PayPal related scam attempt - warning!

Another version I got:

jeff


>I received an email (supposidly thru ebay) that says someone paid me for something and wanted to know when he get it.

If I replied, it went to "eboy" not "ebay".

I didn't fall for it, as I hadn't sold anything.

Watch out

Jeff

Re: PayPal related scam attempt - warning!

Steve Evans


>Ted

I received a similar scam. The first tip for me was the font wasn't as clean as normal paypal emails, and of course when you run your mouse over the link, the url is a giveaway. You have to give them credit, they do work at it. What I tend to do, is to log into their website using false info, just my little way of messing with them.

Steve

Re: PayPal related scam attempt - warning!

Steve Kirincich


>If you get email for what you suspect is a scam (Ebay, PayPal, etc.), and you are at a login page, you can confirm the scam with little risk by logging in with a fake name and password. If you are allowed to "login," then you know that this is a scam.

Re: PayPal related scam attempt - warning!

Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX


>Be very, very careful. One newish thing these guys do is create web sites that look just like Paypal, or whoever, in your browser, but that's only because they've used ascii characters that map into the characters being displayed. It only takes a one character difference.

There are a couple of things to do.

First, make sure you have a bookmark for the known Paypal and always use that to get to Paypal and other similar vendors. Never click the address in an email you receive.

Second, you could create a special email for secure transactions only, never use that email address for anything else. That way, when you receive messages ostensibly from a trusted vendor about whatever, you know immediately that it's a phony. You could even filter them to the trash for all but your special email address.

Pam

Re: PayPal related scam attempt - warning!

Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX


>You're much, much safer simply trashing such an email. Most people have certain information sitting in various cookies that will fill in a form for you. You don't want a phony vendor receiving that info.

Pam

I am just wondering....

HC Sakman


>isn't doing this a felony? If not, it should be. I keep receiving the same spam as well as Chase Manhattan and Citibank account ....update or something.

Penis enlargement has dropped off but "Invest in this stock", Viagra and Cialis spams are still going strong.

Chico...

Re: I am just wondering....

Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX


>A felony? Guess it depends on what they steal and how much it costs. But as to making the effort, I don't know that the US has laws about this on a federal level yet, some states have outlawed spam in general. Identity theft is illegal I think. But the trick is to avoid it altogether, much more pleasant ways to spend your time. :)

Pam

e-mails are trivial to forge

Dave Thompson


>e-mails really are trivial to forge who they are from and should never be trusted. e-mail has virtually no authentication of sender.

Regarding spotting by the wierd URL, you're lucky. Not long ago it was made well known of an exploit which masks the true URL that you are visiting. One could be visiting scamsRus.com.cz, and the address bar of the browser shows www.paypal.com. This exploit was for Microsoft's Internet explorer. If you keep your Microsoft system updated with the latest security updates (see http://update.microsoft.com), then this issue has likely been plugged on your system.

Best bet is to initiate your connection on your own.

Keep in mind that mispelling of common names or mis-guesses is an exploit too, and can take you to real looking fake sites. As suggested above, using a favorite list link is a good idea. I once stumbled across one of these fake sites while developing security software and testing on a common mis-guess for a Charles Scwabb stock trade site.

If one were to accidentally give up there real user name and password, the best thing to do is immediately initiate a connection to the legitimate site, and change your password.

good luck,

Dave

Re: I am just wondering....

Ted Shuck, Centennial, CO


>I think a lot of these come from outside the US. It is a lot more difficult to prosecute somebody running this operation from Iran or Russia than from Kansas. This does not prevent them from getting at your money, just makes them harder to catch when they do it.

Ted

PayPal doesn't send out emails...

Scott Burr in Ben Lomond CA


>For the most part. EBay doesn't either. It's best just to delete them. I ignore them.

Re: PayPal related scam attempt - warning!

Dale Stansbery


>I'm with Pam, just delete them. I also always take a quick look at my Paypal account to make sure the supposed transaction didn't happen.

Re: PayPal related scam attempt - warning!

Rob Lee


>Ted -

I shouldn't admit this... but I always fill in "something" in the ID and password fields of spoofs... :)

Cheers -

Rob

Re: PayPal doesn't send out emails...

Ted Shuck, Centennial, CO


>They do send out emails as a confirmation that you have paid somebody. By sending out this form of email to a PayPal user that has not bought the item, they see a good chance of the user wanting to contest the charge and clicking on the link to their webpage.

Ted

Re: PayPal related scam attempt - warning!

Ted Shuck, Centennial, CO


>Rob,

I guess even the most polite Canadians have a devilish streak. *;^).

I tried typing some rude words into the website login, but got a popup asking for a "valid PayPal id". I wish these people would channel their efforts to something more productive.

Best Regards,

Ted

Re: PayPal related scam attempt - warning!

Norman (Ottawa, Ont.)


>It's gotten to where I just roll my eyeballs when I seea PayPal email, unless it is a valid confirmation of a transaction.

I use PayPal for business, and my transactions are preset in price,

so I can spot a fake. Also I wait for the money to be deposited in my business account.

The whole PayPal phishing and spoofing email thing looks like

its become a cottage industry amongst fraud artists.

Norman

Re: I am just wondering....

Ernie Miller


>Man o Man I spam you people once and Kansas gets a bad name for ever. Enough talk like this and they will pay me to Retire and move away. You are so right though It could be ther thriving industry of some one computer village almost any where in the world.

Re: PayPal related scam attempt - warning!

Ernie Miller


>As a seller I have gotten lots of these. I used to worward them to Spoof@paypal.com but have sinse came to the conclusion that Paypal jsut don't care so I no longer waist my time and just delete the offending crap. I think home land Security should be the ones to protect us against this type of attack because I am more afraide of haveing my Identity stolen than being bombed. This is a forme of terrism in my openion and should be treated likewise.