NEW PAYPAL SCAM

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Posted By: Robert

I just got a email that telling me that I paid somebody over $300.00 for some obscure item. It was done up to look like a PAYPAL receipt and of course there is a link to click if there is a problem with this transaction. I did not click on it but sure it is a dummy site that gets you to put your information in so they can go to the real site and empty your account.

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Posted By: steve f

Fwd to spoof@Paypal and spoof@ebay I presume?

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Posted By: barrysloate

I just got a scam paypal email telling me they needed to update my account. Stupidly I forwarded them some information and I just spent the morning closing my bank account, checking account, credit cards, changing my paypal account, etc. It's been a nightmare of a day. Do not answer any of these emails you get. This was my first one and I didn't realize it was a scam. I know now.

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Posted By: Rob L

3 to 5 Paypal and/or eBay emails indicating that there is some sort of a problem with my account. The latest Paypal scam I have been getting is one in which a new email address has been assigned to my account. These scams are amazing.

Rob L

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Posted By: warshawlaw

Look at the web sites for ebay and paypal. They now have warning language telling you that they will never, ever send you an account-related email with a link. Paypal states:

Questions PayPal will never ask you in an email

To help you better identify fake emails, we follow strict rules. We will never ask for the following personal information in emails:

* Credit and debit card numbers
* Bank account numbers
* Driver's License numbers
* Email addresses
* Passwords
* Your full name

Fake links. The text in a link may attempt to look valid, then send you to a spoof address. Always check where a link is going before you click. Move your mouse over it and look at the URL in your browser or email status bar. If the link looks suspicious, don't click on it. And be aware that a fake link may even have the word "PayPal" in it.

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Posted By: Rich Jacobs

My recent favorite is this message, supposedly from an Ebay member:

"Hey are you going to buy the item from the auction that you won, why dont you answer to my emails, if you dont Respond Now I will contact ebay safeharbor and report you ! Lett me know, I am not a fool !


Thank you !"

Barry, Barry . . . .

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Posted By: andy becker

i have another paypal question....sorry to hijack the thread but i didn't want to start another paypal thread.
leon, feel free to b-slap me if needed.
do sellers that accept paypal ship when payment is received or do you wait 3-4 business days before the funds are cleared to your bank.
reason i ask, i do not normally accept paypal but i did on a private sale at the customer's request....big ticket item.
the transfer is done, should i ship now or wait the 3-4 days?
i'm not that familiar with paypal and i don't want to get burned....not that i think i would....but better to know the facts.
thanks in advance!!

edit to add, barry i feel your pain....i hope all is well and safe-regards

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Posted By: dennis

if the $$ is not cleared paypal tells you to wait to ship....then they email and tell you it has cleared(usually 3/4 days). but that is rare, usually it is cleared the moment you get the $$$. so you can ship right away.

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Posted By: Josh K.

Andy,

With Paypal, I usually ship immediately if the funds are in my account. The only time they wouldnt be is when the buyer pays by echeck which takes a few days to clear. Then I wait.

If you have any concerns about the buyer later claiming not to get the item, etc. I would immediately transfer the money from your paypal account to your bank account. Otherwise, paypal has been known to take the money first and ask questions later.

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Posted By: Glenn

I've been getting the same "Why haven't you paid me for the item you won?!" email, but the best one I've seen yet just showed up a couple of days ago. It's very professional looking, has pictures of satisfied PayPal users and so forth, but the genius of it is that it's disguised as an email warning you about the dangers of PayPal spoof emails and providing a link to FAQs on how to protect youself and your account from being hijacked.

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Posted By: DJ

I got the most sophisticated one today and it involved the party telling me that I paid $30 for a dress. When you click on the link, it takes you to the actual dress. I actually logged into my own personal Paypal account to make sure that I didn't pay for this item. It is so scary how realistic these "phishing" e-mails are getting. In the case of eBay, this is exactly why they created "My Messages", but still, I know a couple who have been fooled and what happened next was horrifying to them as they found themselves peddling electronics on their eBay page.

DJ

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Posted By: Jerry Spillman

These attempted scams using eBay and Paypal are not new. They have been going on in a variety of forms for quite sometime.

I asked an eBay representative at the FUN Convention in Orlando last month why a company as powerful as eBay can not end these scams. He said, "When we shut one down they just appear somewhere else."

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Posted By: darren

Been there done that.

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Posted By: barrysloate

I've also gotten the ebay scam "do you want to buy my product" and I discovered today that if paypal were to email you for information, which they really don't, they would address the email to you directly, using your full name. The scam I received read:"dear valued paypal customer." If they don't address you by name, it's a scam. There are too many people out there with sophisticated computer knowledge who have made a career of stealing from others by simply pushing buttons and then heading to ATM machines with specific information to try and withdraw that person's cash. My scammers were overseas and fortunately some safeguard prevented them from succeeding.

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Posted By: Robert

Barry,

That is not true the Paypal scam I just received has my name on it. The font for my name is different then the rest of the type set. This is actually really freaky...and the sick thing about this is the item is sport related. I am going to check into my paypal account to verify..no it's alright and no charges out there.

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Posted By: Jeff

I like getting these emails and I always log in when they send them to me. Of course not with any real information, but with things that they can go and do to themselves. After a while I stop getting them, just be creative when you put in a user name and password.

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Posted By: Robert

Jeff,

I just tried that and must say these guys are good..I am a webmaster and to see the extent and effort these guys are going to try and rip people off is amazing. THis is no slouch operation and I bet they steal 100's of thousands of dollars from people.

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Posted By: Rob L

to several of them also, I just fill expletives for the user and passwords.

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Posted By: Mike

I too received a pay pal notice yesterday, or the day before, can't exactly recall, though not from them. Funny thing, I don't use pay pal. and never have. Not sure how I got involved. But I just deleted it. Just another scam attempt.

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Posted By: barrysloate

Robert- if your email addressed you by name, that confirms that the scammers are just getting more sophisticated and have figured out what they need to do to entrap people.

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Posted By: andy becker

thanks dennis and josh!! i appreciate the info. sorry again to robert for taking your thread off topic.

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Posted By: Joann

I just delete any email that comes from paypal or ebay. lol. One of these days I'm going to get an account cancelled for not responding to a legit email.

On the few occasions I have thought it might be real, I will go to the actual site manually or via bookmark, then look for the "my account" area - rather than using the link within the email. That way I know I'm going to the actual site. Invariably, there is nothing found on the actual site. Delete.

J

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Posted By: Seth B.

Paypal actually froze my account after I didn't respond to a number of e-mails because I thought they were spoofs. I was living abroad, and the IP address seemed fishy to them, so they clamped down on my account and wrote me. Not wanting to get taken for all my money, I just deleted the e-mails. Oh well, no more paypal payments from me.