phishy from paypal? - Virtual Assistant Forums

My Office Zilla · #1 (**permalink**) 05-12-2008

Has anyone else received this message?

Notification of Limited Account Access

As part of our security measures, we regularly screen activity in the PayPal system. We recently noticed the following issue on your account:

Unusual account activity has made it necessary to limit sensitive account features until additional verification information can be collected.

We have been notified that a card associated with your account has been reported as lost or stolen, or that there were additional problems with your card.

Case ID Number: PP-071-362-996

Click here to verify your account

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

If you choose to ignore our request, you leave us no choice but to temporary suspend your account.

Sincerely,
PayPal Account Review Department.

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

Please do not reply to this e-mail. Mail sent to this address cannot be answered. For assistance, log in to your PayPal account and choose the "Help" link in the footer of any page.

To receive email notifications in plain text instead of HTML, update your preferences here.

It sure looks official...with the blue paypal bar and logo. When I click on "Click here to verify..." IE pulls up a warning that says no, no...

the link is to a phishing site. I also noticed the email address is paypall.com not paypal.com

Now I'm worried about even logging in! Thoughts?

Tess · #2 (**permalink**) 05-12-2008

Sundi, there are lots of these going around all the time.
You can tell they are fake, aside from the typos and errors you pointed out, by mousing over the links (DON'T EVER EVER click them!) You'll see they are not true Paypal links at all...

Even if you do receive what you believe to be a valid email from Paypal never click the link in the email to log into your acount - instead, open a new browser window and log in.

For more info on phishing emails check the Paypal website Security Center here.

Here is what Paypal invites users who rec'v fake emails to do:

If you think you’ve received a phishing email:

Forward the email to spoof@paypal.com
Delete the email

Be on the safe side
Go to the My Account tab and click History to check your transaction history for inaccuracies.

Rebecka Melson · #3 (**permalink**) 05-12-2008

You can log into your account, just make sure you always go directly to paypal's website directly by typing in their address directly into your web browser and never by using a link sent to you by email.

I get weird emails like this all the time.

Dana Fortier · #4 (**permalink**) 05-12-2008

I get these, and I get things from eBay saying there's a disputed item message. I haven't purchased anything from eBay in years! The last time I did it took for-freaking-EVER to get what I purchased.

Spam, Scam, Whatever - idiots have nothing better to do with thier time than do this.

jeannedb · #5 (**permalink**) 05-13-2008

Paypal will nearly always (if not always) address you by name (or by business name) in an email to you.

Is the address that the email was sent to your official paypal email address? I have an email address (using my domain name) that I only use for paypal. It's not published anywhere and it's not a typical email address name (info@, paypal@, etc). This does make it easier to spot the phish.

#6 (**permalink**) 05-13-2008

Sundi,

Tess is right you should NEVER EVER CLICK ANY LINKS in those types of emails. They could ruin your computer by down loading a computer virus or steal your personal info. You should check with paypal yourself, go to the paypal site in a new browser or another computer, If you are unsure about the email.

Those types of emails are very common and the phishy ones from ebay. If you haven't already, soon you'll get used to seeing them. Also be aware of emails telling you a sad story asking for help, how they only need "your" help and then asking you to send in your personal info so they can send you a million dollars. Many of them are from overseas.

Tess · #7 (**permalink**) 05-13-2008

We've been getting a lot of these from spammers posing as Google AdWords as well - I've seen the eBay messages, the Paypal messages, the messages from banks I don't even have an account at....it's endless....just don't click!

My Office Zilla · #8 (**permalink**) 05-13-2008

Yesterday I submitted to PayPal as suggested by Tess and got an email back very quickly! Thanks so much for everyone's help! Thank goodness for our natural gut instinct!

Make it a great day!

White Rose · #9 (**permalink**) 05-13-2008

I get that in emails ALL the times. They now directly goes into my junk folder.