7 Ways to Spot a PayPal Scam E-Mail

 

Paypal is a great site and is used by many to send and receive money. Unfortunately some dishonest people are using the Popularity of Paypal to line their own pockets with gold at the expense of unsuspecting Pay Pal members. These paypal Scam Artists will try to get your Paypal ID and password so they can Login then Clean out your Paypal Account of all funds. 

Paypal is fully aware of this problem and is doing everything possible to stop this. Unfortunately if someone logs into an account with a valid Id and Password it is very hard for Paypal or any other secure site for that matter to stop it. As a Consumer you need to be educated so you can protect yourself.

A Typical Paypal Scam Artist will send you an e-mail requesting that you update your account. Often this request to update your account is made under some false pretence like it is suspended or has been suspected of Fraudulent use. 

Here is a Copy of a recent Paypal Scam E-mail I received  [http://ewguru.com/hbiz/scam.html].  You will notice the Pay Pal Link on this page looks real. Don't click it. You can however do a right click properties and notice that it is in fact a phony link.

Paypal has an excellent online Article about how to spot Fake E_mails. Much of the Material in this article is derived from the paypal site http://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/abuser?cmd=kept/general/SecuritySpoof

Here are 7 ways to spot a Pay Pal Scam E-mail and Protect Yourself from Identity Theft

1 - Wrong E-Mail Address

Any E-mail Sent to an E-mail Address that is Not Your Primary Pay Pal E-mail Account is more then likely a scam.

2 - Fake links

After you click on the Link if it doesn't Start https://www.paypal.com then it is a Fake Link. Even if it says Paypal in it somewhere it is a Fake Link. The term "https" should always precede any website address where you enter personal information. The "s" stands for secure. If you don't see "https," you're not in a secure web session, and you should not enter data. 
(This goes for any payment Processor including your online Bank Accounts)

3 - Subject Lines

Subject like Please Restore Your Account Access.

4 - Generic greetings

Lot's of emails begin with a Greeting, such as: "Dear PayPal member. Paypal knows the name you used when you registered your account

5 - Action Required Now

Many Fake emails try to trick you with the threat that your account is in jeopardy if you don't sign in and fix it NOW!

6 - HTML Emails

Emails that appear to be websites. Some emails will look like a website in order to get you to enter personal information. PayPal never asks for personal information in an e-mail.

7. Misspellings and bad grammar

Fake emails may contain misspellings, incorrect grammar, missing words. Many Times these are used to trick the E-mail Filters

A quick review

If you receive an E-mail with a Link requesting you to click on the link and sign in to your Pay Pal account, Don't Do It!

If you receive an E-mail with what looks like a Paypal Sign in Form, Don't Sign in!

If you are unsure if the e-mail is Real or fake forward it to spoof@paypal.com and request assistance.