This a one of those “for what it is worth” posts about account security…
I received a standard “New Login To PayPal” email this morning. It further indicated that a computer format and browser that I do not use (Desktop Chrome Windows 10 NT 10.0) had been the origin somewhere in North Carolina, USA (I live on the other side of the country). Of course I immediately logged into my account, changed the password, and finally enabled two-factor authentication. Then I checked that my balance had not changed. From there I compared the raw source of the initial email against the other PayPal messages I received after making settings changes. All emails were legitimate. No harm, no foul.
Later in the same day, I received another “New Login To PayPal” email with the exact same origin information. No two-factor authentication heads up or change to my account that time either. So, I called PayPal just to report the issue.
Yup, those emails were indeed from PayPal, but the representative could not (or would not) confirm whether an actual unauthorized login attempt had been made. She just assured me that my account was secure in a pre-scripted monotone voice and that the security report would be noted.
Very likely I will never hear anything of my report again. I will also not be surprised if I get more similar emails as before in fine cry wolf fashion. HA, there is a reason that I have kept my account at a zero balance as much as possible for the past two decades.
Peace,
Dr. Z.
