Buzz
How scammers target your PayPal account and how to deal with them
1. Scamming through phishing PayPal emails.
2. Identifying phishing emails.
2.1. Check the sender's address.
2.2. Look at the greeting in the email.
2.3. Verify the email.
2.4. Does the email contain links? Verify them.
2.5. Is personal information requested?
2.6. Grammar and spelling errors.
3. Fake PayPal websites.
1. Scamming through Phishing PayPal Emails
Scammers often employ the following deceptive tactics:
+ Your account has been restricted due to unauthorized transactions.
+ You've been refunded.
+ You've received a payment.
+ You've sent a payment.
+ Account verification required.
+ Personal information needed to safeguard your account.
+ Email address confirmation required.
+ Account information update needed, etc.
Those emails will attempt to:
+ Persuade you to enter login information on a phishing website.
+ Persuade you to call a fake customer support number and provide login information.
2. Identifying Phishing Emails:
2.1. Checking the Sender's Address.
When you receive an email from PayPal, always double-check the email address. In many cases, you may notice suspicious things like: [email protected], [email protected], etc. Sometimes, it looks very real, but upon closer inspection, you'll see that the sender's name and address are entirely unrelated.
2.2. Looking at the Greeting in the Email.
An email from PayPal will always include the full name of the individual or business customer in the opening greeting. If you see something like 'Dear PayPal member,' or 'Dear valued customer,' then ignore it. That's a sign of a phishing email.
2.3. Checking for Email Attachments.
Pay attention if the email you receive asks you to check an attached file for more details. Official emails from PayPal will never include attachments; they will only prompt you to log in to your account to check information.
2.4. Does the Email Contain Links? Verify Them.
When you look at emails sent from PayPal, you'll notice that most of them don't contain links asking you to click. The majority of emails are notifications about payment transactions you've made. For instance, some emails informing you about received payments may include links.
If you notice links in the email, verify by hovering over them to see where they actually lead (without clicking). All legitimate links will lead to https://www.paypal.com/***. If you notice anything else, including the absence of the correct address on an unsafe webpage (http: // instead of https: //), disregard the email. Most phishing emails will include links to spoofed websites, as that's a way to steal your login information.
2.5. Is Personal Information Requested?
After thoroughly reviewing the above contents but still not detecting any issues, check if the email requests any personal information, such as credit card or debit card numbers, bank account details, driver's license numbers, email passwords. PayPal will never request any detailed personal information via email.
2.6. Grammar and Spelling Errors
Many fraudulent emails via PayPal are written in non-standard English, filled with grammar and spelling errors. Another sign is to look at punctuation marks.
When you encounter a fake email, what should you do? The best course of action is to ignore or delete them. If you want to help other users avoid similar emails, forward the email to [email protected] to report fraudulent behavior to PayPal, and then delete it immediately.
3. Fake PayPal Websites
Fake PayPal websites are an extension of phishing emails, often linked to these emails. A fake PayPal website may look identical to the real PayPal, but when you attempt to log in, it will only steal your username and password. There are 3 things you need to pay attention to:
+ Have you actually accessed the website www.paypal.com?
+ If the address is indeed www.paypal.com, is it https or http?
+ Do you see the padlock icon (this icon does not appear in IE9 or lower)?
If all three (or the first two) factors are correct, you're safe. Additionally, there are some extremely sophisticated scams appearing on PayPal servers, redirecting you to other pages, asking you to log in and retrieve your personal information, your account details.
If you feel Paypal is not secure, you can use alternative services such as Payoneer, for example, learn more about this service through the article Comparing Payoneer with Paypal to choose the best service with lower fees?
