PayPal users, the email message below with the subject: "We've detected fraud on your recent transaction," is a fake and a phishing scam. The email message claims that the recipients' PayPal accounts have been limited for security reasons because a fraudulent transaction was detected on their accounts. But, the email message was not sent by PayPal. It is a scam created by cyber-criminals to steal the recipients' PayPal usernames, passwords and credit card information, which they(scammers) will use to hijack their accounts and use them fraudulently.
The PayPal Phishing Email Message
From: notice.paypal.inc@monitoring.email.com
Sent: Saturday, March 18, 2017 7:47 PM
Subject: We've detected fraud on your recent transaction.
PayPaI Limited Notification!
Dear Customer,
We detected unauthorize login on your account.
We're sorry, your account access has been limited for security measures.
To restore your account, Read secure message by opening the attachment (pdf).
you will be prompted to open (view) the file or save (download) it to your computer.
for best results, save the file first, then open it in a Web browser.
PayPaI Service,
Copyright © 2017 PayPaI Inc. 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, CA 95014, United States. All Rights Reserved.
If the instructions in the phishing scam is followed, the potential victims will be taken to a fake PayPal website (mypaypal-account.card-detailinfo .com) and ask to sign-in with their PayPal usernames and passwords. They will then be asked to update their credit card information by entering it on the bogus PayPal page.
All the information entered on the bogus PayPal page will be sent to the cybercriminals behind the scam. Once they have their potential victims' PayPal credentials, they use it to hijack their accounts and use them fraudulently. This includes stealing money from their accounts, using their PayPal accounts and credit cards to make fraudulent purchases. Victims who have already entered their PayPal user names, passwords and credit card information on the fake website are asked to change their PayPal password and contact PayPal and their bank immediately for help.
Please note that PayPal will always address their users by name and will never refer to them using the following:
- Dear PayPal customer
- Dear Valued Customer
- Dear Member
- Dear User
- Dear Customer
To avoid getting tricked by these phishing scams, PayPal users are asked never click on a link in an email message to sign into their PayPal accounts. They should always go to www.paypal.com and sign into their accounts from there. After signing in, PayPal will display important messages or notifications to them.
This PayPal phishing scam is similar to the following: