Pay Pal question

[proud2BlibKansan]

I have received 7 emails in the last few days from ebay or PayPal. The message varies but is basically this:

We have recently noticed one or more attempts to log into your PayPal account from a foreign IP address and we have reasons to believe that your account may have been hijacked by a third party without your authorization.

If you recently accessed your account while traveling, the unusual login in attempts may have been initiated by you. However, if you are the rightful holder of the account, click on the link below to log into your account within the above-mentioned period.
https://www.paypal.com/XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

If you choose to ignore our request, you leave us no choice but to temporaly suspend your account.

We ask that you allow at least 72 hours for the case to be investigated and we strongly recommend to verify your account in that time.

Now here is the weird part. Every time I try to click on the link to verify my account, I get a 'URL not found' message. ????

Also, every single one of these emails has landed in my bulk mail folder.

And check out the spelling of 'temporarily'.

Am I right to think this is some kind of a hoax? I rarely use PayPal or ebay and I don't care if I have an account with them or not. I just think this is kind of weird.

[WildClarySage]

1. it's not them, it's someone trying to get your login info.

don't fall for it.

[proud2BlibKansan]

2. Thanks

Should I notify PayPal?

[serryjw]

19. Got the exact same one 2 weeks ago

notified Paypal and the link was disabled already..disregard.they know!

[iconoclastic cat]

3. It's a scam. But be careful.

You should contact your ISP immediately. Also, close your PayPal account as soon as you get this message. Do not click any links on that email, but do forward it (with the full headers showing) to your ISP before calling.

Get off of DU and do it now.

[proud2BlibKansan]

5. I use Yahoo email

Should I contact Yahoo or my ISP?

Thanks for the help.

[iconoclastic cat]

7. Both. Forward your email to your ISP and call them.

Also forward the email to Yahoo. But be sure to include the COMPLETE HEADER in your forward. To do this, click the "full headers" link in the upper left hand corner, next to the "printable version" link. THEN forward it. If you don't do that, they won't be able to trace it. Also, in your forwarded message, write your text above (before) the forwarded part.

[proud2BlibKansan]

13. Thanks

will do.

Then I can delete the messages, right?

[iconoclastic cat]

18. No. Save them, with the complete header, as text files.

Wait until you hear back from the ISP and Yahoo. When they give you the all clear, then you can delete the original emails.

By the way, you should also forward the same query to PayPal that you send to the ISP and Yahoo.

A poster mentioned Phishing downthread. I recommend looking it up on some techie sites. Also, get AdAware by Lavasoft and Spybot Search and Destroy. Run both often.
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html

[ET Awful]

4. It's a scam.

If you look at where the link in the e-mail is actually pointing, it will point somwhere besides paypal or e-bay. The link says paypal or e-bay, but if you look at the properties it actually links somewhere else.

If in doubt, manually enter the paypal address into your browser and go to paypal that way. DO NOT use the link in an e-mail.

It's a very common scam.

[Duer 157099]

9. Agree, look at the link carefully

If it doesn't show you when you cursor over it, right click on it to pull up the context menu and look at the "Properties" -- I doubt they can spoof that. I don't think right-clicking on it will do anything dangerous (?)

I get those alot, I usually report them to PayPal although I don't know if they actually do anything about it.

Don't ever click on a link that you aren't absolutely sure where it's going.

Can you post here where the link goes (just the beginning part, up to the .com)?

[proud2BlibKansan]

21. It's in my OP

I think I pasted that much of the address.

[prole_for_peace]

6. phising..

i have gotten a few of these lately for my ebay and paypal accounts. also for bank accounts i don't have.

[proud2BlibKansan]

15. OMG

I got one from a bank last week. Just remembered. But I deleted it. Didn't click on anything.

[sir_captain]

8. Never connect to banks

of any kind through a link in an email. Always type the address into your browser itself.

This is a scam called "phishing." If you google it, you'll find tons of info.

