Scam Alert?

[Minty Fresh]

Just got this notification in my Inbox:

Dear PayPal account holder,


Due to our last days online problems, many phishing attempts and identity-theft, we need to verify our members accounts information. This security method is intended to help you protect yourself and your accounts from internet fraud. We are sorry for any inconvenience caused by our online servers, but we require you to update your profile as soon as possible by clicking on the following link:


Click here to validate your account


By completing our online form your are in accordance with our Terms of Agreement and your online access will be continued as normal. Thank you for taking your time!

 
Sincerely,
PayPal Security Office

Sound bogus to anyone else?  It came from this address:   consumeralerts@fdic.gov

[The Chief]

Definitely bogus.

[HalfSmokes]

Is it really from a .gov account or is it "consumeralerts@fdic.goc"<adsajlkasb@aol.com>

[PANatsFan]

FDIC insures banks, so yeah, it sounds insane.

You can copy and paste the link into Notepad, 10 bucks says it goes to something like www.scam.ru/www.paypal.com/verify

At least they spelled everything right.

[Minty Fresh]

Is it really from a .gov account or is it "consumeralerts@fdic.goc"<adsajlkasb@aol.com>

The only text in the "From" line is:  consumeralerts@fdic.gov

[Minty Fresh]

You can copy and paste the link into Notepad, 10 bucks says it goes to something like www.scam.ru/www.paypal.com/verify

http://tokotoko.cc/~postgres/.www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr/cmd_login-run/

That's the URL when the link is clicked.

[PANatsFan]

Eesh, I wouldn't have even clicked it. That's why I suggested copy and paste. That is a 100% scam.

Might want to run virus scan and ad-aware, but you should be fine.

[The Chief]

Definitely bogus.

That was the end of the thread, in case anyone missed it.

Seriously, there have been so many Paypal scams over the years that "click here to validate" from ANYONE should be an automatic "duh"

Not railing on anybody, it's just...   there really was no need to check, click, or copy/paste anything.  Unsolicited emails asking you to validate things or enter your passwords are ALWAYS scams, 100% of the time, and even if they aren't, should be treated as such anyway.  No responsible organization ever does something like that, and most of them will tell you so themselves.

[Minty Fresh]

That was the end of the thread, in case anyone missed it.

Seriously, there have been so many Paypal scams over the years that "click here to validate" from ANYONE should be an automatic "duh"

Not railing on anybody, it's just...   there really was no need to check, click, or copy/paste anything.  Unsolicited emails asking you to validate things or enter your passwords are ALWAYS scams, 100% of the time, and even if they aren't, should be treated as such anyway.  No responsible organization ever does something like that, and most of them will tell you so themselves.

The only thing that gave me pause was the fact that the address tag was "fdic.gov" and that there were no spelling errors.

[The Chief]

Report it here - https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=xpt/Marketing/securitycenter/antiphishing/PPPhishingReport-outside

Or go to paypal.com yourself and click the appropriate link.  Don't trust my links.  Or your mothers.

[Minty Fresh]

Report it here - https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=xpt/Marketing/securitycenter/antiphishing/PPPhishingReport-outside

Or go to paypal.com yourself and click the appropriate link.  Don't trust my links.  Or your mothers.

I have a tin-foil hat.

[The Chief]

Spelling is overrated, look at this:

Dear PayPal account holder,


Due to our last days online problems, many phishing attempts and identity-theft, we need to verify our members accounts information.

That doesn't even make sense, especially the bolded part.

Sorry if I seem a little harsh about this, but I see this kind of stuff often, and I've seen people get screwed over badly by it.

It's easy to spoof the "from" field in an email, but if you choose "view original" or "view original html" or "view header" or something similar from your chosen email program, you will probably see other email addresses that look a lot more suspicious.

[Lintyfresh85]

Damnit, I clicked on the link.

What's going to happen to me?

[blue911]

Damnit, I clicked on the link.

What's going to happen to me?

Your penis will fall off.

[tomterp]

Just got this notification in my Inbox:

 


Sound bogus to anyone else?  It came from this address:   consumeralerts@fdic.gov

Whenever I get stuff like that, I log in to the host site (Paypal, in this case) and look around a bit.  Almost always, there is no reference to the need to get your information updated, which strongly implies a scam.  They also have a place you can report phishing schemes, and usually respond fairly quickly that yes, this is a scam, if appropriate.

[Galah]

Spelling is overrated, look at this:

That doesn't even make sense, especially the bolded part.

Sorry if I seem a little harsh about this, but I see this kind of stuff often, and I've seen people get screwed over badly by it.

It's easy to spoof the "from" field in an email, but if you choose "view original" or "view original html" or "view header" or something similar from your chosen email program, you will probably see other email addresses that look a lot more suspicious.

I'm with Chief on this, if it is unsolicited, ignore it. If it is about your account then go to your account, at the address you have for the account, do NOT go to a link they send you.

[GburgNatsFan]

This reminds me of a string of them I received a few months ago, from some bank. For three days in a row, I recieved one of these phishing emails.

Then, on the fourth day, I received on that said "We are alarmed that our customers have been receiving unsolicited emails requesting personal information for the past few days. We take these scams very seriously. If you have received such requests, please follow this link to log in and enter your account number..."

Pretty creative.

[CALSGR8]

Yes, it is always good to go to the source either by link or by phone and check it out.

[PANatsFan]

By the way, Paypal is one of the Firefox registered secure sites, so it will be green in the URL box if you are actually at Paypal. Regular secure sites are blue, the super-secure sites are green.