FAKE e-mails from PayPal

[rmb721]

Watch out for fake e-mails that say they are from PayPal. If they address you as PayPal customer or member and not by your name, they are fake. If you log on, then they want all kinds of information ( name, SS#, phone#, address, credit card number, DOB) As soon as I saw this, I called PayPal. Forward fake Paypal e-mails to spoof@paypal.com This is an idenity theft attempt. BE CAREFUL.

[milkman-06]

I received one yesterday. I sent a copy to the spoof address. I knew it was fake for it was sent to the address I use for ebay not the one for paypal. Thank you for the heads up.
Russ Neely
milkman-06

[Char-Gar]

Lordy..I get fake email from PayPay, Ebay, Amex, Banks and all sorts of companies I do and don't do business with. I get several a week trying to get information of some kind from me.

I NEVER, NEVER respond to an email from anybody with ANY kind of information. If it sounds like it might be the real deal, I go to the web site and check direct. No reputable company will send you an email with a link that asks you for some kind of personal information.

Once, some years back, I got scamed out of some credit card information. There was no harm done as I figured it out in just an hour or two and canceled the card before any charges were made. I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I only have to bite on that once to break me for all time.

I also don't open email from folks I don't know. I don't open attatchment even from people I do know, unless there is some sorta personal message, that makes me believe it is the real deal.

The "delete" button is your best friend in the cyber world.

These scams are rampant on the Internet..

[versifier]

I get fake email from "PayPal" on a regular basis. I have never had an account with the anti gun sob's, and never will, so anything that comes from them has to be fake. The spam blocker catches most of it, and the rest gets deleted. Whoever came up with the spam filter deserves a medal. The spam scammers deserve metal, too, any of several lead alloys will do.

[monadnock#5]

I got paypal spoof emails for a year or two. I reported the first three or four, but it did no good. I get the impression that these spoofs originate off shore where the law either can't or won't deal with them. Anyway, when the paypal spoofs stopped coming in, I started receiving weirdly adressed e-mails like "Rosalind Webb Re: Fastidious Regurgitation". Seriously. I have no idea what these idiots are up to, I delete them as fast as they come in. Whatever it is can't be good. So be very careful. Once they have your e address, they never let loose.

Ken

[versifier]

Many are porn sites, others want to sell you ******, all of them pollute the net and are easily consigned to eternity with one tap of Delete. At least they aren't filling up landfills like junkmail does.

[floodgate]

A question about deleting "bad" e-mails: On both my older PC and my current Mac, when I get a questionable e-mail address line on my screen, I have to click on it - which calls up the message - BEFORE I can delete it. Does this let the "bad stuff" into my system? My server does have a really good virus and Spam screening system (McAfee), and very little questionable stuff ever gets through to me, but I am still concerned. Is there any easy way to dump a suspect e-mail WITHOUT opening it?

floodgate

[rmb721]

floodgate:
You can set up your computer so that you have to double click to open mail and only single click to delete. A friend did that to mine, but I don't know how. Maybe someone else can tell you how it is done. I am not the sharpest pencil in the box when it comes to the computer.

[PatMarlin]

Got an official looking one from eBay last night, said there had been some fraud and someone had control of my account so they locked it out.

I knew it was fake, but followed the link, and if you watch the address bar when it loads there will be goofy domain names/eBay, etc., but the fakes page is real looking down to the last detail.

I bet they sucker a good number of newbe's..

[monadnock#5]

floodgate, rmb is right, change your e-mail settings so that one click highlights only. To open requires a double click. I've been told by a friend who knows more about pc's than any five other people I know, "SHUT YOUR COMPUTER OFF WHEN NOT IN USE". Apparently, if the bad guys can get cookies installed in your system, your pc can then be used to relay their garbage to others while insulating themselves from discovery. It's just like the movie, the one where the hacker in Colorado goes all the way around the world, through ten open systems, to hack the Livermore Labs in California.

