The email message below with the subject: "Your Account Has Been Closed in 24 Hour," is a fake and a phishing scam. The email message claims that the recipients received the message because of missing or incorrect information on their accounts. But, the email message was not sent by PayPal and is a scam created by cyber-criminals to steal the recipients' PayPal usernames, passwords and credit card information. Once the scammers have the victims' information, they will use it to hijack their accounts and use their credit card information and PayPal accounts fraudulently.
The Phishing PayPal Email Message
From: PayPal.Inc <inc@cv.com>
Sent: 21 April 2017 00:08
To: eamonnhaddon@outlook.com
Subject: Notification
PayPaI
Your Account Has Been Closed in 24 Hour.
Hello Dear,
We've recently posted updates on our "Policy Security Update". We detected Unusual signin
on your account Complete Step to Secure your account, Update your identity informations And Restore your account.
As always, if you need help or have any questions, feel free to contact us. We're always here to help.
Securing your payment method and keep safe from Fraud Activity : Log in (Click here)
Thank you for being Our customer.
Yours sincerely,
PayPaI-Security-Team
If you follow the instruction in the fake email message, you will be taken to a fake PayPal website and ask to sign-in with your PayPal username and password. You will then be asked to update your 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 your PayPal credentials, they use it to hijack your account and use it for fraudulent purposes. This includes stealing money from your account, using your PayPal and credit card to make fraudulent purchases.
If you have already entered your PayPal username, password and credit card information on the fake website, please change your PayPal password and contact your bank immediately.
Please note that PayPal will always address you by your name, and will never refer to you using the following:
- Hello Dear
- Dear [Email Address]
- Dear PayPal user
- Dear PayPal customer
- Dear Valued Customer
- Dear Member
- Dear User
- Dear Customer
To avoid getting tricked by these phishing scams, never click on a link in an email message to sign into your PayPal account. Always go to www.paypal.com and sign into your account from there. PayPal will display important messages or notifications to you once you have signed into your account.