. I have also gotten 2 from e-bay in the last few days telling me my credit card is going to expire. There is no link it tells me to change my info through the e-bay pages so i am assuming this is legit.

 

[Carl]

There was a man in Houston who they arrested for doing sending those. The spot said that the fake sites usually do not stay up but a few hours, so they can not be traced. I have found this to be true, because I have clicked on the links to see what would happen and they always lead to a dead link or an error message about the site not being available. I would never enter any information if I did happen to get to a site by clicking on the link.

 

[epcotfan]

This email has been going around for several weeks. I've gotten a few of them. If you want to check your account log into the official paypal website. Never log in from an email.

 

[chamonix]

I get these all the time for ebay and paypal, and I have seen them for years. The advice is correct--never clink a link in an email to access a "secure" site that is asking for your information. Type the address in yourself or use the link in your own favorites that you entered previously.
Don't delete your accounts, it's not anything to do with those companies. I don't even use the links in the emails from my utilities that I pay online. I always type in the address that I know is the right and secure one.