Paypal Scam.

Discussion in Scams = To Good To Be True started by pafjlh • Dec 3, 2012.

  1. pafjlh

    pafjlhActive Member

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    If you have a Paypal account like I do you have probably no doubt received this type of email. The email either tells you that you have purchased something (that you of course don't remember purchasing) or that there is a problem with your account. In both situations you are told to click on a url and log into your account. Don't do this, odds are these are this is someone trying to hack into your Paypal account and trying to obtain your log in information from you. Best thing to do in these situations is if your like me you no doubt have the Paypal website in your bookmarks, go to your bookmarks click on Paypal from there and check out your account. Odds are you will find that there is nothing wrong with your account and this was indeed a scam. However, it is important to still check this out, I do know of one situation where someone was sent such a email and thought it was a scam and ignored it, turned out Paypal was trying to alert them to a problem. So, it always a good idea to check this out just to be sure.
     
  2. MoniqueSeibel

    MoniqueSeibelActive Member

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    I recently got an email from "paypal" saying another email address had been added to my account, which was just a complete lie!
     
  3. vpresson

    vpressonWell-Known Member

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    I have gotten that email like twice but i always just delete it cause i know it isn't real. The first time i did click on it and it was saying someone sent me 500 dollars but i was like no way so i didn't go into it any further. I hate it when people try to scam others out of money.
     
  4. addicted_buyer

    addicted_buyerExpert

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    I've gotten so many scams e-mails from "PayPal" that I lost count! I always make sure to check the sender of the e-mail (should be @paypal.com) and that, if there are any links in the e-mail, they belong to paypal.com and not any other.

    By the way, does anyone know if the e-mails you get asking for feedback after a dispute you opened has been solved are legit? Here's one I got and I couldn't tell if it was really PayPal or not. I'm guessing it is... how would a third party know I opened a dispute anyway?

     
  5. bryce12

    bryce12Active Member

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    Well I get them from time to time. The great thing is that Gmail automatically filters them so they end up in spam folder. There are several ways to check whether the email is genuinely from Paypal, for instance you can send for the sender's address, check the HTTP headers, search for the content in Google to see if others have received similar mails. But one thing you must always remember is NEVER to click on any link in the mail, scammers are smart enough to design a site like Paypal and unless you are careful, you could face a big loss.
     
  6. LovelyLanie

    LovelyLanieMember

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    According to Paypal, they will never send you correspondence with a link to them in it. They are aware of these scams and they warn their customers to never click on a link within a Paypal e-mail because they are always 100% fake. I'm glad that this information was brought up because I'm sure that there are many victims of these types of scams, otherwise people wouldn't be receiving so many of them; after all if it wasn't a lucrative business they wouldn't bother would they?
     
  7. Dogged1

    Dogged1New Member

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    Yeah Lovely is on the money. I've been involved in disputes before with PayPal and that message doesn't look familiar with anything that I've gotten from PayPal. Something else too, folks, be sure and report anything that you might think is a scam. They are very pro-active and really go at it if they are alerted to something. Sometimes I almost can't believe that they're connected so strongly to the jokers over at eBay. EBay support is a whole other creature which should be preserved for another time when I need to let off some steam!
     
  8. Winnie

    WinnieActive Member

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    This is the first time that I have heard about this type of thing. Good thing that you are writing about this in a post because there may be more people out there who need this information.

    I have been a paypal customer for only about 3 months, so I'm a newbie. I may have fallen for this trick that you are writing about here because I would not think that someone is trying to scam me in this particular manner.

    Thanks for the warning. If I get any, I will be sure not to click on to any links in a message from paypal, now that I have this information.
     
  9. Parker

    ParkerWell-Known Member

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    I get email claiming to be from PayPal. They usually go into my spam folder. I find them amusing as it's obviously a scam. I especially like the ones that tell me my deposit of $2345.00 has been approved. Yea, right!
     
  10. bsdgds

    bsdgdsActive Member

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    I just don't respond to those emails and everything tends to work fine.
    Yeah some of the scammer/spammers are the worst.
     
  11. sidney

    sidneyWell-Known Member

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    Well, I seldom get phishing emails from Paypal, maybe because I really don't use Paypal that much, and the email that I use for Paypal was never exposed, but I received tons of phishing emails from "Liberty Reserve" saying that my account was chosen to be the winner of a random contest. Yeah right. :mad: But I know better not to fall for it.

    I think that the best way to avoid these hackers and thieves from scamming us is that we should always verify with Paypal directly at their website 1st before anything else if there is a problem with our account.
     
  12. sue321

    sue321New Member

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    Messages from Paypal should always have your name in them, not just be addressed to Dear Customer.
     
  13. mrsgeedee

    mrsgeedeeActive Member

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    I have never received any of these emails about Paypal. The ones I get recently are from DHL about a certain package for me. I just click delete right away. Never bothered clicking any links or attachments as it can be spam. If there really is something that needs my attention, I have a phone number (if it's genuine transaction or what), they can contact me through there if in case it's urgent.
     
  14. SpiralArchitect

    SpiralArchitectActive Member

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    Wow that one looks fairly legit beyond the basic premise that paypal simply wouldn't ask you to login using your account from a third party site. But that aside, people can sure fall for mails like this if they aren't very careful.
     
  15. caparica007

    caparica007Banned

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    Thanks for the tip. Actually I haven't received any of those e-mail, possibly because I don't keep much money there, as soon as I get 50 or $60 I withdraw the money to my bank account so that no one feels tempted...
     
  16. millerhicks

    millerhicksNew Member

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    I am very surprised to hear of this, actually. I have had my Paypal account for over 10 years and have never had any issues with it or them. I have actually found them to be very reliable and easy to work with. In fact, there was an issue I had with a payment made from another account and had to contact them for assistance. They were extremely helpful in the situation and it was quickly resolved.

    I may be in the minority, but just haven't had that problem with them. actually, I have never even heard of it happening with anyone else I know that also use Paypal. Hopefully, it was a fluke and won't ever happen to you again.
     
  17. jbepp

    jbeppMember

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    I'm a relatively new PayPal user so I'm glad I found this thread.
    I had no idea that PayPal doesn't send emails with links to their services.
     
  18. justusforus

    justusforusActive Member

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    I will call paypal agents at the customer service number. I don't know if this is the same all over, but the real paypal will respond if you send the suspicious email to [email protected]. You should check this address though with customer service.

    The other things I was told as above is that paypal does not use links, nor do they address them to "member", "valued member" or "paypal member". The best advice they gave is if you have a concern call. They are very polite and professional with the calls and it is better to be safe than sorry.
     
  19. broknkyboard

    broknkyboardMember

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    Actually PayPal state that they will never send you any emails similar to the one you've described under any circumstances. The only condition they will actually send you any kind of mail involving a hyperlink to their website or your account is if you request it yourself.
     
  20. mikelouis

    mikelouisActive Member

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    Have you tried contacting PayPal about the issue? I know their customer support might be crappy but it is important that you contact them and make sure they check in your case.