Text message from <removed>

[Rutro]

I received a txt from <removed> asking the following is this from paypal?

Msg from PayPal: Transaction of -$**.00 USD with The **** **** on May 9, 2017 has been marked as suspicious. Reply "Yes" if authorized or "No" if not authorized.

I did make the transaction but have never received this before and in todays world, one never knows.

THX

[Veraxus]

Just got one of these, myself.

Paypal DOES use this number for sending MFA codes. The thing is, Paypal clearly doesn't own or operate the number directly, they just use a notification service (like Amazon SNS) to send the messages on their behalf.

It appears that someone figured out what service Paypal uses for SMS notifications and decided to use that same service to send scam messages impersonating Paypal. You should not trust any messages from this number as it's clearly been compromised.

[Mrussell]

I got that text today. I suspect that they get your number when you make a payment. Either the recipient of your payment is a scammer, or he has malware on his computer. I just made a payment to a Canadian seller (I'm in the US) and minutes later I get a text saying that a payment won't go through. What its trying to do is get you to send a payment via text message. Presumably, this is easier to get away with than fake auctions. In any event, it seems fishy.

[FahimPlayz]

I was really confused too but after all these comments saying not to worry about it and it being shady I will just ignore the text message thank you all!

[Roxy7777777]

I got a text from this number before I purchased anything giving me a confirmation code to reply to within 5 minutes. it said please dont reply. then i got another text when i made a purchase a few hours later, with the correct amount and vendor, marked suspicious. very strange.

[JosePozosOviedo]

I got this: PayPal: The withdrawal of to on was marked as suspicious. Reply "Yes" if authorized or "No" if not authorized. No amount, no dates.. I recently have received a refund from Ebay, they putted the money in my Paypal Account and they started the withdrawal to my bank account. Unsure whether the text is related to this transaction

[GraceLeung]

Also have the same type of message. Really odd, best idea is to block it and delete the text. “PayPal A -$150.00 USD transaction with (I removed their name here) on November 29, 2018 was marked suspicious. Please reply "Yes" if authorized or "No" if not authorized.”

[Gemineye]

I received an odd text today from said number-729-725.Today@8:22AM "PayPal Fraud Alert:Are you trying to pay 489.00 RUB? If yes, reply 1. If no, reply 2. Msg&Data rates apply."  I googled it and "thought" it was a scam and ignored it. Some hours later I log into PayPal and see 2 transactions for $489.00 RUB each from Google Payment Corporation. Utterly confused I check my e-mail, thinking maybe I signed up for a free trial and forgot to cancel it(though I still didn't understand why the currency was in RUB and not US $). No messages so I check my bank account where I find EIGHT pending transactions for $7.64 each. I then looked back at the text from Paypal and replied "2" for no.  I immediately received a message saying"Thanks for confirming.We've declined the transaction yada yada yada". So I go to Paypal and have to change my password. No Problem. Done. Then it wants to verify the bank account is mine. Fine, but I'm NOT entering my account number and password. TF? Paypal said they sent 2 small deposits under $1.00 and removed them, and I'm supposed to verify that to gain access to my account. No such deposits exist thus far, so I have no PayPal account at this time. I don't think these text messages should be ignored. I was afraid to reply "2" because I thought it would trigger something, and instead by not replying it triggered 8 attempted payments. I'm now removing all payments from my Google Pay account.

[jhavens]

I sent a payment to a friend of mine today and I received this message not once not twice but THREE times so far asking to verify the transaction.   I got messages at 4:45, 6:11 and 6:53.  This is BS!!  First time should be enough.  I understand being concerned but i gave my authorization in the first reply already 

[Shelly-040]

PayPal: Your phone number is linked to your account. Now, save <removed> to your contact list. To check balance, reply with BAL. Msg and data rates may apply. This is the message I received. I spoke to pay pal and they are looking into the number as its in a few acc on pay pal

[mwelch87]

I talked to these people earlier and they wanted me to go to a local grocery store and purchase a Google Play card to get a refund back from their "hacking division." They got weird when I told them I thought it was a scam and wanted to speak to their manager then he yelled at me and told me "he told you to buy a google play card with $100 on it and you didn't do it." and so I called Paypal and told them what was going on. They basically were trying to get me to login in my account after they had a failed attempt to do so and send them $100 worth of google play money? The guy I talked to was "Mike <removed>" and he sounded foreign.