I received an email from “PayPal” asking me to login to my account and update my records or it may be suspended. PayPal is very important to my business and a tool I use every day. Because of this I take emails and messages very serious. Looking at the email something didn’t look right. Instead of an email from @PayPal.com it was @Pay.fr. I don’t know about you but if it’s not a dot com I have my doubts.
What to look for when receiving an email from PayPal
PayPal will always use your first and last name or business name in any emails. So if any of the emails are addressed to “User” or “Member” do not click any links. Also, if the link in the email brings you directly to a site that requires sensitive information like your bank account, credit card or social security number do not enter anything. PayPal will never bring you directly to a page like this.
What I do when receiving an email like this is login directly to my account using PayPal.com and see if there are any alerts or messages that require my attention. If there is something important enough that needs your attention they will post a message in plain site.
After going through your precautionary steps, if you find the email is indeed fraudulent forward it to spoof@paypal.com. They have a department that will work to shut those people down.
Two more pieces of advice:
Get a PayPal Security Key which is an electronic device designed to be carried on a key ring. It creates a random 6 digit security code every 30 seconds. This is to be used with your password for double security. The cost is only $5 but the extra security is priceless. Thanks again to Reece Berg of LLLL.com for turning me on to this last year.
Change your passwords frequently, make them difficult to replicate and do not use the same one for all of your accounts. Read more tips on ElliotsBlog.com and Microsoft.com (both link to password articles).
Take your security serious. As hard as you work to make the money, there is someone working harder to steal it.
I get one of these e-mails once every two months or so. I forward everyone to the spoof e-mail address and every time I am told it is a phishing scam. Watch out for ebay e-mails like this as well. If suspect, send to spoof@ebay.com.
True, I get a ton from eBay as well. Really there are scammers for everything!!!
The domain and extension are a dead give away, of course. However, the spelling and grammar is a red flag too. For starters it reads “biling” (with one L) instead of “billing” (with two L’s as it should be). Then it says “your information ARE out of date”, another mistake… The bad use of English and the .FR extension would make me toss that one right out.
I get alot of these from time to time and from banks I don’t even have an account with. If it’s from a company I work with, I will simply log into the website from my browser as I would do normally, without clicking on anything from any email, and then I check the details there.
It’s a good idea to make a habit of doing it that way. Never click on emails, log in separately to the legitimate site directly from your web browser. Thanks for the heads up!
I use the security that texts me a numeric code that allows me to log in. Without it, you can’t get into the account. Quick, fast and secure. I highly recommend everyone does it
Of course the email of the sender was more than suspicious. But you should know that it is extremely easy to fake the real address.. You can send a mail from @paypal.com or even @whitehouse.gov from any smtp addresse.
So the real thing is to watch the address of the website in your browser : that cannot be faked.
Jen’s righ, the ebay one’s are very convincing indeed, beaware of those too.
As Ebay owns PayPal, there’s lot’s of talk about eBay having people inside their company who do this on purpose. Thinking of it, why do you think these emails sometimes have really personal data about you?
Just google “ebay phishing emails” and you will find tons about it.