This one tells you to confirm your email address.
Did you get an email message from PayPal today? One asking you to confirm your email address?
I did. In fact, I got two — to two different email addresses, neither of which have ever been used for PayPal.
But that’s not what tipped me off to this being a scam. It was simple: I looked at the links before clicking them and saw that they led to a site that wasn’t PayPal.
In Mac OS, you can point to a link to see its URL. Also note the sender email address — clearly not PayPal.
I admit that this one looks pretty convincing. They got the graphics all right and there’s no obvious typos. But there is one clue in the body of the message that should raise red flags: they didn’t use my name anywhere in the message. PayPal (and my bank and other organizations in which I hold accounts) have my name and should use it on all communications, automated or not.
But of course I’d never click a link in an email message from an organization in which I have an account, would I? Would you? I hope not!
If you get an email message like this, purportedly from PayPal, that asks you to “Confirm your new email address,” either mark it as spam or just throw it out. Don’t click any links in it. In fact, if at all possible, don’t even open it at all.
Discover more from An Eclectic Mind
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Thanks Maria! Seems I did see something from PayPal but I didn’t do anything.
A friend of mine — an older gentleman who isn’t very computer savvy — fell for one of these scam and inadvertently gave access to his account to someone. They took him for about $1,500. It completely scared him off PayPal. Not sure if he ever got the money back. It’s a real shame that dishonest people prey upon others who are simply trusting souls who don’t know any better. It’s turning us all into a bunch of cynics.
Internet communications are world wide and even if a culprit is identified, it is unlikely that they will ever be brought to justice. There is a new reason to NEVER click on a link in your email unless you are SURE that you know who it’s from. It’s called “Ransomeware 2.0. At least that’s what pc pitstop calls it. It’s out of Russia and it holds your computer files until you pay, otherwise your files are destroyed. Here’s the link to the story, but if you are too paranoid to click on it, then just GOOGLE pc pitstop and look for the article. http://bit.ly/1clvmpF
Sometimes I feel like the anti-virus software providers are behind this.
in my spam i found picasa and decided to search it as a scam and found your site–thanx for info. I don’t open anything anymore. bottom line is people who need to find me will w/out enticing spam. don’t open anything.