Examples of Suspected Fraud/Fake Emails

[PayPal_Adrian]

Hello everyone!

One of the greatest strengths consumers possess against fraud and phishing is education and collaboration.  To help support your safety online, I'm going to open this special thread up for you.  Here, you can post examples of what you believe to be attempts by individuals to defraud you or others of their hard earned valuables and money. 

Before we begin, a few housekeeping points:

• We will be using this as a "master thread," so if we find an example in other areas of the boards, we may merge the post into this one.

• For everyone's safety, please remove any last names or contact information (including email addresses) from your examples.  In many instances, the names provided by fraudsters are fake or may actually be the name of someone they already defrauded. 

• On that same note, please don't ever attempt to confront a fraudster or attempt to track them down.  Instead, turn the information you do have over to your local authorities. 

• Please also remove any links from your posts, as these could potentially go to spoofed or phishing websites.

Other than that, we only ask that you keep it productive and stay within the Forum Decorum and posting guidelines.  I'll be stopping in on a regular basis to clean house and comment on posts, so don't be surprised if you see my mug - or another moderator - stopping in to say hello! 

With that said, I'm going to start moving posts in, so you might see some older examples mixed in with the new posts.  I hope this thread becomes a great resource for everyone!

Stay safe,

Adrian

[AllieGM]

I got two of these within a few minutes:

"(name),

As part of our security check, we regularly screen activity in the PayPal system. We recently contacted you after noticing an issue on your account.We requested information from you for the following reason:
We recently received a report of unauthorized credit card use associated with your account (......).
(name), as a precaution, we have limited access to your PayPal account in order to protect against future unauthorized transactions.
Case ID Number: PP-(.......)

In accordance with PayPal's User Agreement, your account access will remain limited until the issue has been resolved. Unfortunately, if access to your account remains limited for an extended period of time, it may result in further limitations or eventual account closure. We encourage you to follow our verification procedure as soon as possible to help avoid this."

Well, duh, not falling for this, and immediately sent them with full headers to 'spoof'...  and yes, I checked my account in a separate window and it shows no unfamiliar activity.

But, the disturbing thing is, this IS my Paypal e-mail account, AND, they have my full name.

What the ****, Paypal, how could they get this??

Has anyone else had phising mail with their correct name??

[Corki]

I recived this email today. I did NOT respond to it and it had an attachment which I tried to open on my phone but there was nothing there (not sure if that was usch a good idea). I signed into my account and checked for messages for any alerts but there was nothing. 

Here is what the email said:

From: PayPal 
Date: December 8, 2016 at 1:01:47 PM PST
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: PayPal Account Notification

Dear Valued Customer,

We had to limit your personal account because our security system
detected irregular login attempts into your account.
It leads us to believe that someone tried to access your PayPal account without your
knowledge.

Generally, there are a number of reasons why PayPal limits
an account. The aim is to protect you and
the account.

When PayPal limits an account, there are certain actions
that PayPal may prevent you from doing, which includes
receiving, spending, or withdrawing money.

In order to remove the limitation, we need to confirm
your personal information with us. We have sent you a form which is
an attachment file in this email for you to open with your web browser.

After providing some information in the form, our security
team will then review it and immediately take actions
to remove the limitation. Please understand that this is
implemented to safeguard you and your account.

We apologize for any inconvenience.

Thank you,
PayPal

<Attachment466.html>

[AnointedKinship]

I've recieved an email saying I sent X amount of money to "eBay". The email looks pretty real, except that it says "Hello client" instead of my real name. I checked with my bank and PayPal information and no money was sent. When you click on the website, it LOOKS official. EVERYTHING about it. 

Here's a link: <removed>

BEWARE!

[missscoobidou]

fake email from paypal directing me to a site (not working) telling me to change my password

a pourchase i didnt make

did anyone received those?

[Mert_XVI]

Just received the same mail to a non working site im really scared!

[alexboten]

i received this email from Receipt@Paypal it says:

Paypal Store Invoice "No.: 8351243492"

Thank you for your order
|
Order ID:8351243492
Receipt Date: 07/12/2016
Order Total: |$| 83.62
|
Security Notices :
If you have not recently done this order using your Account ID and if you think some one else has access to your account, Cancel This order and change your password :
Cancel This order Now > Account Verification / http://significantpractices.dvrdns.org/u11zmdta2w2mf694fyhro9/
|
Please don’t reply directly to this automatically generated email message.
<removed>, Charlotte, NC 228255
All rights reserved.

But I haven't ordered anything and my paypal account don't show any order or transcation. The link in the email doesn't work, Is this fake or is someone trying to order something with my paypal account?

[kernowlass]

@alexboten

I hope you didn't click on that link to try and log in to your account, because that is how scammers access your log in information.

Read this   >>>

Fake emails, also known as 'phishing' or 'spoof' emails, attempt to trick you into revealing personal or financial information such as bank account details, credit card details and passwords etc. These fake emails often link to fake (spoof) websites where your information can be collected if you type it.

You’ll know that an email is not from PayPal when:

• The email uses a generic greeting like ‘Dear user’ or ‘Hello, PayPal member.’ We'll always address you by your first and last name or the business name on your PayPal account.
• The email requests financial and other personal information. A real email from us will never ask for your bank account number, debit or credit card number etc. Also we'll never ask for your full name, your account password, or the answers to your PayPal security questions in an email.
• The email asks you to provide the tracking number of a dispatched item, before you've received the payment into your PayPal account
• The email includes a software update to install on your computer.

Here are some security tips to help you stay protected online:

• Even if a URL contains the word 'PayPal', it may not be a PayPal webpage.
• When using PayPal, always ensure that the URL address listed at the top of the browser displays as https://www.paypal.com/. The 's' in ‘https’ means the website is secure.
• Look for the 'lock' symbol that appears in the address bar. This symbol indicates that the site you are visiting is secure.

If you think you’ve received a phishing email, forward it to spoof@paypal.co.uk and then delete the fake email from your mailbox. If you‘ve responded to a fraudulent email and believe your PayPal account may now have been accessed, you should report the unauthorised access immediately.

Note:

• If you provided any personal information in response to a phishing email or on a spoof website, change your PayPal password and security questions immediately.
• If you provided any financial information, contact your bank and your credit card issuer and tell them about the situation.
• Review your PayPal account history to check that you recognise all recent payment

[snobored]

I just received a fake receipt of 1000 Fortnite Vbucks for $9.99 from this email after making a Fortnite account.

<removed>

It wasn't visible and there was a PDF file with a link to PayPal to confirm whether I had made the transaction or not.

I changed my PayPal password immediately.

What should I do next? There's no record of any extra transaction happening on my PayPal account.

[Liban]

Hello everyone,

I woke up today to see that I have received an email from paypal stating that I have made a payment of 60$ which I never have. The payment went to an elementary school in Canada. This is the weird part of the story, I got the message on another email that is not connected to a paypal account. How is this possible and if this is a scam why an elementary school?

[kernowlass]

@Liban

Sounds like a spoof, matters not where the payment is supposed to go the idea is that they con you into clicking on a link within that email to cancel it.

That way they can hijack your paypal account OR get your bank or card details.

If you have checked your paypal account by logging in normally and NOT via any link and the transaction is not showing then you are ok.

If there is a link in the email then its a 100% scam.