Urgent from Mrs. Bankrupt! If you never viewed this blog in its entirety, it’s time to do so now. Not reading this can cost you money and your credit. There’s a scam going around meant to deceive individuals into coughing up their Paypal banking information.
An exceedingly credible email is being circulated, which informs you of unauthorized changes to your Paypal account. It goes on to state, “these changes may be due to use from a different IP address or location”. (See below for email). Then it asks you to verify your information. When you click on the link, it takes you to the “Paypal” site where you are prompted for your bank account, mother’s place of birth (all items I use for actual Paypal verification).
I have six email addresses. This came only to the sole email tied to my Paypal account, btw. (Which was either a strange coincidence or the product of more spyware).
The site also prompts you for your ATM PIN! I left the email in it’s fullness below, with the link. If you click on it (use caution if you do) (and make sure you give NO information)- you will see a page that mimics Paypals main page almost exactly. However, you can put any email and any password in to go to the “verify information” page. ( I used this login: Obama@whitehouse.net and a password of “spammersgotojail”) and it still brought me to the next page. ( Please note- I did this as a test, I don’t advise entering any information). Of course, the real Paypal wouldn’t let anyone slip through with that pseudo email or password. But, in the interest of fiscal journalism, I took the plunge in your stead.
A few items to sort scammers:
- Scrutinize the email address spam was sent from. (In this case, it was sent from a Yahoo! email address, NOT PayPal)
- If you do click on the link, as I did, once there, prior to giving any information, click on the tabs. If you were at the real PayPal site, you’d find their home page, help desk, etc. In this case, these links were invalid.
- Look for https in the browser (not just http). Security is shown by the “S” at the end of the https. Anytime you need to enter information, always look for a secure session via https. The fraud link I’m describing provoked this to show up in my browser: http://www.ppmasterpoker.byethost32.com/dB/process.php
- Poor grammar or spelling. This “Paypal” email had no errors. Improper English is not always an indicator, but it is something to watch for.
- NEVER (ever) give out your PIN number, especially in conjunction with your social security number. Only God and you should know some details. Along with what happens in Vegas, that’s one of them.
- It’s best to visit accounts requiring secure information (purchases, payments, etc) directly instead of linking to them.
- If you have questions as to the validity of any emails, contact the site directly. Log out of site asking for information, and re-log into the company’s main web page. Send an email inquiry asking if there is a problem with your account.
- Sometimes security is really hacked. My own bank and Elance ( a site I write for) had security breaches recently. An official email was sent to me to recertify information. The links took me directly to their sites. I also verified this with a follow up phone call to each site.
- Go to Google and search for “Scam regarding X” issue or email header. Odds are, if there’s a scam, someone’s written about it. Read reviews/complaints.
- Watch the dates on these things too. If you look at the very fine print on this one, it’s dated two days from now. Spammers emails frequently have wrong dates.
- If you worry you’ve entered information in a spammer’s site by mistake, immediately contact your financial institutions and change all your passwords.
- Often spam comes with viruses and hidden spyware. Run a free virus/spyware check using AVG and Spybot if you receive one and especially if you’ve opened a link.
AVG Link- http://free.avg.com/download-avg-anti-virus-free-edition’
Spybot Link- http://searchdestroydownload.com/
Still think you’re too savvy to get taken in by these ruses? See the email below, along with their link asking for my information. It looks pretty credible doesn’t it? As I write about credit, finances and savings, I couldn’t neglect informing you about this one. Protect your credit by being Spam-Aware.
Bogus email:
Tuesday, September 01, 2009
2:16 PM