The "PayPal We've Place a Limitation on Your Account" Phishing Scam
PayPal users who have received email messages claiming a limitation has been placed on their accounts are asked not to follow the instructions in them. This is because the fake emails are phishing scams 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 "PayPal We've Place a Limitation on Your Account" Scam
From: "service@intl.paypal.com" - cfujyorlnmuvwpq@bcchoki.com
Date: 17 March 2019 at 12:14:47 GMT
To: limited-account@intl.paypal.com
Subject: Re: [Case ID Number: PP-006-514-314-528] We've place a Limitation on your account.
Hello,
We noticed some unusual activity on a credit card linked to your PayPal account. As a security precaution to protect your account until we have more details from you, we've place a limitation on your account. Case ID Number: PP-006-514-314-528 How you can help *Please check the attachment file for more details. Thanks, PayPal
Please do not reply to this email because we are not monitoring this inbox. To get in touch with us, log in to your account and click "Contact Us" at the bottom of any page.
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Consumer advisory: PayPal Pte Ltd, the Holder of the PayPal payment service stored value facility, does not require the approval of the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Consumers (users) are advised to read the terms and conditions: carefully. PayPal Email ID PP1589 - LcQjWuNJE3
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 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.
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