what do you know about Paypal…?
i recently got this message..
<<
Protect Your Account Info |
xxxxxxxxxx PayPal is constantly working to ensure security by regularly screening the accounts Why is my account access limited? Your account access has been limited for the following reason(s): May. 25, 2005: We would like to ensure that your account was not accessed by an Visit the Resolution Center and complete the “Steps to Remove Limitations.” Completing all of the checklist items will automatically restore your account access. |
Thank you for using PayPal! The PayPal Team |
Please do not reply to this e-mail. Mail sent to this address cannot be answered.>>>> i didn’t go to that link… but i did start googling on Paypal… lot’s of bad things being said about it.. what has been your experience ?
|
Edited 6/2/2005 7:07 am ET by Mike Smith
Replies
paypal will never ask for your password in an email. Its a scam
I get something similiar once a month or so.
I've never even used them so I just dump it in the spam...........
I Love A Hand That Meets My Own,
With A Hold That Causes Some Sensation.
[email protected]
I got a couple similar messages recently... Definately phishing. You can forward it to paypal & they'll supposedly investigate.
Browsers are going to have to get smarter about alerting people to phishing attacks like this. A clear red flag is when the URL on the screen is different from the URL you will go to if you click the link. Why would paypal ask you to go to elearning.rj.cmmu.net?
Mike, as you know we use paypal over at Quittintime and have to this point have had no problems with either donations made nor money transfers.
As others have mentioned, fake paypal and even ebay notifications have come into my inbox soliciting information. Similar AOL notices also. Any credit info gathering generated by others should be avoided.Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
Quittin' Time
Forward anything like that to [email protected].
FYI, anything from Paypal will actually address you by name in the heading , not just something like "Dear Paypal Valued Member...."
Don't click on anything in e-mails like the one you received.
"Preach the Gospel at all times; if necessary, use words." - St. Francis of Assisi
While that is true, I always check the link first.It is already dead.I went around with a bank a couple months ago about this.The fake website looked good and had a "reasonable" looking URL, but still did not look good.The offical bank site, or what I though was the offical bank site, did not look any more official than the fake one. One of the problems is that refered everything back to the bank holding company so the names where all different than the bank.Then they did not have any place on the web site to notify them.
steve-o..
it did address me .. and it listed my correct email..
i stripped it when i posted that "cut & paste"
hmmm..
the other part of this is when you google on Paypal.. you get a lot of negative sites that describe Paypal freezing accounts and leading to the ruin of small businesses and individuals...is that apochryphal ... or does anyone have knowledge of Paypal screwing people over ?
i'm just paranoid enough that i didn't click on any of those links either
it's a pretty sophisticated hacker's world out there... a lot more sophisticated than i amMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Mike,
I've used paypal for a lot of purchases...to include vehicles and tractors.
I've been phished with suprisingly detailed emails similar to the one you received. The first one was somewhat disconcerting, subsequent ones nothing more than a slight aggrevation.
I did what steve-o wrote and forwarded them to paypal, linking through the "spoof" address via the paypal page.
They verifired that it was indeed a spoof.
That isn't from PayPal, someone is phishing for your information. You can put anything in your "from" on an email.
So phisherman puts "paypal" in the from line, and then copies some of the logos and such from their website to try and make his email look official. He is hoping you will click on his link and start putting account information in.
He can even give you a link that looks like PayPal, but really takes you elsewhere.
If for some reason you think the email is legitimate, delete it anyway and then bring up Internet Explorer (or whatever your surfing software is) and manually type in the address (in this case http://www.paypay.com ) and go to the account and check it out. Never follow an email link to 'your account'!
jt8
It's better to light a candle than to curse the darkness. --Chinese proverb
Let me experiment here
http://www.paypal.com
Yup, it worked. Click this PayPal link and see where it takes you. Just because it says PayPal doesn't mean that is the address its linked to. And I just used simple html, nothing fancy. A skilled phisher could really fool you into thinking you were going to PayPal.
I've been using PayPal for 2-3 years now without a problem.
The lesson here is: Don't be a victim!
jt8
It's better to light a candle than to curse the darkness. --Chinese proverb
Edited 6/2/2005 10:03 am ET by JohnT8
Edited 6/2/2005 10:03 am ET by JohnT8
Anytime you are going to type in any personal information on a web site, paypal or otherwise, open up a new web browser window, type in the URL or use a bookmark that you have created to go to that site. When you are done, log out, and close that browser window.
sounds like what i thought it was.. a scam to get info... thanks to all..
now.. the 2d part of this question..
if you google on Pay Pal... on the right hand side you will see "sponsored links"
one of them is this..
http://www.aboutpaypal.org/
a bunch of "people" with many horror stories to relate... or..
a conspiracy against PayPal ?Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
It's always sumptin.
I clicked on your link and I got roadblocked with this page:
AOL SecuritySuspected Phishing Scam
AOL has received complaints from our members suggesting that this site may be improperly collecting AOL member data. In order to protect our members, AOL is presently preventing AOL members from accessing this site.
