TheSamba.com :: View topic

Wed May 28, 2008 6:45 am

So I got a paypal spam email today - telling me to update my info, problems, blah blah blah...I knew it was a scam, so I decided to follow the links just to type in obscenities, etc... :twisted:
but man, I gotta say, if I didn't know any better, it looked like a perfect mirror of paypal...took all the info, even flagged me for not including the 3 digit code on my "screw you" credit card...and all this I guess somehow piggybacked onto what looked like a legitimate Bengal Tiger Rescue site (when I traced things back)
and once I was finished putting in my info, it actually sent me to the real paypal homepage...the link in the email bounced through a couple servers, all very quick, high-tech, and fancy...
it's no wonder so many people fall for that crap...

Wed May 28, 2008 6:51 am

I just got one too in my gmail inbox, but my Son told me to "report spam" it!

Wed May 28, 2008 6:52 am

i think i have received about 15 fake paypal emails in the last few days. i report each one to paypal, and then delete the fakes. it's easy to tell they are fake, just drag the cursor over the link, you won't see a paypal web address, you'll see some other b.s. website.

Wed May 28, 2008 7:02 am

I got a Nigerian one the other day where their dog was sick and needed an operation. I think they wanted $75 or something.

Compared to the usual bullshit about umpteen million dollars, I thought $75 was actually kind of charming.

Wed May 28, 2008 7:43 am

so did you send it then? i mean really, think of the poor dog.

Wed May 28, 2008 7:59 am

Say hi to the Dumbass that fell for that Paypal fake email scam.

nabbed my credit card number, luckily I called not 3 minutes later, and had everything shut down to prevent damage happening.

Now I have a new account, new password, and new credit card. Damn I should have payed attention to it, but there is a difference in the 2 emails, One has a huge PAYPAL logo, and the official is in typewriter print.

Wed May 28, 2008 8:11 am

Here is an example of a spam email, recieved today:

"Paypal Billing Department" <services@paypalaccounts.com> Add Mobile Alert

Dear Customer,

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This email has been sent to you by PayPal, Inc. to inform you that we were unable to process some of your recent paypal transactions. This might be due to one of the following reasons:

Submitting incorrect information during initial sign up process. A recent change in your personal information. (eg: billing address, phone) An inability to accurately verify your personal information.

As a result, to ensure that your service is not interrupted we request you to confirm and verify your account information By Clicking Here . However Failure to do so will result in abnormal account behaviour during transactions.

(Your case ID for this reason is PP-227-460-629.)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Copyright © 1999-2007 PayPal. All rights reserved.
Information about FDIC pass-through insurance

And then the real deal:

"service@paypal.com" <service@paypal.com> Add Mobile Alert
Yahoo! DomainKeys has confirmed that this message was sent by paypal.com. Learn more

Dear (Name removed)

We have completed our review and have restored your account.

Thank you for your patience during this process and for helping to make
PayPal the safest and most trusted online payment solution.

Sincerely,
PayPal Account Review Department

Please do not reply to this email. This mailbox is not monitored and
you will not receive a response. For assistance, log in to your PayPal
account and click the Help link located in the top right corner of any
PayPal page.

PayPal Email ID PP203

Wed May 28, 2008 8:17 am

TeamSpatula wrote: and all this I guess somehow piggybacked onto what looked like a legitimate Bengal Tiger Rescue site (when I traced things back)
and once I was finished putting in my info, it actually sent me to the real paypal homepage...the link in the email bounced through a couple servers, all very quick, high-tech, and fancy...
it's no wonder so many people fall for that crap...
They take over web servers that are out of date with the latest security fixes and use them to send out mass emails and to host the fake pages.

Wed May 28, 2008 8:19 am

On almost all the scam emails I get there are typos on them.

