Freethought & Rationalism Archive

Mister Impossible · 08-09-2003, 03:22 PM

Beware the following e-mail which is doing the rounds. It pretends to be from PayPal, but isn't.

Quote:

Dear PayPal Customer

This e-mail is the notification of recent innovations taken by PayPal to detect inactive customers and non-functioning mailboxes.

The inactive customers are subject to restriction and removal in the next 3 months.

Please confirm your email address and credit card information by logging in to your PayPal account using the form below:

The form asks for tour Paypal account details, credit card number, e-mail etc.

This is NOT from Paypal. The form goes to: http://[email protected]/000pp.php <-- Don't click here.

Note the @ in the URL. Everything before the @ is chopped when the form is sent.

Please, be vigilant.

Daggah · 08-09-2003, 03:30 PM

Source?

NonHomogenized · 08-09-2003, 04:01 PM

Yeah, my mom fell for a very similar one, not long ago. Fortunately, I heard about it (when she asked if Paypal had requested info from me, too) the same day, and so I got her PIN and her Paypal password changed, and had her call her bank to have them stop payment on the attempts to charge her card (3 or 4 charges).

Remember: E-mail isn't completely secure, and companies know this. You will never get an email from a company, asking for this information. You might get an email with a link to a page on their site, for you to update over a secure connection, but that's it.

Mister Impossible · 08-09-2003, 04:13 PM

I'm not posting the source into a forum.

I tried to PM it to you, but it's too big

Daggah · 08-09-2003, 06:34 PM

No no no, I meant the news source, not the source code (

)

Does Paypal know of this scam?

lisarea · 08-09-2003, 10:45 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Daggah
No no no, I meant the news source, not the source code ( )

Does Paypal know of this scam?

Scams like this have been picking up very rapidly in the past few months or so (I get a LOT of spam, so I'm right on top of all the trends--lucky me), and I'm pretty sure PayPal's been targeted in the past, so they're probably aware of it at least generically. It is, however, a good idea to forward things like this to both the spoofed companies and law enforcement.

Cynical-Chick · 08-09-2003, 11:57 PM

Snopes is a great place to read up on the latest scams, guys.

Vorkosigan · 08-10-2003, 01:39 AM

Seems like this deserves a wider audience.

pariah · 08-10-2003, 02:44 AM

man they suck, they could have at least gone to the trouble of using an smpt forge daemon.

Mister Impossible · 08-10-2003, 02:59 AM

I've notified FortuneCity.com, the hosting service that the message came from. I'm still waiting for a response from them, however.

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08-09-2003, 03:30 PM	#2
Daggah Banned Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Deployed to Kosovo Posts: 4,314	Source?

08-09-2003, 04:01 PM	#3
NonHomogenized Veteran Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: no longer at IIDB Posts: 1,644	Yeah, my mom fell for a very similar one, not long ago. Fortunately, I heard about it (when she asked if Paypal had requested info from me, too) the same day, and so I got her PIN and her Paypal password changed, and had her call her bank to have them stop payment on the attempts to charge her card (3 or 4 charges). Remember: E-mail isn't completely secure, and companies know this. You will never get an email from a company, asking for this information. You might get an email with a link to a page on their site, for you to update over a secure connection, but that's it.

08-09-2003, 04:13 PM	#4
Mister Impossible Regular Member Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: UK Posts: 298	I'm not posting the source into a forum. I tried to PM it to you, but it's too big

08-09-2003, 06:34 PM	#5
Daggah Banned Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Deployed to Kosovo Posts: 4,314	No no no, I meant the news source, not the source code ( ) Does Paypal know of this scam?

08-09-2003, 11:57 PM	#7
Cynical-Chick Contributor Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 11,424	Snopes is a great place to read up on the latest scams, guys.

08-10-2003, 01:39 AM	#8
Vorkosigan Contributor Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Barrayar Posts: 11,866	Seems like this deserves a wider audience.

08-10-2003, 02:44 AM	#9
pariah Banned Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: الرياض Posts: 6,456	man they suck, they could have at least gone to the trouble of using an smpt forge daemon.

08-10-2003, 02:59 AM	#10
Mister Impossible Regular Member Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: UK Posts: 298	I've notified FortuneCity.com, the hosting service that the message came from. I'm still waiting for a response from them, however.

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