You can also learn more about how AOL can help make your online experience more safe and secure by visiting AOL Keyword: Phishing.
View Image
Everybody seems to be out either trying to steal from you or to protect you. We're here to help. ma'am.
You're a smart guy. Use the internet judiciously, and as someone else posted, never give out info over a hyperlink that came in an email. I usually never even click on the link unless it's correspondance that I initiated.
BTW, Big Calvin put me in charge of rebooking everyones accomodations due the hotel snafu's out in Ohio. So if you would, just send me your SSN and two credit card numbers as well as the 3 digit authorization umber on the back...so I definitely know that it's you...as well as your mother's maiden name, the name of your dog you had when you were seven, and your favorite dessert treat, I'll get you all set up.
MikeWhy do you think that is a "sponsored link", ie one that they pay google to put up?Do you think that someone is just taking money out of their pocket to "protect society"?First of all the site is run by a company that is trying to sell you credit card merchant accounts.Then if you look at the complaints you will find that many of the got into the middle of fraud cases and they expected paypal to hold them harmless and against any and all fraud.I think that this one is a classic."Recently I invested in an online investment company that promised if I bought e-gold and sent it to them, I would receive US Dollars Via Paypal within 30 minutes at a substantial Percentage of What I invested.Of course it sounded to good to be true, so I invested $50. True to their word, the online investment company funded my account with my original investment plus interest.Since it worked and seemed legit (we even asked a lawyer and said it was perfectlly legal), we continued to invest in e-gold, give it to this company, and receive our investments back to Paypal. We continued this for about 8 days and then the bombed dropped.One of the users claimed unauthorized use of account. Paypal immediately Held two transactions from this one user. Turns out that this User had never heard of me or e-gold, and this online company had hacked into this persons user account to pay me back my investment.And it only gets worse, Paypal has put a temporary hold on ALL Payments I received from another user that payed me back my investments while it is under Investigation. Turns out that all Payments I received initially and subsequentally reinvested were all done fraudently and now I have a negative balance of -$2,853.97. Even worse, I cannot close my account or remove my banking information (I know how Paypal steals money) from the account because of a Negative Balance."It sound like he got involved in a ponzi scheme and is blaiming PP for not catching it soon enough.
Maybe we should print up some of Bill Engvalls signs.
People should start off their inquiries with: "I'm stupid, hardly able to tie my own shoes or find my way home, and I got this investment opportunity..."
:)
I sometimes suspect common sense is a dying attribute. Right up there with taking the blame for your own f*ckups.
jt8
It's better to light a candle than to curse the darkness. --Chinese proverb
Actually, it's quite inexpensive ($1 a day or less, depending on traffic) to have an ad on the right side on Google, and it's not unusual for a small non-profit (or just loosely organized group) to put an ad there to try to get new members.The ones on the top are a bit pricier and can be assumed to be commercial entities.
Heck, I've been getting those for a year or so now, a couple a week. Same as the bank pfishing scam. I toss them without even looking.
Since we are partially on the topic, check out this "nigerian scam" variant I recieved yesterday:
My name is Daniel Williams and I am an artist.I live in
Netherland,with my two kids, four cats, one dog and the love
of my life. It is definitely a full house. I have been doing
artwork since I was a small child. That gives me about 23
years of experience. I majored in art in high school and
took a few college art courses. Most of my work is done in
either pencil or airbrush mixed with color pencils. I have
recently added designing and creating artwork on the
computer.I have been selling my art for the last 3 years and
have had my work featured on trading cards, prints and in
magazines.I have sold in galleries and to private collectors
from all around the world.I am always facing serious
difficulties when it comes to selling my art works to
Americans,they are always offering to pay with a US POSTAL
MONEY ORDER,which is difficult for me to cash here in
Netherland.
I am looking for a representative in the states who will be
working for me as a partime worker and i will be willing to
pay %10 for every transaction,which wouldnt affect ur
present state of work,someone who would help me recieve
payments from my customers in the states.i mean someone that
is responsible and reliable,cause the cost of coming to the
state and getting payments is very expensive,i am working on
setting up a branch in the state,so for now i need a
representative in the united state who will be handling the
payment aspect.
These payments are in money order and they would come to you
in your name, so all you need do is cash the money order
deduct your percentage and wire the rest back.
But the problem i have is trust,But i have my way of getting
anyone that gets away with our money,i mean the FBI branch
in Washington gets involve.
It wouldnt cost u any amount,u are to receive payments which
will be sent to u by fedex or usps from my business patners,
which would come in form of a money order then u are to cash
it and send the cash to me via western union money transfer
all western union charges will be deducted from the money.
If you are interested,please get back to me as soon as
possible.
Regards
Daniel Williams
N.B:Endeavour to send your reply through my alternative
e-mail address:[email protected]
Nigerian Walloons? Whooda thunk it? <g>
I could never understand how anyone would fall for those, but they do.
