How to spot a fake Paypal or eBay email

Missystuy · **How to spot a fake Paypal or eBay email**

Please remember these steps to help protect your PayPal account.

Emails - Make sure they are sent from PayPal

If you receive an email and are unsure whether it is from PayPal, open a new web browser (e.g., Internet Explorer or Netscape) and type in the following: https://www.paypal.com/. Don't click on any link in an email which seems suspicious to you.

Stay safe; don't respond to emails asking for any of the following:

Your password and email address combination
Credit card numbers
Bank account numbers
Social security numbers
Drivers license number
First and Last Names

Email Greeting -

PayPal will never send you an email with the greeting "Dear PayPal User" or "Dear PayPal Member". Emails initiated by PayPal will address you by your first and last name, or the business name associated with your PayPal account.

Always log into the PayPal site

PayPal will only ask for information AFTER you have securely logged in.

For your security, PayPal will never ask you to re-enter your full bank account, credit, or debit card number without providing you at least the LAST TWO DIGITS of the number. These digits let you know that we already know the full number and are asking you for the rest of it. Beware of any website or email asking for these numbers for "verification" that does not PROVE that it knows the number by providing at least the last two digits

Website pages - make sure that they are hosted by PayPal

When using the PayPal service, always ensure that the url address listed at the top of the browser is
https://www.paypal.com/ The 's' ensures that the website is secure. Even if the URL contains the word 'PayPal', it may not be a PayPal webpage.

Look for the 'lock' symbol that appears in the lower right hand corner of the browser. This symbol indicates that it is a secure site.

Do not download attachments, software updates, or any application to your computer via a link you received in an email. PayPal will not ask you to download anything for your account to work.

Passwords - keep it on PayPal

Use a unique password for the PayPal account and change it every 30-60 days.
The password should be one that is not used on any other site, service, or login.

If you think you have received a fraudulent email, please forward the original email to spoof@paypal.com and then delete the email from your mailbox. Never click any links or attachments in a suspicious email.

COUNTRIES APPROVED FOR USE WITH PAYPAL:

The link below contains information on the countries that are approved for use with PayPal.

PayPal Worldwide - PayPal

eBay Forums: How to spot a fake PayPal email and ...

booker81 · 09-26-2007, 10:42 AM

It's always good to send anything potentially bad to the spoof accounts (spoof@paypal.com,, spoof@ebay.com etc). If it is a legit email, they will contact you back and let you know.

My bank did something like this to me yesterday. I signed up to switch to e-checking, and later in the day got an email from an account that was the person's lastname then first name, no reference to my bank, etc. The subject line was mis-spelled, and all it had was a pdf file, no text.

I figured it was legit, but for s&g I forwarded it to my bank's internet fraud email. About an hour later, I got an email back saying it was legit, and they contacted the original sender. I'd hate to be in her shoes....

Forwarding phishing emails (the fakes ones) to the right fraud dept for that company is very important to helping them track down the people doing the phishing!