PayPal Scam Warning. 16.07.2020

Scams
1

An email I received today from PayPal warning customers regarding scams.

"Hi XXXX,

With so many emails flowing in and out of our inboxes every day, it’s hard to know which is ‘fishy’ and which isn’t. As online hoaxes are getting more sophisticated, it’s important to learn how to spot the fakes to stay safer online.

If you believe you’ve received a phishing email that appears to have come from PayPal, don’t respond and don’t click on any links or open any attachments. Simply forward the entire email to spoof@paypal.com and delete it.

Learn more
Here’s how to protect yourself against online scams:

1. How to identify a phishing email?

• Generic email greetings. Emails from PayPal will always address you by your given surname and name.
• URLs that looks deceptive and unauthentic to PayPal.
• Wrong, out of date or out of place logos, design and type

Learn more

2. How to spot a fake email?

• False sense of urgency
• Attachments – A real email from PayPal will never include an attachment or software.
• If you are unsure whether a PayPal email is legitimate or not, login to your PayPal account and you’ll be able to see any urgent message from PayPal directly.

Learn more

3. How to identify scams?

• The promise of money in return for a favour
• Notifications of lottery wins
• Unsolicited job offers

Learn more

4. Communicate with PayPal the
safe way. Always log in at
PayPal.com to update your personal information.

• Credit and debit card numbers
• Bank account numbers
• Driving licence numbers
• Email addresses
• Password
• Your full name

Learn more
Keep your guard up
Find out more
Account Help Fees Security Apps Shop

To ensure that you are able to receive our emails, please add @mail.paypal.com to your safe senders list. For more information, please click here.

How do I know this is not a fake email?
Emails from PayPal will always address you by your first name and last name. Fake or “phishing” emails tend to have generic greetings such as “Dear PayPal member”. If unsure, forward the suspicious email to phishing@paypal.com.au and we’ll let you know if it’s really coming from us or not.
Read more about Fake Emails
Copyright © 2020 PayPal, Inc. All rights reserved.

The PayPal service is provided by PayPal Australia Pty Limited (ABN 93 111 195 389) which holds an Australian Financial Services Licence number 304962. Any information provided is general advice only and does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Please consider the Combined Financial Services Guide and Product Disclosure Statement available at [www.paypal.com.au] before acquiring or using the service. This email was sent to xyz , because your email preferences are set to receive marketing communications from PayPal. To unsubscribe, click here and follow the prompts.

Please do not reply to this email. We are unable to respond to enquiries sent to this address. For answers to your questions, please contact us."

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2

Hi Fred,

Thanks for the information you have shared here. These days there are more scams on the internet, and we should take some extra steps for maximum protection.

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3

I sent this email to PayPal after receiving what might have been a genuine email:
“ Is this for real? Nothing evident if I log into my account (not via the link in the email)

——————————————————

Chris McKenzie

Begin forwarded message:

From: PayPal <paypal@mail.paypal.com>
Date: 7 July 2020 at 06:10:17 AEST
To:
Subject: Chris McKenzie, please confirm your identity
Reply-To:

Take a few minutes to confirm your details View Online
[PayPal
500x1
Hi Chris McKenzie,

Due to safety and security requirements, and for the benefit of all users on the network, we need you to verify your identity. This will help to avoid any interruption or limitation on your PayPal account.

Simply click here to log into your PayPal account and click on the notification icon. You’ll be asked to confirm some basic details and it should only take a few minutes.

Once you’re done, you can continue using your PayPal account.

Thank you for shopping with PayPal.

To ensure that you are able to receive our emails, please add @mail.paypal.com to your safe senders list. For more information, please click here.
How do I know this is not a fake email?

Emails from PayPal will always address you by your first name and last name. Fake or “phishing” emails tend to have generic greetings such as “Dear PayPal member”. If unsure, forward the suspicious email to phishing@paypal.com.au and we’ll let you know if it’s really coming from us or not.

Read more about Fake Emails
Copyright © 1999-2020 PayPal, Inc. All rights reserved.1x20The PayPal service is provided by PayPal Australia Pty Limited (ABN 93 111 195 389) which holds an Australian Financial Services Licence number 304962. Any information provided is general advice only and does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Please consider the Combined Financial Services Guide and Product Disclosure Statement available at www.paypal.com.au before acquiring or using the service.1x20Please do not reply to this email. We are unable to respond to enquiries sent to this address. For answers to your questions, please contact us.1x10
640x2”

**But all I received in return was a generic reply:

“
Thank you for your email. We’ve provided some information below to help
you with your question.

