I just wanted to let you all know about the latest phishing scam.

This morning I received an email from one elmorecalvin54@outlook.com that said I had a PayPal invoice for $499.99 which I could view/pay. This looked to be a purchase of bitcoin as far as I could tell. As I did not order anything from Elmore and I've been getting my fair share of what I consider Official looking PayPay emails saying my accounts been comprised I decided to investigate further. There was an 1-888 number I called and got a East-Indian sounding individual on the line at what sounded like a call center. He must of had caller id (right) as he didn't ask for my name/number of any info and he Was very apologetic for any inconvenience. He promised to rectify the situation but he would need to link to my computer first. At this time I hung up on him.

The irritating think is my PayPal Activity Screen shows a pending invoice for this amount which I'm assuming will be automatically removed by the system once a daily update is done as if I now click on the invoice it shows the invoice is no longer available.

I'm not sure there is anyway to stop this kind of thing once a scammer has your email but I'll be reporting this to the PayPal spoof system.

quote:

I'm not sure there is anyway to stop this kind of thing

Don't use PayPal...or Venmo or any of the others.

Everything PayPal does I can do with a credit card. And I do. And that card is completely isolated from all of my other banking.

So go ahead scammers; hack that card. It's all you're going to get and anything that's not legit on my end is simply reported and no longer my financial obligation.

I've been getting a series of "outdoorxxxx" notices on stuff I've never ordered. And I have no PP or vendors activity.

My carrier rep just yesterday advised he gets the same spam
as everyone else we.

I enough fed up I may go back to flip phone.

quote:

Originally posted by OcCurt:

quote:

I'm not sure there is anyway to stop this kind of thing

Don't use PayPal...or Venmo or any of the others.

Everything PayPal does I can do with a credit card. And I do. And that card is completely isolated from all of my other banking.

So go ahead scammers; hack that card. It's all you're going to get and anything that's not legit on my end is simply reported and no longer my financial obligation.

I have come across a number of items that I couldn't use my Discover CC on. We only use Discover and have no use for multiple cards. That's the main reason I use PayPal. Nothing wrong with PayPal and you can use your CC as the primary funds source. I look at that as a double safeguard against fraudulent charges.

Several times a week for the last few months I've been getting 'PayPal' emails stating exactly the same thing in the subject:
Customer, you have made a payment of $47.95 USD (the amount varies, but it's always less than $100).

I never open them, so I don't know what the rest of it might say.
The subject text is always the same, and the email address is always just a bunch of symbols; hovering over that address gives nothing.

I know they're scams because I don't even have a PayPal account. I send them to my Spam folder.
I guess they're trying to make you afraid and click on links and give them information.

After connecting to your computer they were probably going to offer you a "refund" but you'd have to log into your bank account. They then take over your computer and manipulate the bank site's html code to look like they sent you too much money. Then they pressure the victim to purchase gift cards and stuff to pay back the money.

Check out Jim Browning's videos on Youtube. He explains these scams very well.

https://www.youtube.com/c/JimBrowning/videos

we should be using SEAL teams to hunt these call centers down and destroy them

once a few of these centers are totally destroyed, the number of centers may find staffing to be a bit of a problem

these people are worse than covid

quote:

Originally posted by radinski:

The irritating think is my PayPal Activity Screen shows a pending invoice for this amount which I'm assuming will be automatically removed by the system once a daily update is done as if I now click on the invoice it shows the invoice is no longer available...

Ok, the other part clearly was a phishing attempt, but this right here is puzzling to me. How can there be an invoice for the amount on your real PP account page for something you didn't order, unless your PP account has been hacked?

quote:

Originally posted by nhtagmember:
we should be using SEAL teams to hunt these call centers down and destroy them

once a few of these centers are totally destroyed, the number of centers may find staffing to be a bit of a problem

these people are worse than covid

Maybe that's why Joe is sending Special Forces to Somalia. Worked great last time.

Check your computer for viruses then log in to your paypal from another place you know is clean. They probably faked an invoice screen?

Never click on the links. If you get something like those invoices, run a scan, then go to a new browser and type in manually your bank or paypal address and verify then log in.

watch for typos.

Here's a tip:

If you ever click on something suspicious and it doesn't do what your expecting (in this instance, not opening an invoice), then you've already been had.

Click on a file that you are expecting to open a PDF and nothing happens? Probably just installed a virus in the back ground. D

Click a link that just takes you to a login screen over and over? Probably a fake website set up to capture your login credentials.

The short of it is that scammers will create fake websites, emails, links, applications etc that appear real and have just enough function to get what they need from you. When you get to the point where further clicks take you no further, you've already been had. They got what they needed.

You now have to go back and treat your computer and your account as compromised. Log in from a different device and reset your passwords. Figure out what you need to do to sanitize your own device.

quote:

Originally posted by OcCurt:
Everything PayPal does I can do with a credit card.

Can you set a low limit so that if someone hacks you're account, they can't buy much?

That's the reason I use PayPal, I don't keep any money in the account it's tied to. If I need to use it for anything more than a few bucks, I transfer the money to that account first.

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:

quote:

Originally posted by radinski:

The irritating think is my PayPal Activity Screen shows a pending invoice for this amount which I'm assuming will be automatically removed by the system once a daily update is done as if I now click on the invoice it shows the invoice is no longer available...

Ok, the other part clearly was a phishing attempt, but this right here is puzzling to me. How can there be an invoice for the amount on your real PP account page for something you didn't order, unless your PP account has been hacked?

I wondered the same but it is probably no more difficult than any other phishing exercise. If they have my email, and who doesn’t anymore, then all they have to do is take a stab at sending a PayPal invoice and see if it sticks.

I didn’t get these scams until the shitheads called anonymous hacked Epik and released information of completely innocent people.

I too, use credit cards to buy, and, if I sell something I ask for a USPS Money Order. If it is too inconvenient for a buyer to do this, they can take a hike.

I love the ones where my account has been suspended for failure to pay. Hey Stupid, I don't have a paypal account.

quote:

How can there be an invoice for the amount on your real PP account page for something you didn't order, unless your PP account has been hacked?

It's my understanding that anyone can send anyone else an invoice through PayPal (even if they don't have a PP account). You just need a valid email address. Not the case?

quote:

Originally posted by kkina:

quote:

How can there be an invoice for the amount on your real PP account page for something you didn't order, unless your PP account has been hacked?

It's my understanding that anyone can send anyone else an invoice through PayPal (even if they don't have a PP account). You just need a valid email address. Not the case?

It's a 'request' for money, not a finalized transaction. Legit use is to keep a buyer from screwing up payment - such as sending to 124@bullshit.com vs 123@bullshit.com.

They had his email & likely his phone number - now he's confirmed it & if they are organized that far, they can look deeper & see what else they can use.

^Exactly. It's just a request for money (which is what an invoice is). The recipient can pay the invoice through PayPal even without opening their own account.

quote:

Originally posted by WaterburyBob:
Several times a week for the last few months I've been getting 'PayPal' emails stating exactly the same thing in the subject:
Customer, you have made a payment of $47.95 USD (the amount varies, but it's always less than $100).

I never open them, so I don't know what the rest of it might say.
The subject text is always the same, and the email address is always just a bunch of symbols; hovering over that address gives nothing.

I know they're scams because I don't even have a PayPal account. I send them to my Spam folder.
I guess they're trying to make you afraid and click on links and give them information.

I've had several similar ones in the past few days. I have reported at least one of them to PayPal and they've agreed that they didn't come from them. I've also checked my PayPal account and no suspicious charges have appeard. I did change my PayPal password, though.

flashguy