[JMitchell]

My dad recently got an email saying that there was an error with his PayPal account and that he shoud log in following a link, which took him to the PayPal "homepage", he put in his info and nothing happened, so he tried another button....nothing. He realised the web address read paypalf.com rather than just paypal.com. He changed his password and reported it to paypal before any damage could be done.

The most imporant thing is the email looks like it's come from paypal. The SCAM email address is services@paypal.com, while the real address is service@paypal. The official advice is to open a new window and type in the address for yourseld so you know exactly where you are navigating to.


Just thougt I should warn all you happy shoppers

[silkstone]

Not sure about IE, but in Firefox if you hover the cursor over a link, the actual URL it connects to is shown at the bottom left of the screen.

[JMitchell]

Yup, I use firefox, but I guess you don't always check when you think it's reputable...

[Sonsey]

Thanks for that Jack, I'll keep an eye out

[j sotelo]

PayPal login will always have https:// = Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure at the begining instead of http://
HTTPS is the secure version of HTTP, the communication protocol of the World Wide Web. It was invented by Netscape Communications Corporation to provide authentication and encrypted communication.
https://www.paypal.com/
https indicates a web site that is using SSL to encrypt information coming in and going out so that it cannot be intercepted...
and never ever click on links that say they need to verify anything that has to do with personal data, always go directly to that website by typing in the URL and if you do need verification of some sort you will be told right then and there.

[Dave]

Never, never follow a link from an email if you can help it. When my bank or credit card emails come through, I always go to a fresh firefox window & type the url of the home site in & navigate from there..... safe that way

[Dave]

Forgot to say I've had a neighbour caught by this scam & yep they emptied his paypal account plus bought a few things before anyone realised.

[sejanus]

Alas, there are always those who think there are sheep to be shorn and, all too often, they are right.

Mind you, the banks don't help matters. I recently tore into one of them for sending out marketing mails with a link to follow. I got a snotty email back from a marketing drone telling me that I didn't need to click on the link if I didn't want to. Unfortunately, he chose the wrong idiot to debate with. Having worked for that bank, I happen to know one of the security officers pretty well, so I sent the original message and the response to him. He assures me that the drone won't be sending ANY emails to the public in the near future.

[Angela]

It just goes to show that my assumption that no-one would fall for a phishing e-mail anymore is completely wrong.

As has been said NEVER follow a link in an e-mail EVER! I probably get about 20 to 30 of these phishing e-mails a day and they all look reputable. That's the trick they use but there's been so much publicity and scam e-mails that advice about not following links that I'm always surprised to read that someone has done just that.

I'm guessing your dad won't do that again in a hurry Jack!