Pay pal attempted scams

dunnyrail

dunnyrail

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In the last few days I have had two attempted scams on my PP Account. Not actual attack with money taken I hasten to add, but mails showing purchases that look like the real thing and clearly are not. Nor have they been made by me. These things attempt to get you to sign in with your password and then scam your Bank or Credit Card details. I have just got so sick of this and worry that somehow someone may just get in that I have personally decided to cease all my dealings with PP. To that end I have deleted my Bank Details and my CC was out of date anyway. Shame really as I liked the concept of PP, but it is for me just getting too risky.

I am NOT advising any of you to do this, heaven forbid I create a litageous situation for the Forum by posting such suggestion. Just telling you what I have done.

So it is good by from me and goodby from me PP.

I can of course still purchase from Ebay by quoting a CC when I buy.
JonD
 
When ever I recived the email informing me that a attempt to scam/withdraw money ect from pay pal..Lloyd's bank .tsb...nat West ect..
1st I ask do I actually have a acount at nat West..tsb Lloyd's..ect..
Secondly...if in fact I do have a acount with John smiths bank (or any bank) I Never,Ever.use the link in the email..
I go to my acount the normal way..either via Google..or the banking app.. paypal the same..never use the link in the email
 
I too have had various emails purorting to be from PP. Some bogus purchases and some just trying to get me to verify my account. Fortunately so far they have been reasonably easy to spot usually by the email address that they have come from, as much as anything. I alway report them back to PP. With the banks, I just don't give them an email address. If they haven't got my email address they can't be genuinely emailing me.
 
mike said:
I Never,Ever.use the link in the email..
I go to my account the normal way..either via Google..or the banking app.. paypal the same..never use the link in the email
Click to expand...

Standard practice for me too. I does worry me though that PP is the only on-line payment method I use that I am aware of that has a back door to my bank account. Don't do internet banking as the banks seem to try to wriggle out of their responsibilities at every turn - see R4 "You & Yours" and "Money Box" ad nauseum. Max
 
Paypal will never email you and ask for you to log in from the email.
If you get an email from Paypal that asks you to do this then it is a 'phishing' email and you should either totally ignore it and delete or ,,,,,, forward (using the forward function of your email programme) to 'spoof@paypal.com'.
This will go to their security department and trigger their system to investigate and respond to the source of the 'phishing' email........ so no one else will get scammed by the 'phishing'.

No bank or credit card will ask you to login from an email.... if you get one that does then ignore, delete ...... you probably get the picture.

Paypal, is in fact, probably the safest and most protected of all the banks that do online control of an account.

It is a fact that we have to be ever more aware of the way that scammers are after our money online and take steps to not let them.... a bit like the real world where you cover the pin pad when you are at a hole in the wall, just in case etc etc....

Never go to an account from an email link where you have money that could be sucked (bank, credit card, store card etc).
ALWAYS only login directly to the account by opening a new browser window or even a different browser if you are using a web-mail account (Hotmail, yahoo, gmail etc) for your email.
 
It's a sad fact of life, but don't get paranoid about it just be sensible and follow the practices as above. For me the advantages far outweigh the minor nuisance of these obvious scams coming through from time to time.
 
I never even open them, forward to 'spoof (at) paypal. com' Give them a chance to chase the scammers.
 
What Mike said. Immediately forward it to Paypal. Have had the same messages in the past.....:swear:
 
I would agree with Beavercreek Mike about Paypal being one of the safest ways of online funds transfer/banking, they have to be otherwise folks would leave them in droves and they'd go belly-up.....
Sure, we've all heard horror stories (a lot of them at least third-hand I suspect) about people having trouble with Paypal, but I hardly use anything else for my business (95% of which is online) - I used to offer my customers a choice of Paypal or direct credit-card processing via Barclays Merchant Services, but after a while I dropped the card processing for the simple reason that almost all of my customers chose to use Paypal, so there wasn't enough going through the BMS gateway to make their monthly fees worth paying! Now I use Paypal exclusively, of course my customers can still use their cards through the PP gateway without having to have a PP account themselves, and it all seems to work just fine.

I actually think that the fact that all these phishing scams are around trying to get the unwary to reveal details of their Paypal accounts is really an indication of just how secure PP's own online security really is - because if the scammers and hackers could get into peoples' accounts by any other means, then you can bet they would be doing so! Generally, phishing scams are pretty easy to spot if you have your wits about you - things like odd email addresses, failure to address you by your full name, and so on.

One small tip I will pass on - for business purposes, I have a separate bank account into which I transfer all incoming funds from Paypal, and then I transfer it again to my main account; so the only account details of mine that Paypal hold are those of this separate, regularly-emptied account; thus if the worst was to happen and some nefarious scrote was to somehow gain access via Paypal, all they would be able to get at is the "transit" account rather than any of my others. Given that you can open a simple free account at pretty much any bank, some people might find that worth doing for personal purchases, just as an extra "firewall" for peace of mind....?