Ken

[PatMarlin]

I use another security system.. Machintosh.

[C1PNR]

For email I'm using the current version of Outlook. Not Outlook Express - Just "Outlook."

It allows me to RIGHT click on mail in the inbox bringing up several alternatives, including sending it to the "Junk Mail" folder without ever opening it.

Then I RIGHT click on the "Junk Mail" folder bringing up some more alternatives, including "Empty Junk Mail." I click on that and everything in that folder is gone, without ever being opened.

About once a week I get a message from my ISP to check their "Spam" folder. Usually 30 to 50 junk mail (spam) messages and as many as 20 more containing viruses (they separate them).

All this plus a router, AVG, and Windows Defender. BTW, I updated to Adobe PDF Reader version 8, too.

[bmwSid]

Heck, I have both e-bay and paypal's spoof addresses in my address book. Seems like every time I look at stuff on ebay, I get some mail asking for info....they call it phishing. Trying to hook a dummy.
Sid, near Niagara Falls

[bmwSid]

I had something funny happen to me a couple days ago.......I was doing a weld job for a buisness, and I noticed 4 lead pots sitting nearby. I mentioned them, and the boss there got glum, and said it was gonna cost them to get rid of them...
they each had 20lbs of alloy in them too, 63% lead, and 37% tin. He was thinking it would have to be haz-mat disposed of.......not bad for free, 80 lb. of alloy, and 4 lead pots! I havn't even plugged them in yet, but am sure they all work....
I ALMOST asked how much he would give me to take them off his hands, but didn't want to get greedy!
Now I just have to find out what mix I need for casting........
Sid, near Niagara Falls

[bmwSid]

Sorry, guess I posted the above in the wrong place.......
Sid

[waksupi]

Don't worry about it, Sid. Good to hear of your good fortune. Welcome aboard!

[StanDahl]

A question about deleting "bad" e-mails: On both my older PC and my current Mac, when I get a questionable e-mail address line on my screen, I have to click on it - which calls up the message - BEFORE I can delete it. Does this let the "bad stuff" into my system? My server does have a really good virus and Spam screening system (McAfee), and very little questionable stuff ever gets through to me, but I am still concerned. Is there any easy way to dump a suspect e-mail WITHOUT opening it?

floodgate

If you're using your Mac's "Mail" program, it seems that you can't click on an email without opening it, but you can just drag stuff into the trash unread. It will show a number next to the trash. If you toss 3 unread items, it will show a '3' next to the trash can. Now that I'm playing with it, I realize that I can't figure out how to empty the trash. I just let them go, and it deletes them automatically after a week or so. I don't think any of them do any damage anyway, even if you read them. Now if you click on a link within in the message, then who knows what you'll get yourself into. Lucky for us, the OS is pretty tight, and anyway, there really isn't much of anything aimed at Macs. I have never had a virus in 15 years, and most of that time, I didn't even have an anti-virus program. Stan

[PatMarlin]

Stan when you're on your desktop Click the finder menu at the left top of your screen and empty trash is bout' three down..

We don't have to worry about all the PC crashes, viruses, and hackers.

MACS ROCK!!..

[floodgate]

Stan, Pat:

Or, just double-click the trash bucket on your dashboard, it will open a list of titles in your trash. Click the "gear wheel" at the top and select "empty trash". I'm still concerned that clicking the e-mail to drag it to trash will let some of it seep into the system. A pretty remote worry, though, with the Mac.

Thanks, guys for all the good advice!

floodgate

[Hunter]

I have gotten 2 from a fake paypal asking for confermation on purchasing an Apple Ipod (whatever that is). I sent the email directly to ebay and they explaing to me never give out information on a site you were linked to. If you do not go to the ebay or paypal site yourself and log in you are getting scammed.
After I reported those 2 and told my ISP about it I have not got another.
It is a shame what some folks will do to try and scam others.
I am not in love with ebay either but I have gotten a few good deals there on stuff I would of not found anywhere else.