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If you receive the following message from PayPal via e-mail, do not reply because it's a scam. The phoney message from PayPal looks very official which is why I forwarded it to
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and they immediately responded that the message is definitely a scam. Here's a copy of the phony PayPal Message: Dear PayPal valued member, Is has come to our attention that your PayPal Billing Information records are out of date. That requires you to update the Billing Information. Failure to update your records will result in account termination. Please update your records in maximum 72 hours. Once you have updated them, your PayPal session will not be interrupted and will continue as normal. Failure to update them will result in cancellation of service, Terms of Service (TOS) violations or future billing problems. Please follow the link below and update your account information: <==link disabled==>
Here is the official response from PayPal: Dear ...,
Thank you for contacting PayPal. We appreciate you bringing this suspicious email to our attention. We can confirm that the email you received was not sent to you by PayPal. The website linked to this email is not a registered URL authorized or used by PayPal. We are currently investigating this incident fully. Please do not enter any personal or financial information into this website. If you have surrendered any personal or financial information to this fraudulent website, you should immediately log into your PayPal Account and change your password and secret question and answer information. Any compromised financial information should be reported to the appropriate parties. If you notice any unauthorized activity associated with your PayPal transaction history, please immediately report this to PayPal by following the instructions below: - Log in to your account at https://www.paypal.com/ by entering your email address and password into the Member Log In box
- Click on Security Center at the bottom of the page
- Click on the 'Unauthorized Transaction' link under the Report a Problem column
- Please follow the instructions in order to access the appropriate form
If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us again. Sincerely, PayPal Account Review Department
The above is what’s commonly referred to as phishing and it's primary focus is to get personal information from you in an attempt to rip you off. It's very unlikely any financial institution will ever ask you online to confirm your details via an e-mail message so the best thing you can do is delete the message immediately or report it to your financial institution (not using any links provided within the message). Scams are not just limited to PayPal and other online purchasing software, lately I've received e-mails that were spoofed to look as if they've come from my own bank yet they are also known scams that my financial institution is aware of. If you ever have any questions about an e-mail that looks official from you financial institution, call them or visit a local branch but do not reply to the e-mail, ever, as doing so is putting your well being at risk. |
