Red Alert! PayPal Phishing Attempt
May 21, 2007 – 7:13 pmI meant to blog about this sooner but I have been so busy the whole day and haven’t got the chance until now. So this afternoon I received an email seemingly from PayPal with the subject title: Paypal Security Measures.
Take a look at the screenshot below. Click on image to enlarge.
I suspected that this is a phishing mail and forwarded it to spoof@paypal.com together with the message header pronto.
Firstly, it addressed me as “Dear PayPal member” and secondly, I hovered my cursor over the links and although part of their web address has PayPal in it, they were not https://www.paypal.com/
Also, I conditioned myself never to click on links from emails even if I know the sender, especially to sites that contain my financial information. Moreover, since the glitch with PayPal on the night of 10th May, 2007, my friend has been reminding to not give out my password. Thank God for such friends!
I am not sure how many people have fallen victim to this phishing attempt. The fact that PayPal has failed to publicly acknowledge this technical problem may have caused people to be more vulnerable to such attempts.
Within a minute upon forwarding this email to spoof@paypal.com, I received a reply. I must say that they do work fast even though it is just a canned message. All I wanted to know if it was a legitimate email anyway.
The following is the reply.
Dear Cyberpartygal,Thank you for taking the time to contact spoof@paypal.com. The email you reported was not sent by PayPal and is a phishing (fraudulent) email.
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What to do Next
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Delete the phishing email. If you’ve already responded to the email, please log in to your PayPal account and perform some important safety measures.1. Go to your Profile and change your password and security questions.
2. Review the payments listed on your Account Overview.If you notice a payment that you don’t recognize, visit the PayPal Security Center to file a claim. We’ll promptly investigate any suspicious transactions and you won’t be held liable for unauthorized payments sent from your account.
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Visit the PayPal Security Center
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In the new PayPal Security Center you’ll find fraud-fighting tips, tools, and technology.You’ll learn:
* Ways to stay safe online
* How to spot fake emails
* What to do if you suspect unauthorized activity in your accountYou’ll also find tools to help protect against identity theft:
* Equifax credit alerts: Receive notifications about activity on your credit accounts
* eBay Toolbar: Download a toolbar that warns you when you re on a potentially fraudulent web site————————————-
Safeguard Your Account
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Phishing emails often try to get your attention by telling you that there’s a problem with your account.One way to figure out if an email is really from PayPal is to open a new browser and log in to your PayPal account. Any important information about your account will be displayed once you are logged in.
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Thank You
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By alerting us to this phishing email, you’re taking an active role in keeping the PayPal community safe. Users like you are our greatest partners in combating spoof.We’ll use the information you provided to work with law enforcement to shut down the fraudulent website.
Sincerely,
PayPal********************************************************************
Remember, PayPal will never ask you for your password in an e-mail.
There are no exceptions to this policy. If someone claiming to be from PayPal asks you for your password in response to an e-mail, you should refuse to provide it and contact us. To contact PayPal, go to the PayPal Help Center and click the “Contact Us” link.
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Even though I DID NOT click on any links, I made doubly sure I am protected by logging into my PayPal account FROM MY BROWSER and changed my password and security questions. One thing I learnt from this is that if there really is a problem with your PayPal account, you will receive an alert telling you so AS SOON AS you log into your account.
Do take note that as fraudsters become more and more IT savvy, you should not trust such emails even if they addressed you by your full name.
Please read more on phishing HERE.
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