Like others I received an "account limited" type of email as follows.
Dear (My real name),
We've noticed that you've almost reached the payment or 'sending' limit on your PayPal account. Once you've reached your sending limit, you won't be able to use your account to make purchases. There's no need to worry, to lift this limit simply verify your account. Why do I need to get verified now? When you open a PayPal account we want to get you up and running as quickly as possible, so we only ask for essential information. However, as a financial institution, we have to comply with laws and regulations, including limits on new accounts. These limits are in place as we haven't verified certain information about you. How do I verify my account and lift my sending limit? To verify your account simply follow these steps:
Go to (PayPal Australia hyperlink), log in to your account.
Add a bank account by clicking 'Profile' and then 'Add or edit bank account'. Alternatively, click 'Add your bank account' in the notifications window.
Click on 'Get verified' on the left hand side of your Account Overview page. When prompted, enter your bank details.
Confirm your bank account - PayPal will deposit two small amounts into your bank account, which will appear in three to five working days. When you see your next bank statement, make a note of these amounts, then log in to your PayPal account and tell us what these two amounts are and review our bank funding agreement. This confirms that you have control of the bank account.
Verify your account today and ensure that you get uniterrupted use of your PayPal account. If you have any further questions, we're here to help. Call us on [removed] and we will be glad to assist you.
The PayPal Australia Team
While my initial reaction was that it read like a phishing attempt, it was addressed to me, not "Dear Member" etc. What I did not do is click the link. Instead I found my way here.
The link to Paypal apparently goes to an email page. (email-edg.paypal...) All the same it next mentions clickable buttons by which I am to add bank account details.
Then it says Paypal will deposit two small amounts in the given account. I have never seen this before, at least in non-Nigerian emails!
When I read "However, as a financial institution, we have to comply with laws and regulations, including limits on new accounts," I was a bit surprised. I didn't think of PayPal as a financial institution. Nor do my banks worry how many purchases I make online via their cards - other than to take an excess transaction fee.
It does, however, quote a correct phone number.
All in all, ambiguous in my opinion. Perhaps the plethora of scams has made me paranoid. In the worst case, if my account was limited because I fail to reply to a genuine email, I can still shop using my cards.
I guess there are three questions -
- Is the email genuine or not?
- How can PayPal make us scam-era paranoids believe their emails are real?
- It it's a scam, have the scammers read up on PayPal and now found fixes to such things as the generic greeting?
