is this a Fraudulent email?

[lottie22]

Hi Everyone, 

I hope that someone can help.

I have just recieved the following email from Paypal which states that someone is claiming to be the owner of my account and they want the password reset. I don't want to fully open it up or go through anything in case its a fraudulent email so I would be grateful for any advice. Does it seem genuine? is there such an email from Paypal, sepcifically from service@group-paypal.com?

The email reads as follows:

PayPal

Case nr.:9YG106800D791621M

Account management

Subject: Authentication

Your intervention is highly required

Our Security team has received an account recovery request (ARR) from a member claiming ownership of this account. According to him, his password was compromised and access to his e-mail is no longer possible. We have decided to (temporarily) keep the account active while we solve the issue..

To ensure compliance our agents follow strict validation guidelines before authorizing or blocking account access, therefore it is imperative for us to re-examine both sides by the means of a standard identity check procedure.

How to proceed?

Please follow the guidelines as described in the standard authentication process.

• Primary objective : Account validation
  We reserve the right, in our sole discretion, without any obligation or notice requirement, to suspend or deny your access based on the outcome of this process.

Conflict resolution : https://www.paypal.com/uk/cgi-bin/cmd=conflict_res
Login : https://www.paypal.com/uk/cgi-bin/cmd=login

Warning:

• Identity theft is a serious crime. When presented with evidence for such practices, our company will refer all complaints to appropriate entities, including the major credit reporting agencies and law enforcement bureaus.
• Use of our Website in any manner that could damage, disable, overburden or impair any service provided through it is prohibited as mentioned in our Terms of Use.

Please do not reply to this email. This mailbox is not monitored and you will not receive a response. To contact our customer service, login and use the "contact us" page.

CB:PP-701-122-408-401:9YG106800D791621M
PP-EMail-ID PP6589.

Copyright @ 1999-2014 Dept: Conflict resolution. All Rights reserved.
PP(Europe) S.à.r.l. et Cie, S.C.A. Société en Commandite par Actions Sitz: 22-24 Boulevard Royal, L-2449 Luxemburg RCS Luxemburg B 118 349.

Any help/advice would be much appreciated.

Charlotte

[kernowlass · Accepted solution]

@lottie22

You’ll know that an email is not from PayPal when:

• The email uses a generic greeting like ‘Dear user’ or ‘Hello, PayPal member.’ We'll always address you by your first and last name or the business name on your PayPal account.
• The email requests financial and other personal information. A real email from us will never ask for your bank account number, debit or credit card number etc. Also we'll never ask for your full name, your account password, or the answers to your PayPal security questions in an email.
• The email asks you to provide the tracking number of a dispatched item, before you've received the payment into your PayPal account
• The email includes a software update to install on your computer.

If still in doubt send to spoof@paypal.com

                        ************************************

I volunteer my time on here to help you, so leaving kudos or marking one of my posts as a "solution" would be appreciated.

[lottie22]

Thanks kernowlass

I thought that it probably was fraudulent but wanted to double check especially as this seems to be a new type of email.

I have reported it to the spoof email address anyway!

[OJFord]

That's a fairly condescending response.

I also received this email, and like Lottie's, mine didn't satisfy any of the bullets you provide.

Of course, I would ignore right away anything sent to "Dear user" or "Hello PayPal member" - but this didn't do that. No greeting at all is much less suspicious. In fact, I've received legitimate "dear member" emails from other sites, so it's by no means a sure thing to go on.

I only realised because it was sent from "group-paypal.com" (and found this thread by Googling that term). Many email clients hide the sent-from address significantly, in favour of sender name and subject line, at the expense of a check such as this.

Other than the sender's address this was a stellar and believable email (the sort I often think I would send - "why are spam/phishing emails so obviously that? I could do better!") and I'm sure that it fooled many.