Five Easy And Proven Tips To Safeguard Your Paypal Account And Save Your Money
Posted by
eli
on 8/19/09• Categorized as Business Advice
Last of 2 Parts
It is now confirmed that there are many Paypal users who fell victims to fraudulent e-mails supposedly from Paypal, but in reality did not come from Paypal.
image from pinoplata.ru
As a result, the victims’ credit cards had been charged for various unauthorized purchases which were made by scammers and hustlers. All because these Paypal users believed that the e-mails that they received came from Paypal and did as directed.
The fraudulent e-mail reads in part:
“Dear PayPal user,
“As part of our security measures, we regularly screen activity in the PayPal system. We recently contacted you after noticing an issue on your account.
“We requested information from you for the following reason:
“We recently received a report of unauthorized credit card use associated with this account. As a precaution, we have limited access to your PayPal account in order to protect against future
unauthorized transactions.
“This is a reminder to restore your account as soon as possible.
“Please download the form attached to this email and open it in a web browser. Once opened, you will be provided with steps to restore your account access. We appreciate your understanding as we work to ensure account safety.”
The e-mail has an attachment which is a form titled Restore_Your_PayPal_Account.html (4KB) which when downloaded, has instruction to fill in all fields — full name, credit/debit card number, card expiration date, CSC , and the ATM PIN.
As you may have noticed, the moment you fill in the form and click submit, it will go the URL which was supposedly the Paypal website but actually it is not, it being a spoof URL.
To protect you from the hustlers and scammers who never stop to devise ways and schemes to gain Unauthorized Account Access to your account and “steal” your credit card or hard-earned money in the bank, the following are the easy and proven tips.
1. E-mail greetings. PayPal does not send you an email with the greeting “Dear PayPal User” or “Dear PayPal Member.” Emails initiated by PayPal will address you by your first and last name, or the business name associated with your PayPal account.
2. Emails – Make sure they are sent from PayPal.
If you receive an email and are unsure whether it is from PayPal, open a new web browser (e.g., Internet Explorer or Firefox) and go to the PayPal website. Don’t click on any link in an email which seems suspicious to you.
Some spoof websites will send emails that pretend to come from PayPal to entice you to log in at the spoof URL. Be extremely cautious of emails that direct you to a website that asks for your information, such as your bank or credit card account numbers.
3. Don’t respond to e-mails asking for any of the following:
– Your password and email address combination
– Credit card numbers
– Bank account numbers
– Social security numbers
– Drivers license number
– First and Last Names
4. Do not download attachments, software updates, or any application to your computer via a link you received in an email.
5 Passwords – keep it on PayPal. Use a unique password for the PayPal account and change it every 30-60 days. The password should be one that is not used on any other site, service, or login.
With the foregoing tips, I hope you will not be included in the ever-growing list of Paypal users who were victimized by scammers.
As the saying goes: Forewarned is forearmed.
Thanks for this great tips. You are helping many people like me who are Paypal users.
I have a Paypal account and I received the same e-mail as you described about 5 days ago. I was alarmed that my Paypal account was suspended, but when I log in to my account, it was working. I then realized that the e-mail that I received was a scam. Fortunately I did not fill up the form and submit.
Every time I get a fraud paypal email, I forward that email to spoof@paypal.com. About five minutes later, I get a thank you letter telling me that they appreciate me taking the time to forward, and their team will work to disable the phishing link! It makes me feel good to help.
Then, if I am really bored. I click the phishing link, and have some fun.
Name: NOT AN IDIOT
SS# 123 45 6789
Date of Birth 01/01/1801
Mother Maiden Name She is Not-Idiot
Credit Card # 1234-5678-9123-4567
SID 321
PIN 1234
You get the point.
Kimmy, your idea made my day. Very witty you. Sounds like fun. I’ll do it the next time I receive another fraud e-mail from Not An Idiot, er, from “Paypal.”
thanks for sharing tips..
We need to be very careful as there are unethical hackers out there who want to steal our credit card details. Your tips for protection against fraudulent e-mails are really helpful.
atmsecurity.com