Wed May 28, 2008 8:27 am

Clues:
- addressed to "paypal customer" or your email name, not your actual registered paypal user name or full name
- links point to sites other than paypal (but be careful for dummy embedded "paypal.com" text in an url that actually points elsewhere)
- typos

Wed May 28, 2008 9:56 am

I get ads for aluminum siding, male enhancement, breast augmentation (?), auto warranty, consolidation of debt, the Nigerian scams and some really weird porn. I got the paypal one along with ebay and craigslist but I don't have accounts with any of them and wouldn't know how in the first place!
JiI

Wed May 28, 2008 10:10 am

I actually keep seperate e-mail accounts for stuff. Like Paypal/Ebay has its own e-mail, the e-mail account I actually use for e-mailing people is one e-mail, and the account I use for signing up for everything else is a third e-mail. It really comes in handy for filtering out all the junk that comes from signing up for stuff that requires an e-mail address. I always laugh when I get a PayPal scam sent to an e-mail address that doesn't have a PayPal account associated with it. :lol:

Wed May 28, 2008 10:19 am

Andrew wrote: I actually keep seperate e-mail accounts for stuff. Like Paypal/Ebay has its own e-mail, the e-mail account I actually use for e-mailing people is one e-mail, and the account I use for signing up for everything else is a third e-mail. It really comes in handy for filtering out all the junk that comes from signing up for stuff that requires an e-mail address. I always laugh when I get a PayPal scam sent to an e-mail address that doesn't have a PayPal account associated with it. :lol:

Pffftttt. I have a Yahoo account that is routinely filled with warnings from almost every bank in the country that my account has been "compromised", or E-Bay informing me that my privileges will be suspended if I don't act quickly. Too bad I don't have an E-Bay account :roll: Oh, the panic!

Wed May 28, 2008 10:19 am

Three years ago I got one of these and fell for it hook line and sinker.

I gave them the whole works. Debit card number, checking number

AND my ATM pin!

The fake paypal site looked VERY real and linked me with my real paypal
account. Easy for them to do since I GAVE them my paypal password and all.

I lost $800. I did get it back from the bank, but it took about a month
I had to file a police report and there was an bank investigation.

Dan

Wed May 28, 2008 10:31 am

I noticed something fishy was up when it asked for my SSN, Good thing i didn't enter that.

Now I am on the phone with my bank, the chrage the $100Charge went through!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This better not fuck my weekend up

Wed May 28, 2008 10:53 am

My wife, who should know better, got taken in by a fake email from another ebay user demanding payment for an item she allegedly bought. She got indignant, went to respond and of course ebay makes you log in before you can respond using their message system. She was all done logging in before she realized she'd been had.
We had to change our ebay and paypal logins right away since they are the same. Dumb.

Wed May 28, 2008 12:33 pm

I use the multiple email thing too.
One for Samba
One for music related stuff
One for real life stuff (bank/401k/stocks/paypal)
One for internet/geeky stuff
... and multiple others

I use a different password for all email address and especially for ALL websites. Firefox is wonderful solely for the option for remembering passwords (I don't allow for financial sites).

Wed May 28, 2008 1:40 pm

coad wrote: I got a Nigerian one the other day where their dog was sick and needed an operation. I think they wanted $75 or something.

Compared to the usual bullshit about umpteen million dollars, I thought $75 was actually kind of charming.

Time to bring back the avatar Coad.

Wed May 28, 2008 1:43 pm

Icy wrote: Andrew wrote: I actually keep seperate e-mail accounts for stuff. Like Paypal/Ebay has its own e-mail, the e-mail account I actually use for e-mailing people is one e-mail, and the account I use for signing up for everything else is a third e-mail. It really comes in handy for filtering out all the junk that comes from signing up for stuff that requires an e-mail address. I always laugh when I get a PayPal scam sent to an e-mail address that doesn't have a PayPal account associated with it. :lol:

Pffftttt. I have a Yahoo account that is routinely filled with warnings from almost every bank in the country that my account has been "compromised", or E-Bay informing me that my privileges will be suspended if I don't act quickly. Too bad I don't have an E-Bay account :roll: Oh, the panic!

I get the same thing with PayPal and I don't have an account.

Wed May 28, 2008 2:15 pm

I feel left out.
I never get that stuff. :cry: