Online Threat Alerts (OTA) - Alerting you to scams and frauds.

Do Not Click on Links to Sign into Your Accounts PayPal Users
Do Not Click on Links to Sign into Your Accounts PayPal Users

PayPal users who have received email or SMS Text messages asking them to update or verify their account information should not click on the links in them. They should go directly to www.paypal.com and sign into their accounts and verify or update their accounts’ information there instead. This is because phishing scams are getting more sophisticated and cyber criminals are finding new ways of tricking potential victims into visiting phishing websites that steal personal information, account credentials, and financial information.

Below is a sample of a PayPal phishing scam used by cyber criminals to trick PayPal users into clicking on a link in it that goes to a fake PayPal website that steals PayPal account credentials.

A Sample of a Phishing PayPal Email

From: PayPal km@kmhygiene.co.uk

Sent: Tuesday, 14 March 2017 1:31 PM

Subject: [Please Note]: You have 1 report

Hi,

You have 1 report

Verify information & credit card now to upgrade your account to a premium plan to ensure you don't miss out on any reports.

Verify Account

The PayPal Team.

Good luck! Hope it works.

Powered by PayPal

Once cybercriminals have stolen their potential victims’ account credentials, they will hijack their accounts and use them fraudulently. They will steal the account owners’ money and use the accounts to launder money that will be traced back to the owners.

PayPal users can help protect themselves against phishing scams by enabling Two Factor Authentication (2FA). This is a PayPal Security Key that gives PayPal users a second authentication factor when they are logging in to your account. In addition to their password, they enter a One-Time Pin (OTP) that is unique for each login. These two factors give PayPal users a stronger account security. The PayPal Security Key sends PayPal users a temporary security code via SMS that they enter in addition their password when they log into their PayPal accounts. With Two Factor Authentication, even if PayPal users' account credentials get stolen, the cyber criminals will not be able to gain access to their accounts, because they will need a temporary security key that will be sent to the PayPal users' cellphone.

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