Fake Paypal email, or Breach into my account.

StAntoine
Contributor
Contributor

I have a personal account, and use it very rarely, and I honestly dont understand paypal very well. My issue is that I received an extremely realistic email(possibly a scam), that tells me that I paid for something. Which I did not. But I was wondering if it was a scam, or is it possible that paypal sends you an email of your transaction, before it appears on the Paypal account? Secondly, if it is not a scam, and there was indeed a transaction, then it is not mine, and I dont even have the funds to pay for it . And I want to know how to stop it. Thirdly , I've been trying to close definitively my account or at least dissociate my PayPal from my bank, without much improvement, how may I do it? Thanks in advance.

Login to Me Too
1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Accepted Solutions
Solved

kernowlass
Esteemed Advisor
Esteemed Advisor

@StAntoine 

 

If its a spoof then NEVER USE ANY LINK OR ANY PHONE NUMBER.

Firstly if the email/text addressed you as ''Dear Member'' / ''Customer'' / ''Client'' OR your ''email address'' then that confirms its a spoof as paypal would address you by your full name eg Dear John Smith.

Secondly if there was a link OR attachment in that email/text to ''cancel'' any transaction or ''confirm'' any details then again it would be a spoof.

Also if they ask you to call the number in the email then it would be fake paypal agents trying to scam you for money to 'fix' something. 

If there was a problem with your account Paypal would not ask you to click on an unsafe link in an email / download an attachment OR phone them on a number in an email, they would direct you to log in normally and go to the resolution or the message centre for more information.

More info here >>
https://www.paypal.com/us/selfhelp/article/how-to-spot-fake-emails-faq2340/2
https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/security/suspicious-activity


Advice is voluntary.
Kudos / Solution appreciated.

View solution in original post

Login to Me Too
3 REPLIES 3
Solved

kernowlass
Esteemed Advisor
Esteemed Advisor

@StAntoine 

 

If its a spoof then NEVER USE ANY LINK OR ANY PHONE NUMBER.

Firstly if the email/text addressed you as ''Dear Member'' / ''Customer'' / ''Client'' OR your ''email address'' then that confirms its a spoof as paypal would address you by your full name eg Dear John Smith.

Secondly if there was a link OR attachment in that email/text to ''cancel'' any transaction or ''confirm'' any details then again it would be a spoof.

Also if they ask you to call the number in the email then it would be fake paypal agents trying to scam you for money to 'fix' something. 

If there was a problem with your account Paypal would not ask you to click on an unsafe link in an email / download an attachment OR phone them on a number in an email, they would direct you to log in normally and go to the resolution or the message centre for more information.

More info here >>
https://www.paypal.com/us/selfhelp/article/how-to-spot-fake-emails-faq2340/2
https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/security/suspicious-activity


Advice is voluntary.
Kudos / Solution appreciated.
Login to Me Too

Riverway
New Community Member

The email has Paypal logo and, but says it is from "Sperling". I had one last week from a different name. I believe they may be linked to a purchase that I made from a source that claimed to have delivered the merchandise, but did not. I have received a refund for that, but immediately started getting these notices of pending charges. The first was for an ipad. The next 2 were not specified.... I will be deleting these emails from now on. How do I know they are fake without opening them? 

Login to Me Too

PayPal_Olivia
Moderator
Moderator

Hi @Riverway,

 

Thank you for your post and for joining the community forum!

 

I understand your desire to be able to tell if an email is fake without opening it. One thing to watch out for is the sender's email address. They may try to mask the email address, however, so that is not the only thing to rely on. I regret that the other indicators do require that you open the email up. You can see more about reviewing an email here

 

If you ever receive an email that purports to be from PayPal that asks you to take action, the safest thing to do is to open a fresh browser window without following any links, type paypal.com into the address bar, and log in to your account from there. Most often, there would be messaging in your account that directs you to take the action described in the email if the email is legitimate.

 

I hope this helps!

 

Olivia

 

If this post or any other was helpful, please enrich the Community by giving kudos to its author, accepting it as a solution, and/or coming back to assist others. Members make this Community great!
Login to Me Too

Haven't Found your Answer?

It happens. Hit the "Login to Ask the community" button to create a question for the PayPal community.