I used to get so many referrals on those occasionally that I wanted choke the guy referring them. But they thought they were really helping prevent crime by referring them.
Sometimes the most obvious scam works best.
I invented Coke with Lime.
The Nigerian scam is a cottage industry in Nigeria.The scary thing is, every year some greedy stupid people fall for it.There are some people who retaliate by getting the Nigerians to call back (long distance to UK say), put on some theatre, have the Nigerians send *them* some money to get the ball rolling...
There are some people who retaliate
LoL! Yeah, my IT shop keeps links open to a couple of UK sites with folks who will go to Lagos to get photos of these folk. Good fun to read, when one has a moment (or a couple hours <g>).Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
> what has been your experience ?
I have a PayPal account. I tried to use it last week to buy some EZ Smart stuff. They have my credit card info, but effing PayPal insisted that I give them another credit card before they'd do the deal. I only have one credit card, no way am I going to get another just to use effing PayPal. Dino lost a $500 sale to that POS.
-- J.S.
They will usually tell you why the transaction can't go through. Whether its getting blocked by your CC, or the CC info they have has expired (in which case you just need to update the info), or sometimes if you haven't verified your account.
Neteller is similar to PayPal, but since they allow deposits to online gambling sites, some credit cards are starting to refuse Neteller charges. Not sure what the problem is, because I seem to remember the last casino I walked into accepted CC's.
More than likely its a security measure to try and prevent people from stealing.
But it honks me off whenever the CC doesn't work seamlessly like its supposed to. :)
jt8
It's better to light a candle than to curse the darkness. --Chinese proverb
It's not being blocked by the CC, I updated the info, it says that that CC is good, but it still insists on adding another. PayPal sucks.
-- J.S.
have a PayPal account. I tried to use it last week to buy some EZ Smart stuff. They have my credit card info, but effing PayPal insisted that I give them another credit card before they'd do the deal. I only have one credit card, no way am I going to get another just to use effing PayPal. Dino lost a $500 sale to that POS.
Hi John.
You don't have to be a paypal member in order to send money via Paypal. And we take orders over the phone and via Fax or mail.
Paypal is Ez and the safest way for a small CO. and our customers.
Two years now we have thousands of transactions without any problems.
OK. Only one.The customer follow an email link and he lost $200.00 ..that was later covered by his bank. ( Internet fraud protection ) Paypal was very helpful and the customer received the goods without any delay.
Now. your case is different. I have no idea how you can recover your money... for not buying the Ez. ;)
...I like that.
Talk to your bank about Internet fraud protection.
YCF Dino
Being a total jerk on the computer, I was going by the advice of fellow workers, that if you are going to buy on the internet, use PayPal, I decided to check them out on the web, Thank God! They have thousands of negative postings. That probably won't do you much good. LOL
As someone has already pointed out, you have to go in and look at the complaints. Many of them are from stupid people doing stupid things. Others are from impatient people who don't like the security delays when completing some transactions. And then you have people with 'agendas'.
How many of these complaints are authentic problems? I'm not saying PayPal is golden, I'm just saying there are a lot of stupid/whiney/impatient people out there who complain at the drop of a hat... even when they are in the wrong.
jt8
It's better to light a candle than to curse the darkness. --Chinese proverb
When I see smoke, I look for fire. With all the negativism I think you should err on the side of caution.
Try a similar google and anyother business activity and see how many "badnews" hits.
I have had my account access through paypal limited before, because someone from another state used my account to buy some remote control car parts totalling about 500 bucks. Paypal made me do all sorts of stuff (i.e. jump through some serious hoops) before I could use the account again. The account limitation isn't a scam, although there are definitely some scams out there. They cut off access to the account so that you don't get ripped off. It saved me that 500 bucks. Have you been in touch with someone at paypal? Hope this post is informative.
Dustin Thompson
the whole thing is informative..
i've had good experience with Paypal... but it's obvious that not everyone does
i'm interested in personal experiences to bolster or undermine some of the claims made about PPMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
How do you use it, Mike?
Do ya do that credit card deal ... or just cash balance/transfer.
I just keep a coupla dollars ... or cents in the account ... then transfer from my "certified" bank acount as need be. Never have had more than $20 sitting there.
Just today ... found out a book I was bidding on is mine.
Grand total ... $8.51
the reason I decided to bid in the first place ... I was looking to "clean out" the paypal account. I had a balance of $8.59 sitting there burning a hole.
the bid price and shipping worked out perfect. I'll let that "$ .08" ride for a while!
Jeff
Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
I have my PayPal setup with both a CC and a checking account. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think you need the checking account if you are expecting payments. Some CC's won't allow credits.
While I've bought gobs of stuff online, I have to admit to some caution. I had opened up a second checking account at my bank (it was free). I use that second checking account for PayPal and its cousins. I just keep a few $$ in that account.
With online banking, I can go in and transfer $$ from my regular checking to my 2nd checking account as needed (or from 2nd checking acct to my regular). Pretty darn handy!jt8
It's better to light a candle than to curse the darkness. --Chinese proverb