Beware the PayPal Phishing Scam Going Around
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A PayPal phishing scam is making its rounds causing harm to unsuspecting recipients.
Here's how it works
- Scammer sends a real PayPal invoice to an unsuspecting individual’s email address.
- The invoice is sent from PayPal and does not appear to be spam.
- The recipient does not recognize the charge and immediately becomes concerned that their PayPal account is compromised.
- Under the ‘Note from Seller’ section it reads “Don’t recognize this transaction? Reach us immediately at [phone number].”
- Panicked, the victim calls the listed phone number assuming that they are speaking with a legitimate contact from PayPal.
- The scammer then prods the victim for personal information (account numbers, card numbers, social security number, etc.).
- Once personal information is shared, the scammer opens accounts, empties accounts, makes erroneous charges, etc.
Key Identifiers
This is a tough one! You can see key identifiers of a scam PayPal invoice on Catch's Identifying a Scam page here.
Staying Safe
If you receive a suspicious email such as this, these are the recommended next steps:
- Reach out through verified, publicly available contact information
- DO NOT contact them via contact info noted in the body of the email
- Login to your account and check to see if you have any invoices
Once you have identified the email as a scam, immediately move it to your spam folder and ignore and delete any follow up scam emails. Stay safe out there!
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