Fraud and Phishing: Possible bitcoin phishing scam

libra94
New Community Member

My wife received an email. It said that she recently bought bitcoin via paypal. She has never had a paypal account and has never bought bitcoin. It's apparently a scam hoping she would put in a working password. It's our best thinking.  I tried to log into paypal with her email and a fake password.  It said the into was partially correct.  It seems they actually created a paypal account with her email address.  I have not been able verify this but I see no other way.

 

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kernowlass
Esteemed Advisor
Esteemed Advisor

@libra94 

 

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/smarthelp/article/how-do-i-spot-and-report-a-fake%2C-fraudulent%2C-or-phis...
https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/security/suspicious-activity



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