Suspicious Email

[Lynnew65]

Hi All

I received an email yesterday asking me to verify my account. The email looks perfectly authentic. But when I sign into PayPal, there’s no messages on my account asking this.

Also the account states it comes from is a [removed] at paypel   (With the e being upside down) . It has some kind of account number and below that everything screams genuine PayPal, which I obviously know isn’t genuine.

I just thought I should get in touch,  ut this is the only way I can find to let anyone know.

Thanks for your time

Lynne

[kernowlass]

@Lynnew65 

If its a spoof then NEVER USE ANY LINK OR ANY PHONE NUMBER.

Firstly if the email/text addressed you as ''Dear Member'' / ''Customer'' / ''Client'' OR your ''email address'' then that confirms its a spoof as paypal would address you by your full name eg Dear John Smith.

Secondly if there was a link OR attachment in that email/text to ''cancel'' any transaction or ''confirm'' any details then again it would be a spoof.

Also if they ask you to call the number in the email then it would be fake paypal agents trying to scam you for money to 'fix' something. 

If there was a problem with your account Paypal would not ask you to click on an unsafe link in an email / download an attachment OR phone them on a number in an email, they would direct you to log in normally and go to the resolution or the message centre for more information.

More info here >>
https://www.paypal.com/us/smarthelp/article/how-do-i-spot-and-report-a-fake%2C-fraudulent%2C-or-phis...
https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/security/suspicious-activity

[Lynnew65]

It doesn’t have anything like that. It has the email address I showed. Then mine as some sort of PayPal account email address. Then the start of the message say “your account is limited (with a long number)” Then it says in dark letters “Identity verification is required”.  Then we detected some unusual activity on your account. Then a case I’d and a case date. Then under that in a PayPal blue box. View case details.

It screams it’s from PayPal. I didn’t even recognise the upside down e until I went back to check what address it had come from to put it on here.
I always double check now by signing into wherever I get a message from to see if there’s a message. Anyone that doesn’t do that, or that just opens their emails won’t realise till it’s to late.

I even had a phone call on Friday saying they were from Halifax and had noticed unusual activity on my account. That I’d spent £1,842.68 pence and £647 on Amazon. When I went to Amazon and checked my orders. No such thing. When I contacted Halifax. They said it’s happening thousands of times an hour. And that it’s happening to 8 out of 10 people.
The sad thing is they’re targeting everyone and because it seems so genuine. Lots of people are being caught out. That’s why I reported this today.

If it means one person checks the actual email address and they don’t get ripped off. I’m happy. 
I noticed you were a top contributor on the community. So I hope you can let people know.

Thanks

[kernowlass · Accepted solution]

@Lynnew65 

Spoof emails are sent out by the thousands every day and I post the above post several times a day.

However you said..........

Then under that in a PayPal blue box. View case details.

So you did have an unsafe link in that email which is what I said in my first post ie........

Secondly if there was a link OR attachment in that email/text to ''cancel'' any transaction or ''confirm'' any details then again it would be a spoof.

[Anitra66]

Lynne, I have just had this today, and stupidly clicked the link.

And yet...it DID take me directly to my PayPal account. The suspicious thing was that there were NO cases on the account requiring identification/resolution, and nothing to suggest any current limitations on the account.

I was worried, and have immediately changed my password, and also forwarded the original email to phishing@paypal.com.

I have scrutinized the email again, including the sender details in the header, and it looks absolutely perfect - no suspicious characters anywhere.

I am worried that the scam - IF it was a scam - harvested my PayPal login details just before redirecting me to the proper site.

Is just changing my password enough to make sure there's nothing they can do with the email and password they harvested?

Is it possible it was a genuine, yet nevertheless erroneous email from PayPal?

[shopper_no_101]

I have received 3 suspicious emails in one week. What is PayPal doing about this?

[Anitra66]

PayPal unfortunately cannot stop fraudsters impersonating them.

All we as users can do is to stay vigilant.

However, I am still unclear whether the email I received was from an impersonator, as I couldn't find any of the telltale signs like subtly misspelt sender address, so you confuse it with the real thing, or not knowing what my real name is, or the link NOT taking me to PayPal.

The only thing suspicious about it was that the email claimed action was needed to verify my identity, due to some recent suspicious transactions. At the time, I had just ordered a couple of cheap knick-knacks from China, which was out-of-character for me, so I wondered if it had triggered a fraud alert. But on my PayPal account, I couldn't see any "disputed" transactions, neither did I find any account limitations as claimed by the email, or any instructions from PayPal about what they wanted me to do. Everything looked fine.

I still wonder if they were questioning the Chinese transactions, but had already cleared them and lifted the block by the time I logged in to check.