[CR]Warning - PayPal Fraud attempt

(Example: Component Manufacturers)

From: "Ben Sanford" <B.Sanford@cox.net>
To: "Classic Rendezvous" <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
Date: Thu, 22 Jan 2004 16:50:46 -0500
Subject: [CR]Warning - PayPal Fraud attempt

Martin Coopland wrote about a Paypal problem,

This rang a bell with me, because there is a PayPal fraud attempt that is floating around. What happens is that the scum attempting this fraud send out an e-mail that says:

"We are currently performing regular maintenance of our security measures. Your account has been randomly selected for this maintenance, and you now will be taken through a verification process.

Protecting the security of your PayPal account is our primary concern, and we apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

Please click here and fill in the correct information to verify your identity.

NOTE: Failure to complete the verification process or providing wrong information will lead to account suspension or even termination. "

The above message appears to be from Paypal, the return address identifies it as such, there are very convincing looking graphics, etc. in the message. The message is VERY official looking, however it is a fraud. If you click on the link THEY provide (it is just a link button, the actual address is not clearly identified), it will take you to a bogus site that looks like a Paypal site, and they'll collect your information - and then they can do as they will with your account.

I got one of the above messages, but since I do some information security work, I was aware of this new fraud trend, so I forwarded the message to PayPal's fraud department. Below is the message I received.

Subject: RE: Your PayPal account status (KMM41368355V92812L0KM) PM Please respond to "spoof@paypal.com "

Thank you for bringing this suspicious email to our attention. We can confirm that the email you received; was not sent to you by PayPal. The website linked to this email is not a registered URL authorized or used by PayPal. We are currently investigating this incident fully. Please do not enter any personal or financial information into this website.

If you have surrendered any personal or financial information to this fraudulent website, you should immediately log into your PayPal Account and change your password and secret question and answer information. Any compromised financial information should be reported to the appropriate parties.

If you notice any unauthorized activity associated with your PayPal transaction history, please immediately report this to PayPal by following the instructions below:

1. Go to https://www.paypal.com/ 2. Click on the Security Center at the bottom of the page 3. Click on "Report a Problem" 4. Select the Topic: Report Fraud 5: Select the Subtopic: Unauthorized use of my PayPal Account, and click Continue. 6. Follow the instructions to access the appropriate form

Hope no one gets caught by this one. There appears to be a lot of fraud attempts going around.

I also just received a "message from an E-bay user" as follows: "I'm sorry to contact you like that but i'm happy to confirm you that i have .I.RALEIGH 753 TEAM FRAMESET 57CMS GENUINE at price 300Euro with all shipping tax (fees). I was see at ebay that you are interested in this product and i think that i don't have anything to lose if i send you this email. For see that i am serious person you can chack my e-bay account(pg_tn) and you will see that i have a lot of rating (47). If you are interested please contact me for tell you how will be the payment and shipping.Please reply me if you are interested! Thank you for responding to my email"

I don't think I'll take him up on his offer...

Ben Sanford
Falls Church, VA