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| PayPal Phishing gets Serious |
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| Written by Amy Stinson |
| Tuesday, 10 January 2006 21:07 |
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As a computer consultant here in Indianapolis, I receive a great deal of phishing attempts on all my email addresses (and some that don't exist). It is so bad on my "LISTHost" site that paypal and ebay domains are banned from the mail system. Up to this point, spoofing and phishing had simply been an annoyance as the phishing expeditions were pretty pathetic and amateurish. Then I got this missive in my primary paypal account inbox. Now I'm not one to panic, but two days before that came through, I got this from Paypal: Dear Amy Stinson, We have recently received a report that your PayPal Debit Card account number has been compromised through an outside source. As a precaution, we have reported your PayPal Debit Card lost or stolen. We would suggest checking your recent History Log for any unauthorized activity. If any unauthorized activity has occurred on your PayPal Debit card, please follow the instructions below to dispute the charge: Log into account at https://www.paypal.com Click the 'Help' link at the bottom or top right corner of any page Click the 'Contact Us' link, located below the 'Category' box Click the 'Contact Customer Service' link Select the 'PayPal Debit Card' from the 'Choose a Topic' box Select the 'Unauthorized Transactions' from the 'Choose a Subtopic' box Enter your question in the 'Summarize your question in one sentence' box Click 'Continue' Click 'Continue' again Click the 'Affidavit Of Disputed PayPal ATM/Debit Card Transactions' link Complete the form Once completed, click 'Print Form' Please mail the completed form to: PayPal, Inc. PO Box 45950 Omaha, NE 68145 Attn: PayPal Debit Card Department In order to process this in a timely manner, we must receive the affidavit within the first 60 days from the date of the transaction. Please note that we will not accept a faxed copy. In order to request a new debit card, please follow the instructions below: To verify and to change (if needed) the billing address associated with your primary credit card: 1. Click https://www.paypal.com/CREDITCARD or copy and paste the entire link into the address bar 2. Choose the radio button next to the credit card you would like to update and click 'Edit' 3. Enter your 3-digit verification number (4-digit number for American Express) and click the button next to 'Enter a new billing address' and type in the new address 4. Click 'Save' Once the primary credit card address is verified and any necessary changes are made, you can request a replacement card by clicking https://www.paypal.com/DC-REQUEST or copy and paste the entire link into the address bar Please allow 7-10 days for this card to arrive after you have completed these steps. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us. Sincerely, Sharon PayPal Account Review Department PayPal, an eBay Company One of the things Paypal says in how to detect phishing attempts is this: "PayPal emails will address you by first name, last name, or business name, and NOT by Dear PayPal User or Dear PayPal Member." Well, phishing just got moved up a notch as I was addressed aljost correctly by my business name in this particular email AND it looked very similar to invoices I have received through PayPal. That, the warning by PayPal, and the amount in question made me a bit sick at my stomach as the PayPal debit card ALSO accesses my "regular" bank accounts. Fortunately, it was a phish and the linked web page has been removed, but I will not be reactivating my PayPal debit card after this incident. |
| Last Updated on Tuesday, 10 January 2006 21:41 |