If you have questions regarding your dispute or claim, please visit our
Help Center or view your dispute or claim in the Resolution Center. You
can visit the Resolution Center by clicking Help & Contact at the bottom
of any page, then click Resolution Center below the search bar.

If you notice an unauthorized transaction on your account please click
Help & Contact at the bottom of any page then click Contact Customer
Service. On the next page click Password and account access, then click
Report unauthorized access or unknown charges. On this page we’ll
provide you steps to file a report online, or the option to call or
email us.

If you’d like to contact us, please click Help & Contact at the bottom
of any page, then click Contact Customer Service and select the reason
for your contact.

Thanks for being a PayPal customer,
PayPal Security

Please do not reply to this email. If you need to contact us, please
click Help & Contact at the bottom of any PayPal page.

**Not very useful I didn’t think. And I still don’t know about the original email, and PayPal is still working for me

Cheers

Chris **

4 Likes
4

Welcome to the Community @chrisgmckenzie

That’s a phishing email. Paypal do not put links in their emails to direct you to your account login. Delete the message (forward it to the spoof@paypal.com address first if you like). If you used any of the links to your account make sure you change your Paypal password now!

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5

Hi @Fred123

That @mail.paypal.com address looks very suss to me. Any emails you receive from Paypal should be just from paypal.com or paypal.co.uk or paypal.com.au, and most should be paypal.com all without the added mail at the front. I would forward the original email to spoof@paypal.com.

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6

Just looking through about 70 emails I’ve received from Paypal over the past few years, all are from service@paypal.com.au

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7

I treat any emails with links as a phishing email. If the email indicates something important, I always go directly to the business website and check for the information independently of the email. Likewise when accessing any online accounts…never use click links in emails but use the link I have set up in our password manager for logging in.

5 Likes
8

I have had my identity checked for security reasons by PayPal twice in the last ten years . The email address
paypal@mail.paypal ,com is the email that was used . I phoned PayPal Australia on the number given on their web site to check the validity of the email and was informed it was a legitimate security check . They pick you out at random and run a security check .

The second time I ignored the email and my PayPal account was suspended until I touched base with them . Unfortunately due to Corona and downsizing their staff they have taken the phone number down for the time being . Best to contact them through support or maybe it is a computer generated message that can be ignored . The wording of Chris’s email was exactly the same as mine .

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9

Looking online it appears to be a legimate email address…however, one can set reply to different to the sender email. This is something always to look out for as it can indicate a scam/phishing email.

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10

Aye it may be legit but the one from Fred had a link attached that lead to an web page ending in .mht that may or may not be legit. It also appeared to have an active link further down to the paypal account log in. As most of this has been redacted I can’t say but forwarding is a safe option and then going to paypal manually and checking in the notifications if a response is really required.

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11

That is why I phoned them Peter . I naturally was a bit suspicious of the email and would not press any of the links . It turned out they had sent it and all was good . Problem now is that they are saying they are short staffed and the phone number seems to be taken from their official site . Maybe ignore it as it is probably a computer generated check and if they have downsized their staff as quoted on their website there will probably be no follow up .

One thing I do remember is that it takes more than " a couple of minutes " as quoted on the email .

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12

The email address I have been using for some years now to report phishing emails to Paypal is phishing@paypal.com.au

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13

I received an email on 10/07/2020 requesting to confirm my identity on a web address

https://epl.paypal-communication.com/…

Sent copy to phishing@paypal.com.au and all i received was an email stating

“Thank you for your email. We’ve provided some information below to help
you with your question.” - What a load of crap.

Its been 9 days since this email arrived and thats it, i still dont know anymore.
I have been with PayPal since 2012, so not impressed with there lack of response.
Used PayPal a few times since and had no problems logging on or paying for items and there have been no requests to update details during these transactions.

4 Likes
14

Broken down to something easier for most people to understand.

If it was genuine and PayPal wanted me to read it urgently, they’d notify me that I had mail and should login to view it.

By logging in to view it, I would KNOW that it was genuine - if indeed, it was.

4 Likes
15

I received a similar email. Rather than touch anything on the email I deleted it and logged in to my PayPal account the normal way. Once there I was indeed asked to re enter my address AFTER PayPal showed me all the other details. After doing that I received an email from PayPal confirming I had updated details and checking it was me who did it.
So it was In fact a PayPal request in the email, but they shouldn’t have asked me to click on a link as a matter of security protocol

5 Likes