Paypal Spoofing Scam

[Rosencrantz]

I just received this email, which is a particularly well-executed scam if you're not really thinking about it. It purports to be PayPal asking you to verify your personal information. Don't fall for it! It takes you to a website that spoofs the http://www.paypal.com/ address in the link but is actually 211.113.186.42. There, it pretends to "process your login" for a few seconds, and then asks you to enter in all your personal information. Diabolical!

[zakur]

Did you actually put in an email address and password to log in? If so, they probably grabbed it.

Be sure to forward it to spoof@paypal.com. I have received eBay and PayPal spoof emails like this in the past. They are very well done, and can easily fool some people.

[Rosencrantz]

The one I got didn't actually ask for a name and password, or I wouldn't have even gone that far. I thought it was particularly clever how it used a refresh to pretend to process a login, giving the user the impression that it already had that information.

[Psi Baba]

I used to get the one that had a fill-in form right in the body of the message. It not only asked for passwords and credit card number, but for your bank account number as well! I received the first of these only weeks after the first time I had ever used PayPal to make a payment to someone. Ironically, Paypal's gestapo business tactics are only a few rungs above a scammer's. I will never ever put money into a Paypal account.

[Theodore Kurita]

Originally posted by Psi Baba
I used to get the one that had a fill-in form right in the body of the message. It not only asked for passwords and credit card number, but for your bank account number as well! I received the first of these only weeks after the first time I had ever used PayPal to make a payment to someone. Ironically, Paypal's gestapo business tactics are only a few rungs above a scammer's. I will never ever put money into a Paypal account.


I have heard to many horror stories from friends about paypal...

That is why I use only use a merchant account for selling any kind of auction goods.


Check out Paypal horror stories here:


www.paypalsucks.com

[zakur]

From New Scientist (http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994386):The worm is aimed at users of Paypal, a popular method of internet payment among online shoppers. Infected emails carry the subject line "YOUR PAYPAL.COM ACCOUNT EXPIRES" and pose as a security update. The email threatens to close the recipient's account if they do not obey the update instructions it gives.

Cleverly, the email warns readers not to send their details back by return email. Many users now know this is insecure and that companies never request this.

Instead, the email asks them to click on an executable file called paypal.com.scr. This brings up a dialogue box, complete with PayPal logo, requesting their credit card number, PIN, expiry date and security code. Any details entered are then sent to the virus writer.

"It is a pretty sneaky and professional trick. They have gone to some effort to make it looks as plausible as possible," says Graham Cluley of Sophos, the UK-based anti virus company that first reported W32/Mimail.I at 0500 GMT on Friday. The virus has been seen in the UK, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand and is spreading.

[Rosencrantz]

There's another, less impressive, PayPal scam making its way around today. It tries to get the person who receives the email to run an attachment. Please, don't heed e-mails like this.

[SteveW]

IMHO, anyone stupid enough to fall for these scams deserve to be parted with their money. I guess thats why I like David Mamet movies too.