After similar fake notifications from eBay, which are still circling the Internet, now we have this spoofed message from service@PayPal. Such messages are not new. They have been going around for the past several years. The messages from 2002 and 2003 were pretty similar. I guess it must be time for a new wave.
Messages such as these are much easier to identify as spoofed messages because they are addressed to “Dear PayPal customer”. If you have a PayPal account then you already know that they only address their customers by their individual or business names. They NEVER use this generic salutation.
Here’s what the spoofed message looks like.
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—–Original Message—–
From: service@paypal.com [mailto:service@paypal.com]
Sent: Monday, November 08, 2004 3:29 PM
To: alexander@msmvps.org
Subject: PayPal Notification: Account Validation
Dear PayPal customer,
It has come to our attention that when logging into PayPal, you or somebody else have made several login attempts and reached your daily attempt limit. As an additional security measure your access to PayPal will be limited in a 24-hour period if you do not verify your identity.
http://secure.paypal-data.com
Please verify your details clicking on the link above, before trying to log in again. You will be able to attempt logging into PayPal account immediately after you verify your identity without any limitations applying to your account.
Sincerely,
PayPal Security Department.
PayPal, Inc.
Copyright 1999-2004 PayPal. All rights reserved.
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According to PayPal “If you think that you have received a fraudulent email (or fake website), please forward the email (or URL address) to spoof@paypal.com and then delete the email from your mailbox. Never click any links or attachments in a suspicious email.”