Jon.
 
I agree with Jon, above. Also Paypal gives the supplier your address details - no need to retype them for every purchase and never get them wrong. Finally, the bank (Paypal and C/Cards) really do not want people to stop using the system, so they will refund you for any and every problem unless they seriously think you are the scammer.
 
To add to my previous posting about ways to ensure that you do not get 'phished'.
Like Jon (Zerogee) I too have a different Paypal account (to my everyday one) for my receiving payments for the business. Although I prefer bank transfers for anything over £150, I find that more and more people prefer Paypal. So, on selling a piece of artwork which has been paid for using Paypal, I immediately empty it. I also, on that 'front' Paypal account, have not enabled the ability to pay for anything from the bank account that is attached to it.
So in the very likely situation that a miscreant gets through they will not be able to buy anything using it.

I also empty the everyday Paypal account very regularly.... especially when I have managed to sell a few train related things :D.......
 
As it has been pointed out, there are some unpleasant folk about. Nothing new about that. The problem with on-line fraud is that, although its usually easy to spot for most people, it isn't for the more vulnerable members of society, and the crooks are aware of this so obviously take advantage. Most scamming posts or mails are badly written or spelt so that, although most of us can spot them, the less able are taken in and can be more easily duped and led into revealing more than they should. That's why keeping an eye on the more vulnerable people in your circle is so important.
Paul
 
Yep - all of the above, but........

Paypal is one of the best online transaction systems, better than any of the banks so...............

Just because a scammer tries, it does not mean that Paypal, or your bank is compromised.

By a rather frustrating chance, my parents decided to call me by my second name, and I tend to use both names when dealing with banks / online payment mechanisms. In this way, I have a fairly instantly recognisable method of detection as a coarse filter, because they rarely adress me as Mr 'Christian Name', 'Christian Name', 'Surname.'

Equally, none of the reputable banks / payment mechanisms will contact you in a way that asks you to divulge your security details. My wife was trying to do business with our bank over the phone, which we have been with for many, many years, and she was not comfortable with the line of questioning. In fact, they were doing it by the book, but were not helpful when questioned. When when reported it to the branch, they referred it to HQ who listened to the tapes, and confirmed that the operator, when questioned by my wife, did not give the correct responses and customer care, and she received somewhere between £30 & £60 compo.

There are two basic rules:

  1. Don't divulge your security details (passwords, PIN etc)
  2. If the offer is to good to be true, it most probably is

If you stick to these rules, you don't need to let the scammers win, or upset your day, or prevent you from using the reputable online payment systems.

:party::party::party::party::party::party::party::party::party::party::party::party::party::party:
 
Although I have loads of protection on my PC, using Yahoo for my email address is useful too. Any Phishing emails are usually (but not 100%) sent to Spam. I can then examine using 'View Raw Message' and it usually says "not permitted sender" or suchlike.

If a message does find its' way into my Inbox, then I move it to Spam and this ensures that any future messages that are the same go there.
Of course, the fraudsters hijack other peoples' addresses to be one step ahead of the system so you have to be vigilant.

Telephone calls (on landline) are another source of entertainment. I have quite a loud shout when I get annoyed with persistence. The old anglo-saxon two word expletive usually means they get the message if not burst eardrums. That's Bombay off the line.

And Paypal is the best thing since sliced bread for the likes of me as a purchaser!
 
trammayo said:
Telephone calls (on landline) are another source of entertainment.
Click to expand...

I sometimes use the 'silent' trick......... quietly place the receiver on the bench, and walk away. Come back 5 mins later, and ask if they are still there.....

Most of them have been very rude, having hung up on me.

I can also do a pretty fair imitation of Peter Sellers' subcontinental accent.... calls from Bombay can be interesting, they can not understand the words (both of them) that I am saying to them.
 
With cold callers I take the line that I am not the householder and that, sadly, either His Lordship is travelling abroad and the Estate Manager is out shooting, and so I can be of no assistance. Occasionally, the Lord Abbot is at prayer, and so is unable to speak with the caller.
 
Interesting replies guys, I probably should have said in my original that I instantly recognized the Scam Mails (purchase attemots) and reported them back to PP spoof as suggested. And I do agree that the convenience of PP is a great asset. I did last year get my 2 SloMo's from Oz by this method, pretty well the only option in Town. However I use PP infrequently now so may just revise my views, perhaps setting up another Bank Account that only has limited funds in for known purchases. Bit of a pain, but I could do it. Incidently I have also had a similar type of scam from Amazon so Net Purchasing in general would appear to have its issues across the board. Be wary is cetainly good advice. I also like the concept of a new email address for only such things. But ot might get harvested in the same way that they all do. Not sure about that one.
JonD
 
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