PayPal users who have received "Your Account is Temporarily Restricted" email message below claiming that their accounts have been canceled are asked not to follow the instructions in it. This is because the fake email is a phishing scam being sent by online scammers, and not by PayPal. The aim of the scammers is 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 "Your PayPal Account Has Been Canceled" Scam
From: Paypal <info.center@phaypha.com>
Sent: Monday, October 21, 2019, 11:53:08 AM EDT
Subject: Your PayPal Account Has Been Canceled
• PayPal
Your Account Cancellation
Don't get locked out. We noticed your online access has not been re-validated and some information are missing in your profile. Kindly follow the instruction below to avoid your account being canceled
If the instructions in the phishing scam are followed, the potential victims will be taken to a fake PayPal website 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 online scammers 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 [Email Address]
- 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 to 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.