Examples of Suspected Fraud or Fake Emails

[PayPal_Andy]

Hey Everybody!

In an effort to make things easier to find and research, I'm going to consolidate as many threads as possible where we have examples of people trying to defraud hard working sellers (Craigslist emails, 'PayPal' emails asking you to send money outside of PayPal, etc).  This will also be used as a master thread for future posts regarding this same situation.

When you post your examples here, please remember to not include last names or contact information of whoever is sending these emails.  There's no way to confirm if that person has been defrauded as well and the name is being used fraudulently.

Thanks for your cooperation and remember, keep the conversation productive, on task, and above all, keep it clean. I know these things can be difficult and frustrating, but bleep filled posts or posts that look like government redacted files will never benefit anyone. 😄

Andy

[CN10]

I got this email and it freaked me out... has to be fake as I never really even use my PayPal and I certainly don't receive money. But what do I do? Anything? Hello! I have a rather delicate issue, which touches directly to you. Be not surprised from where I learned about you! The matter is that I have got already a fourth letter from the unknown person who accuses you of fraud. He insists, that you forced him transfer funds on your PayPal account under imaginary pretext. Andat the same time he pointed out your private information up to address: C N 1... L St P Tx 77... Now he is collecting signatures and planing to go to the police. I recommend you to download the information that he sent to me. I have attached Nll.doc with a copy of all of his emails. Document was encrypted - 4700 Please explain to me what's going on. I think that all of this was a ridiculous misunderstanding. I look forward to hearing from you, Telma Egar

[KDfree]

Just got the exact same worded email but from a different "sender". Since I rarely use PayPal, and nothing I have used it for has been for anything other than goods purchased, I didn't even open the attachment.

[Barbitsme]

This is the email I just received.  I never ordered this item and never heard of this company. 

Dear ,

You authorised a payment of $60.00 CAD to Hermès.

Your funds will be transferred when the merchant processes your payment. Any money in your PayPal account at that time will be used before any other payment source.

It may take a few moments for this transaction to appear in your account.

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Merchant - Hermès Sellier (Hermès)

Cavald'Or bangle x 1  Item Number H219AC48988     $60.00 CAD

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Charge will appear on your credit card statement as 'PAYPAL *HERMESPARIS'

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Issues with this transaction?

You can cancel this order at any time before shipping: http://ordstore7bx.apistorecan.com/

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You have 24 hours to cancel your order without beeing charged.

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Yours sincerely,

PayPal

Please do not reply to this email. To get in touch with us, click Help & Contact.

[phooey2u]

I was ready to hit the "Verify your account" button, but looked back thru the email first and spotted the misspelled word, "seervices". Whoever sent this email to me is in Tokyo, Japan and using Firefox 57.0. I'm not using that browser. There's no alerts in my Paypal accounts. Glad I didn't panic.

[Sweetaylorb]

An indicator of a fake PayPal email is when you click on log in from that email the website will never say PayPal, it was in this case <removed link> Be aware!

[GrantRCanada]

Just thought I should report that someone has apparently found a way around whatever "automatic review" process you have set up when a suspicious e-mail is forwarded to spoof@paypal.com.  I received an e-mail today CLEARLY purporting to be from PayPal - i.e. using the PayPal logo, stating in the text that it is from PayPal, and so on. (There is apparently no way to attach a copy of this e-mail here, but I do have a screencapture image of it available. at this URL: http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i219/GrantRCanada/Fake%20email_zpsp8uk4v2o.gif

However, when I forwarded it to 'spoof@paypal.com", I got an immediate - and apparently automatic - response saying: " Unfortunately, we're unable to determine if this email is considered phishing because the email did not claim to come from PayPal."  (Emphasis added.)

Looks like something in your sytem needs revamping!

[DPCreations]

This is a PayPal user forum; it is not PayPal customer service. You will need to contact PayPal directly for information.

[ma1625]

Received a paypal look alike email verifying my account.

THis is after I made a purchase from WISH.com

Important – We noticed unusual activity in your PayPal account

	Reference #PP-003-644-714-998 Account Status Update Response required Change your password and security questions Upon receipt Log in to your PayPal account as soon as possible Dear Customer, Recently, we noticed an unusual activity in your PayPal account. Please log in to your PayPal account to confirm your identity and update your password and security questions. To help protect your PayPal account, no one can withdraw money or send money. In addition, no one can close your account, send refunds, remove credit cards, remove any bank accounts, add a bank account, add a card, or add money to your account. What's going on? We're concerned that someone is using your PayPal account without your knowledge. Recent activity from your PayPal account seems to have occurred from a suspicious location or under unusual circumstances. What to do?Log in to your PayPal account as soon as possible. We may ask you to confirm information you provided when you created your PayPal account to make sure you're the account holder. We'll then ask you to change your password and security questions. You should also do the following for your own protection: Log in Here. Provide the information needed. The sooner your provide the information we need, the sooner we can resolve the situation. What's next? Please log in to your PayPal account and follow the steps there to confirm your identity and recent account activity. To help protect your account, your PayPal account will remain limited until you complete the necessary steps. If you need further assistance, please click Contact at the bottom of any PayPal page. Sincerely, PayPal

Help Centre | Security Centre

Please do not reply to this email because we are not monitoring this inbox. To get in touch with us, log in to your account and click "Contact Us" at the bottom of any page.

Copyright © 1999-2017 PayPal Inc. All rights reserved.

Consumer advisory: PayPal Pte Ltd, the Holder of the PayPalâ„¢ payment service stored value facility, does not require the approval of the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Consumers (users) are advised to read the terms and conditions carefully.

[Quandary]

* Forward the entire email to:    spoof@paypal.com.
* Do not alter the subject line or forward the message as an attachment.
* Delete the suspicious email from your inbox.
* Never click on any links within the email or open any attachments.

[Santos1]

Last night I received a very real Phishing email.  Logo, details, etc very realistic.  Since the purchase was to an address in Indonesia that I didn't recognize, I clicked Block this purchase, which directed me to another  very realistic website where I should log in to block.  At that point, I backed out to check my PayPal account independenty in case my wife had used PayPal to buy something.  Finding no purchase info, I will send the mail to my spam folder and delete.

Is there any way to alert PP about this site?  Should I forward the mail? To?