[undeterred]

10. All scams- I get them all the time.

I get loads of them too. 10-15/week. When I have time, I report them to the appropriate address at eBay or PayPal. Its annoying, but rest assured that neither eBay nor PayPal will ever ask you for information via email. (I have accounts with both, but I even get the emails at email addresses that I don't use for those.) DELETE THEM.

[Lannes]

11. If you have outlook express

Backclick on properties/details.It should tell you where it came from and you can copy and paste it and send it to paypal or ebay.I did and they shut down the site within hours.

[China_cat]

12. PayPal, Ebay, or your bank

NONE of them will EVER ask you for information by email. Ever.

And if you ask them for info about your account by email, they'll tell you to call, write or see them in person.

Both Ebay and PayPal have sites to report these things. Do so.

[proud2BlibKansan]

14. You know what is spooky?

They have the ebay logo on the email. Looks very official.

[China_cat]

16. Yep. And the PayPal ones will have

their logo and I've gotten ones that have the logo from my bank. All that means is that someone knows how to right click and "save image as".

The real companies will never ask you for account information by email.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

17. Start here

http://pages.ebay.com/securitycenter/

Chances are your PayPal account is secure, but I'd notify them, as everyone's suggested.

Then open a new yahoo email account - notify eBay and PayPal (it's a complicated process - they're very careful).

NEVER click on those links.

[proud2BlibKansan]

22. Do I really have to open a new Yahoo account?

I just opened this one not long ago.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

27. It's a good idea

So what? They're free.

Better to be safe, etc...........

[Bleacher Creature]

20. EMAIL PAYPAL!!!

I fell for this exact message last week -- I'm actually embarrassed to say it, but I even gave up my credit card. It just looked so official with the logo and all. Anyway, I realized it the minute I did it. I changed my Paypal password and called my credit card company -- my new card arrived today.

You should forward the message to [e-mail]

They will tell you that it is a scam, and record it. FYI, Paypal will ALWAYS address the message as Dear <Your Name>. Never Dear Paypal User, etc.

[qnr]

30. my mail goes through spamcop. Lately I've been

1. Responding to them with an account and password of [e-mail] & inYourDreams (or variants) - problem with this is that they can get your email address and IP address for spam (which is why I do it from the spamcop.net webmail instead of my computer).
2. Report it as spam to spamcop.
3. Report every one to [e-mail] or [e-mail]

[OhioBlue]

23. A friend recently replied to the same e-mail

she lost $1200 - spread the word that it is a scam.

[proud2BlibKansan]

25. Wow

Consider it done.

Your friend has my sympathy.

[OhioBlue]

26. Last I heard

she had a negative $800 balance in checking but the bank was looking into it. She is hoping to recover some of it. We are in Ohio and there were 2 withdrawls from ATMs in NYC for the exact amount of her checking account balance at the time. She was pretty shook up when she told us. She was trying to "get the word out" that it was a scam. She was probably embarassed b/c her husband owns an investment firm.

[proud2BlibKansan]

29. I sympathize

My checkbook was stolen last summer and it was a nightmare. My bank was wonderful about it and I got all my money back but I still get overdraft notices in the mail at least weekly. So I know someone is still using those checks and/or account number.

[VOX]

24. Get *ANYTHING* like this, forward it (and the URL) to: [e-mail]

These e-mails, no matter how genuine they may appear, are fradulent. You're doing PayPal and other users a service by forwarding these to [e-mail].

Be careful out there! :thumbsup:

[uppityperson]

28. Sometimes they have invisible writing in them

If you highlight the whole thing, sometimes stuff shows up that was the same color font as the background. If you click on part, you may be actually clicking on other things unknowingly. Highlight a couple and check it out. I thought this was just a story until I tried and found some. They are sneaky.

[Booster]

31. Forward all questionable Pay Pal email (that is if it's associated

with eBay) to [e-mail] and they will send it to the proper authorities to try and catch these people.

[KaliTracy]

32. its a hoax. they will always use your name. n/t