posted on July 21, 2003 09:13:16 AM new
Received the following e-mail from PayPal and it looks legit, but when I clicked on the link it asked for my password and then wanted all sorts of info including my bank account number, credit card number and soc. sec. number. I wrote to PayPal to ask if it was legit but haven't heard back. I also changed my password.
Last week my debit card numbers were used to make purchases from somewhere in Italy; they weren't made by me. I just opened a new bank account Friday and I'm jittery as could be about giving out ANY private info. I have changed my passwords on eBay, AZ, everywhere I have an account.
Here is the e-mail header first:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Return-path: <[email protected]>
Received: from mtain09 (mtain09-qfe0.icomcast.net [172.20.3.60])
by msgstore05.icomcast.net
(iPlanet Messaging Server 5.2 HotFix 1.16 (built May 14 2003))
with ESMTP id <[email protected]> for [email protected];
Mon, 21 Jul 2003 10:54:57 -0400 (EDT)
Received: from sccrgxc03.comcast.net (sccrgxc03.comcast.net [204.127.202.63])
by mtain09.icomcast.net
(iPlanet Messaging Server 5.2 HotFix 1.16 (built May 14 2003))
with ESMTP id <[email protected]> for [email protected]
(ORCPT [email protected]); Mon, 21 Jul 2003 10:54:57 -0400 (EDT)
Received: from VALUED-5E2B8C56
(ppp57.dyn217.pacific.net.ph[210.23.217.57](untrusted sender))
by comcast.net (sccrgxc03) with SMTP id <20030721145451e0300rvom4e>; Mon,
21 Jul 2003 14:54:52 +0000
Date: Mon, 21 Jul 2003 22:54:58 +0000
From: "[email protected]" <[email protected]>
Subject: Paypal Member ID Confirmation
Dear Paypal User,
We are currently performing regular maintenance of our Security Measures. Your account has been randomly selected for this maintenance, and you will now be taken through a series of identity verification pages.
Protecting the security of your Paypal account is our primary concern, and we apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
Please confirm your account ownership by entering the information in one of the sections below and take a moment to confirm your account by clicking on a topic below, or log in to your PayPal account. To avoid service interruption we require that you confirm your account as soon as possible.
Thanks for making PayPal the world's #1 online payment service.
Thank you,
The Paypal Staff
Please do not reply to this e-mail. Mail sent to this address cannot be answered. For assistance, log in to your PayPal account and choose the "Help" link in the footer of any page.
To receive email notifications in plain text instead of HTML, update your preferences here.
Protect Your Account Info
Make sure you never provide your password to fraudulent websites.
A genuine PayPal link will always begin with https://www.paypal.com/.
Remember to check your browser's Address/URL Bar to be sure you are on the real PayPal site.
If the URL does not begin with https://www.paypal.com/, you are not on a PayPal page.
For more information on protecting yourself from fraud, please see the Security Center.
Protect Your Password
You should never give your PayPal password to anyone.
posted on July 21, 2003 09:32:55 AM new
It's bogus. There are at least 5 different red flags in that message at first glance. Probably more if you examine it closely.
The light at the end of the tunnel will turn out to be an oncoming train.
posted on July 21, 2003 09:36:31 AM new
The best plan is to type the paypal url yourself and sign in that way..if they want more information it should come up on the screen following sign in. NEVER follow links provided in emails as they may be dummied to LOOK like a valid link!
posted on July 21, 2003 10:29:07 AM new
I'm sorry to be so harsh, but with all the discussion (daily it seems) on this board about fake emails, if you click on a link and provide information you are getting just what you deserve. Change your passwords regularly. Never use something that is easy to guess. Give your password to absolutely noone outside the entities requiring them (e.g., Paypal, Ebay).
Trust your instints. Most of the time (notice I did not say all) they are right. You can find information that is sent to you in emails directly on Paypal or Ebay's sites if they are legit.
Who knows that when you click on the link you aren't being sent email harvesting viruses? A link can be named anything. It can even hide an exe file if you aren't savvy enough to catch it.
Cheryl
[ edited by CBlev65252 on Jul 21, 2003 10:30 AM ]
posted on July 21, 2003 10:30:24 AM new
Rob has it right. Look in the header sction, 2 lines above where it says 21 July. It states an ISP in the PH and then (untrusted sender)
Need it be more obvious?
I did trust my instincts; just not as fast as if I had your broad knowledge of all of this. I don't lurk here regularly and thought maybe someone could help me out. As far as "getting what I deserve", well, I guess we all get that.
posted on July 21, 2003 11:05:05 AM new
On the 18th I received the following email from Paypal:
Subj: PayPal account notice.
Date: 7/18/03 6:48:04 AM Central Daylight Time
From: [email protected]
This e-mail is the notification of recent innovations taken by PayPal to detect inactive customers and non-functioning mailboxes.
The inactive customers are subject to restriction and removalin the next 3 months.
Please confirm your email address and account information bylogging in to your PayPal account using the form below
_______
The above is not the complete email but you get the idea. It didn't include my name but it had a link which sent me to Paypal. Anyway, I changed my password and questions and reported it to security.
Oh, none of the comments were aimed specifically at you at all!!!! They are aimed at those who spend a lot of time here and STILL ask the same question: Is this e-mail a scam? I would read some of the other threads on the subject so you can become more savvy. There are a lot of scam emails out there.
I'm glad you trusted your instincts! Most of the time it pays off.
Okay, I'm just really touchy after going through all this crap. I'm very careful about my cc and debit card #'s, soc. sec., etc. and still someone was able to get my card number last week. I just wish I could find out how so I could avoid doing it again; I only use the card for eBay, Alibris, Amazon, Vendio, PayPal and Yahoo. All are supposed to be secure and I NEVER give my password out. Thank goodness I don't keep much money in the account "just in case".
I had the same thing happen a couple of months ago. I never ever give out my passwords and always know where my debit card is. Still, someone got into my account and charged $350 worth of purses on it. The bank was investigating. I don't know if they figured it out yet or not. At least I got my money back.
